Farmers’ Market:
Chops Ahoy II
Chops Ahoy Farm in Woodland is part and parcel of the partnership and marriage of Deena and Barrett Parks. Each of them had a childhood with up close and personal experience in agriculture, but it was not until after their 2005 wedding that pigs entered the picture.
Deena explains that the attraction of pigs is that they only take six months from piglets to pork, the product is well received so that they easily sell everything they rear, and “Pigs are fun.” They need a heightened awareness of bio-security and remain intensely careful about the health of the pigs from the time of their arrival as squiggly little footballs until their departure at market weight, in part because of the susceptibility of the pigs to disease, but also because of the potential for some of those diseases to be passed on to humans or vice versa. They also work hard to remain current on information about the new viruses to crop up in the porcine facilities. Interest in current, science-based information about farming pigs has led to their becoming representatives for the State of Maine at National Pork Producers Conventions where interactions with other producers both large and small invigorate their own business plans.
Deena’s voice rings with pride as she describes the commitment of Chops Ahoy to generating a consistent, quality product with exceptional taste. It is also clear that the Parks are invested in maintaining a healthful, humane environment for their pastured animals, importing custom-milled, organic grain from a facility in Vermont and trucking the pigs to a slaughterhouse that will generate the cuts they require and that offers nitrate-free smoking. Most of their product is already spoken for before the piglets even figure out how to utilize the grassy enclosures they have fenced in for the animals to graze. After the animals are processed, the products are hand-delivered to the homes of their eager customers, accompanied by recipes and “phone connectivity” to encourage them to move beyond standard cuts.
Chops Ahoy is clearly a farm which will utilize “everything but the squeal.”
This is the first season that Chops Ahoy has participated in the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market, open from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday in the Aroostook Centre Mall parking lot. But we certainly hope it will not be the last! The meat and the vegetables from their latest venture, high hoop “greenhouses” that allow them to extend the growing season on both ends, are a welcome addition and much appreciated by our regular customers in this end of Maine as well.
This column is written by members of the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market. For more information, visit their website at https://sites.google.com/site/presqueislefarmersmarket/home.
