Trillium Wood Farm
Should you visit Trillium Wood Farm in the tiny mid-Michigan town of Williamston, prepare yourself for a crazy, joyful soundtrack. Chickens cluck. Sheep bleat. Pigs snort and bellow.
Depending on the time of year, turkeys may be gobbling. Lazy cats yawn and purr as they roll over for belly rubs. Dogs bark in greeting, running up to make friends. A couple of donkeys, a horse and a few milk cows round out the menagerie.
Bring your comfy shoes as well—the ones that can get pretty muddy. Every different species has its own dedicated space and plenty of it. Visit the poultry in whichever pasture they happen to be in on a given day. In winter, the pigs live in a large pen; in warm weather, they roam free through an adjacent area of the woods that’s been set aside especially for them. None of the birds or mammals has ever had an antibiotic or hormone treatment or GMO food.
It’s clear that the farmers who raise them, sisters Allie and Elise Thorp, love animals. In fact, up until a few years ago, they wouldn’t have dreamed of eating them. “I’d seen the PETA videos, and I just thought, ‘I can’t eat animals,’” says Elise. “I hadn’t really been exposed to any different model.”
But when their parents, Ken Thorp and Camille McCoy, offered them a 90-acre tract of land that they already owned, the sisters teamed up to find a different model: raising animals “to give them a purpose, a great life and a respectful and humane death,” says Allie.
In 2013, they got to work. Mentally prepared for the tremendous hard work of building a farm from scratch, they were nonetheless staggered by the sheer physical and logistical difficulty. “I think I told Elise I would quit about every six months,” says Allie. “The last time that happened was about a month and a half ago,” says Elise. Then they burst into laughter.
They credit the strong support system of parents and respective partners—Allie’s husband, Brad Fierro, and Elise’s boyfriend, Ben Koch—with helping them stay the distance, as well as continually evolve their vision. Currently, Trillium is completely off-grid, powered by over 30 solar panels and three wind turbines. Animals are continuously rotated to different areas to ensure that soil doesn’t get depleted.
The farm is dotted with shipping containers that have been converted to a number of purposes: brooders for the chickens, which are supplied by a hatchery in Zealand, MI; a warm area for the pigs in winter; and sites for the sisters’ thriving mushroom business.
The sisters breed all pigs and sheep right on the farm and partner with Landmark Pastoral Farms in Mt. Pleasant for grassfed beef. “We really wanted to make cattle work, but we just don’t have the land for it,” says Elise. On the farm website, the sisters affirm that their partner offers “the BEST grassfed beef there is (in our opinion!) … centered around the highest animal welfare, responsible land stewardship and consumer health.”
They’ve deliberately not pursued the certified organic label, which “doesn’t always mean what people think it means,” says Allie. “—that the animals lived a happy life, or that they had outside space,” continues Elise. “People who come to our farm get what we do or can just ask. We work hard to be as transparent as possible.”
Not having to jump through certification hoops allows them to diversify into other areas that they’re more passionate about. They began growing mushrooms as a small project and were entranced by what they call “a beautiful process.” Their system yields 1,500 pounds in season of delicate scalloped oysters and wine caps, a beautiful mushroom with tops the color of Merlot.
Other new operations are their fledgling sauerkraut production company, Civil Ferments. And this year, they’ll be able to expand their poultry offerings to boneless breasts, ground chicken and sausages. Meat, mushrooms and kraut are available directly from the farm, as well as at the East Lansing, Meridian, Owosso, Howell, Birmingham and Farmington farmers’ markets.
The sisters thrive on the hard work, but admit that one aspect is particularly difficult. “Processing day is sad,” says Elise. “It’s been the hardest thing, and it never gets to the point where we feel good about it.”
“As former vegetarians,” says Allie, “a lot of it is getting comfortable with the realization that everything dies eventually— we will, the animals will. And that’s OK.” “It’s about the life they have,” says Elise, “treating them well, giving them a life with purpose. Just because it’s sad when something dies doesn’t mean it’s not OK.”
They’ve been able to face that challenge, as well as all the others together—and that’s exactly the way they want it. “The absolute best part of this is that I get to work with my sister,” says Allie. “
We get to see each other every single day.”
“And not just at work,” says Elise.
“We hang out after work. We eat dinner together.“
“We finally got a vacation together.”
“We have all the same friends.”
They look at each other and laugh. “Come on,” says Allie. “Let’s go meet the animals.”
Learn more at www.TrilliumWoodFarm.com
