After graduating from high school, Melanie Noss worked a security gig, then an exhausting swing shift at a local manufacturing company. She was stifled, cooped up inside, feeling like just another employee ID number.
Longing for a career that required her to do more than clock in and out, she returned to her 4-H roots. Buoyed by sheer determination and experience cultivated on her family’s farm, she put her eggs in one basket, literally, and hatched a business plan.
Together with her husband, Casey, she created Goose Lane Egg Farm in 2010 on the border of Sinking Spring. Over the past five years, it has become one of the most popular agriculture spots in Berks County, attracting loyal customers and Facebook fans by the dozens.
Melanie says she and Casey have been surprised by the grassroots success of their working farm. But as interest grows in Goose Lane, they hope it will encourage even more Berks residents to think green and continue supporting area farmers by buying their high-quality products.
“It’s hard work,” Melanie says, “but we enjoy it.”
A Family that Farms Together
Melanie grew up on her father’s 86-acre farm, where she helped out with daily chores, including feeding cattle. Throughout her childhood, she also loved caring for her horses. “I loved being outside and being with the animals,” she says, adding that Casey worked on a farm as a teen. “It was peaceful.”
While both she and Casey enjoyed the lifestyle – from rising with the sun to planting crops – neither ever dreamed of owning their own farm. But a few extra eggs one day changed that, she says.
“We started with 20 chickens. We had extra eggs one morning, so we put up a sign out on the road. It started slow, but people started to knock on our door for the eggs, and [business] kept growing. For us, word of mouth has been great,” Melanie says.
The couple rents an approximately 9-acre section on Melanie’s father’s farm, where they operate Goose Lane, often with little help. They wake up at about 6am, head outside to check on their animals and self-serve roadside stand, get their two children (3-year-old Wyatt and 1-year-old Brooke)dressed, and divide their daily tasks. A farmer in the making, Wyatt likes to pitch in too, and helps feed the chickens and collect the eggs, Melanie says, her voice filling with pride.
“Being a farmer takes a certain work ethic,” she says. “You need dedication and responsibility, and you have to really want to do it for it to succeed. It’s nice that [Wyatt] shows interest early.”
Eggs-cellent Endeavor
Goose Lane is best known for its all-natural brown eggs, which are sold within five days of lay and definitely live up to the farm’s tagline: “Quality you won’t find in a grocery store.”
Melanie and Casey focus on natural farming, including using GMO-free seeds and rotating a mobile chicken house throughout the pasture to ensure adequate grass and nutrition. The eggs are collected from GMO-free chickens and include deep orange yolks that would render chef Julia Child speechless. They are available for $4-$4.50 per dozen at the farm’s store and at several area farmers markets.
Their Cornish Cross chickens are raised with a mainly grass diet and a natural grain feed, and they are never given any kind of medication, antibiotics, steroids or harmful chemicals. This lifestyle promotes good health for the chickens and quality eggs for customers, according to the farm’s website.
“Our birds may have the same genes as their commercially raised siblings, but [they] are raised a very different way,” explains text on the farm’s website. “At 2 weeks of age, they are put on fresh pasture and moved daily to enjoy a fresh supply of grass and bugs.”
One of the most enjoyable aspects of visiting Goose Lane is having a hands-on experience, Melanie says, explaining that customers are welcome to feed the chickens. “People love that,” she says. “They feel like they are part of the farm. They like the experience.”
Adding to their plates
Every day is different at Goose Lane, Melanie says with a chuckle, thinking about her to-do list, which this day includes picking up hogs from the butcher shop and building the farm’s new greenhouse.
Their roadside stand is open daily and offers in-season produce, canned goods, baked goods and local honey, in addition to eggs. The couple also participates in the Antietam Valley Farmers and Artists Market and West Reading Farmers Market on the weekends, she says.
From June through November, Goose Lane provides Community Supported Agriculture, or CSAs, for produce, chicken and various add-ons such as fruit, artisan bread, yogurt, mushrooms, cheese and dairy. When business increases during the summer months, the couple hires two field crew workers to handle increased farm operations, Melanie says.
They pride themselves on their products, Melanie says, adding she’s particularly pleased with the growth of the farm’s produce line because of the time and dedication it takes to maintain crops. Popular items include several varieties of onions, beans, peppers and tomatoes, as well as eggplant, spaghetti squash, zucchini, cucumbers, beets, radishes and carrots.
“The majority of our crops are planted in a raised, black plastic bed to reduce weeds and insects,” according to the farm’s website. “We also implement cultivation practices since we do not spray for weeds.”
With each season, she and Casey consider ways to expand the farm’s offerings.
They now sell fruit, herbs, root beer, and, during the holidays, Christmas trees and GMO-free turkeys, which, like the farm’s chickens, are raised on pasture. The couple produces 1,500 broilers throughout the summer and raises pigs. Retail pork cuts, including apple, country, and sweet Italian sausages; pork chops; roasts; and short ribs are also available.
Melanie says she and Casey also strive to incorporate fun ways to delight customers so they’ll return to the farm. For example, families can stop by during the fall to pick pumpkins, a popular activity for kids.
“I love what we do. Being able to stick with something and watching it grow through all of the ups and downs, just knowing how far you’ve come, is great” Melanie says. “For us, our biggest thing is we don’t have to rely on a grocery store. We just go for milk and iced tea. Everything else we need, we have here.”
Goose Lane Egg Farm
111 Goose Lane, Sinking Spring. 610.763.5372
gooselaneeggfarm.com
facebook.com/Gooselaneeggfarm1
After graduating from high school, Melanie Noss worked a security gig, then an exhausting swing shift at a local manufacturing company. She was stifled, cooped up inside, feeling like just another employee ID number.
Longing for a career that required her to do more than clock in and out, she returned to her 4-H roots. Buoyed by sheer determination and experience cultivated on her family’s farm, she put her eggs in one basket, literally, and hatched a business plan.
Together with her husband, Casey, she created Goose Lane Egg Farm in 2010 on the border of Sinking Spring. Over the past five years, it has become one of the most popular agriculture spots in Berks County, attracting loyal customers and Facebook fans by the dozens.
Melanie says she and Casey have been surprised by the grassroots success of their working farm. But as interest grows in Goose Lane, they hope it will encourage even more Berks residents to think green and continue supporting area farmers by buying their high-quality products.
“It’s hard work,” Melanie says, “but we enjoy it.”
A Family that Farms Together
Melanie grew up on her father’s 86-acre farm, where she helped out with daily chores, including feeding cattle. Throughout her childhood, she also loved caring for her horses. “I loved being outside and being with the animals,” she says, adding that Casey worked on a farm as a teen. “It was peaceful.”
While both she and Casey enjoyed the lifestyle – from rising with the sun to planting crops – neither ever dreamed of owning their own farm. But a few extra eggs one day changed that, she says.
“We started with 20 chickens. We had extra eggs one morning, so we put up a sign out on the road. It started slow, but people started to knock on our door for the eggs, and [business] kept growing. For us, word of mouth has been great,” Melanie says.
The couple rents an approximately 9-acre section on Melanie’s father’s farm, where they operate Goose Lane, often with little help. They wake up at about 6am, head outside to check on their animals and self-serve roadside stand, get their two children (3-year-old Wyatt and 1-year-old Brooke)dressed, and divide their daily tasks. A farmer in the making, Wyatt likes to pitch in too, and helps feed the chickens and collect the eggs, Melanie says, her voice filling with pride.
“Being a farmer takes a certain work ethic,” she says. “You need dedication and responsibility, and you have to really want to do it for it to succeed. It’s nice that [Wyatt] shows interest early.”
Eggs-cellent Endeavor
Goose Lane is best known for its all-natural brown eggs, which are sold within five days of lay and definitely live up to the farm’s tagline: “Quality you won’t find in a grocery store.”
Melanie and Casey focus on natural farming, including using GMO-free seeds and rotating a mobile chicken house throughout the pasture to ensure adequate grass and nutrition. The eggs are collected from GMO-free chickens and include deep orange yolks that would render chef Julia Child speechless. They are available for $4-$4.50 per dozen at the farm’s store and at several area farmers markets.
Their Cornish Cross chickens are raised with a mainly grass diet and a natural grain feed, and they are never given any kind of medication, antibiotics, steroids or harmful chemicals. This lifestyle promotes good health for the chickens and quality eggs for customers, according to the farm’s website.
“Our birds may have the same genes as their commercially raised siblings, but [they] are raised a very different way,” explains text on the farm’s website. “At 2 weeks of age, they are put on fresh pasture and moved daily to enjoy a fresh supply of grass and bugs.”
One of the most enjoyable aspects of visiting Goose Lane is having a hands-on experience, Melanie says, explaining that customers are welcome to feed the chickens. “People love that,” she says. “They feel like they are part of the farm. They like the experience.”
Adding to their plates
Every day is different at Goose Lane, Melanie says with a chuckle, thinking about her to-do list, which this day includes picking up hogs from the butcher shop and building the farm’s new greenhouse.
Their roadside stand is open daily and offers in-season produce, canned goods, baked goods and local honey, in addition to eggs. The couple also participates in the Antietam Valley Farmers and Artists Market and West Reading Farmers Market on the weekends, she says.
From June through November, Goose Lane provides Community Supported Agriculture, or CSAs, for produce, chicken and various add-ons such as fruit, artisan bread, yogurt, mushrooms, cheese and dairy. When business increases during the summer months, the couple hires two field crew workers to handle increased farm operations, Melanie says.
They pride themselves on their products, Melanie says, adding she’s particularly pleased with the growth of the farm’s produce line because of the time and dedication it takes to maintain crops. Popular items include several varieties of onions, beans, peppers and tomatoes, as well as eggplant, spaghetti squash, zucchini, cucumbers, beets, radishes and carrots.
“The majority of our crops are planted in a raised, black plastic bed to reduce weeds and insects,” according to the farm’s website. “We also implement cultivation practices since we do not spray for weeds.”
With each season, she and Casey consider ways to expand the farm’s offerings.
They now sell fruit, herbs, root beer, and, during the holidays, Christmas trees and GMO-free turkeys, which, like the farm’s chickens, are raised on pasture. The couple produces 1,500 broilers throughout the summer and raises pigs. Retail pork cuts, including apple, country, and sweet Italian sausages; pork chops; roasts; and short ribs are also available.
Melanie says she and Casey also strive to incorporate fun ways to delight customers so they’ll return to the farm. For example, families can stop by during the fall to pick pumpkins, a popular activity for kids.
“I love what we do. Being able to stick with something and watching it grow through all of the ups and downs, just knowing how far you’ve come, is great” Melanie says. “For us, our biggest thing is we don’t have to rely on a grocery store. We just go for milk and iced tea. Everything else we need, we have here.”
Goose Lane Egg Farm
111 Goose Lane, Sinking Spring. 610.763.5372
gooselaneeggfarm.com
facebook.com/Gooselaneeggfarm1
By Kristin Boyd | Photos by John A. Secoges, Secoges Photographics
