Pasture-Raised Poultry & Hand-Sifted Garden Compost
I’m Maria. I turn food waste into garden gold and raise happy birds on fresh grass right here in Delhi, NY. No fancy labels, just honest farming.
My chickens live out on pasture, with plenty of space, sunshine, and fresh air. This is a group of our Red Broilers enjoying the green grass, a key part of raising healthy, happy, pasture-raised poultry.
This is the final product, our "Garden Gold." This is our aged, finely screened compost, perfect for starting seeds or giving your garden beds a nutrient boost. It's dark, rich, and full of life.
We offer farm fresh eggs from our mixed flock, which is why you'll see a beautiful variety of colors in every carton. We offer delivery to Delhi and farm pickup for our local eggs.
Our chickens are our best employees. Here they are hard at work on a compost pile, scratching, turning, and aerating the material which helps speed up the decomposition process. This is what we mean by composting with chickens.
This is a look at our young meat chickens, a mix of Cornish Cross and Red Broilers, getting their start on fresh grass. Raising them this way from a young age ensures they are healthy and happy.
This is my brother Joel, who has been working tirelessly to build and perfect our compost sifter. It's been a long journey of trial and error, but it's all part of our commitment to producing high-quality, hand-sifted compost.
Sometimes our hens work overtime and we have an abundance of eggs. This was a flash sale for unwashed eggs, a great way for customers to get fresh farm eggs at a great price.
About Featured
You might notice how fine our compost looks in the photos. That’s not a factory machine—that’s my brother Joel and me constantly welding and adjusting our home-built sifter. We’re on design 5.5 now, all just to make sure you get 99% debris-free 'garden gold' that’s safe for even your most delicate seed starts.
Our Approach to Farming
We don't do factory-farmed operations. We do eggs and meat chickens the way nature intended, which means our birds get 24/7 access to fresh grass, bugs, and sunshine. This isn't just a label; it's a difference you can taste. Our eggs have those deep, creamy orange yolks because our hens are actually foraging for their own food, and our meat chickens have a firmer texture than what you find at the grocery store.
The 'Garden Gold' Difference
Composting is a partnership with our flock. We aren't just piling up food scraps and waiting. Our chickens are our best employees—they scratch, aerate, and turn the piles of manure, hay, and sawdust for us. This natural process creates a nutrient-rich soil amendment that we then hand-sift through 1/4-inch mesh. We age it for 12 months, ensuring it's fully cured and perfectly ready for your potting mixes or garden beds.
Real Talk About Supplies
Running a small farm in Delaware County isn't always smooth sailing. Equipment breaks, we deal with permit headaches, and sometimes we run out of stock faster than we can produce it. We keep our pricing honest and our processes transparent. If you're looking for pasture-raised eggs, aged garden compost, or high-quality meat chickens, get in touch to see what we currently have ready. We prioritize folks who value knowing exactly where their food comes from.
Maria Schermerhorn
I’m Maria, and I run Paradise in Disguise with my brother Joel. We don’t have a massive operation; we have a lot of grit, a flock of pasture-raised birds, and a passion for turning waste into soil. We’re usually covered in dirt, probably fixing a piece of equipment, but we’re always ready to get you fresh food.
Find exactly what you need from our farm
Looking for eggs, meat chickens, or soil amendments? Search our farm products below.
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