Bear Butte Gardens

Farm Products Grown at Bear Butte Gardens

We have several farm products that we raise on our farm. Our goal is to provide the highest quality products available. Some of our products are USDA Organic Certified, and some are not. We strive to operate our small family farm with sustainable agriculture methods, regenerative agriculture methods, and permaculture methods. Even though we are exempt (due to small farm size) from Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) regulations, we still strive to meet all FSMA regulations.

USDA Organic Certified Vegetables

We grow most of the common vegetables and many uncommon vegetables. We grow many colors and many varieties. Did you know that a yellow tomato has different nutrients than a red tomato? We grow pretty vegetables and we grow knobby, ugly vegetables. What is important is the flavor and the nutrient value. Every year we try new varieties. We grow A to Z (arugula to zucchini). Gardening is about experimenting, failing, learning, succeeding--again and again. Depending on many variables, we may not get everything going every year and each year some vegetables grow better than others. That is the fun of gardening.

USDA Organic Certified Eggs

We keep organic certified, heritage breed laying hens year round. They have a nice chicken coop with two separate outdoor “fly” pens. These gals produce between 2 to 18 eggs per day, depending upon a variety of circumstances -- but the average is generally over a dozen per day. Their diet consists completely of organic chicken feed and organic garden scraps (e.g. unused, damaged, or imperfect garden vegetables, etc.).

USDA Organic Certified Chicken (meat)

We raise broiler chickens in the summertime. We usually have two or three batches of 20-30 chickens each. Each batch is staggered a few weeks apart. The first batch is usually ready in July. Our livestock guardian dogs protect the chickens from coyotes, raccoons, etc. We harvest the chickens ourselves, with very humane and conscientious methods, and in as clean manner as possible. The finished product is a whole chicken (minus head, neck, organs, feet, and feathers) ready for cooking. If picked up by customers on day of harvest, the chicken will be bagged and cooled, but not frozen. If picked up by customers after harvest day, the chicken will be frozen in a shrink bag.

USDA Organic Certified Turkey (meat)

Our turkeys are raised entirely on our organic certified farm, from our own organic certified breeding stock. The eggs are taken from their nests and kept in an incubator until they hatch. When very young, the poults are raised indoors, in safe enclosures, under heat lamps. When older, they get moved out to a “turkey tractor”. The turkey tractor gets moved onto new grass every day or two so the turkeys can forage and be on clean grass. When the turkey tractor starts looking a bit crowded, the turkeys were moved to a much larger outdoor pen. Some get harvested in November at about six months of age (for customers looking for a small turkey). Most go to 18 months (for customers looking for a larger turkey).

Pasture-Raised, Grass Fed and Finished Beef (meat)

We purchase a handful of young, weaned steers periodically from local ranchers. In the past few years we've had Angus, Jersey, and Angus/Jersey mix. Once we get them, they are raised on our organic-certified pastures, get only our organic-certified grass and our organic-certified hay -- no antibiotics, no chemicals, no corn, no GMO feed. When raising cattle in this manner, it takes just a bit longer to get them to full weight. We find it takes about 18 to 20 months. When a steer is nearing his full weight, we advertise to potential customers (via our FaceBook site, our newsletter, and/or this web site), and then take pre-orders and deposits.

Pasture-Raised, Grass Fed and Finished Lamb (meat)

Our lambs are conscientiously raised to provide healthy, high quality, great tasting meat for our customers. Lambs finished on grass have a much different flavor than lambs finished on grain. Our customers certainly prefer our grass fed lambs. We acquire bum lambs (newly birthed lambs rejected by mother ewes) from local ranches. We bottle feed them by hand for several weeks until they can eat grass. They are on our organic certified pasture all summer. In the fall, if/when the grass is done and/or snow covers the ground, we feed them our organic certified hay. We have three livestock guardian dogs that live with the livestock and protect them from predators. We do not use antibiotics or growth hormones on our livestock.

Pasture-Raised, Grass Fed and Finished Goat (meat)

We keep a small handful of “Saanen” goats. Saanen is a goat breed from Switzerland known for high milk production and gentle disposition. The offspring of these goats are generally intended to be “meat” goats - bred to be just a bit “heavier” (more meat). Our goats that are raised for meat are pasture-raised, grass-fed and grass-finished. We also milk our mature female goats. Our milk goats do get some grain during their milk production months. Note: Due to South Dakota laws, we cannot and do not sell goat milk in our farm stand (retail).

Raw, Un-Filtered, 100% Pure Honey

We have a few honeybee hives and their primary purpose is to pollinate our garden vegetables. But, they also produce wonderful honey! We offer our honey bottled in pints and quarts, unfiltered, and absolutely raw (nothing added). When you purchase a jar of our honey you will likely get some pollen, propolis, and honeycomb on the top layer. You can chew this like chewing gum and then discard the wax. Your honey may also be a bit creamy in consistency. We make a large effort to provide a great habitat for our bees on our own (organic certified) property. We do not medicate our bees. When they need additional feed, we only feed them their own honey that we have reserved for that use. We do not feed sugar.

Sheep Hides

We send our sheep skins to a professional hide processor in Pennsylvania. When these sheep hides come back, they are fabulous! So soft, clean, and luxuriant! They make a perfect gift! Please contact us if you are interested. Sizes, colors, and prices vary.