Local Farm Fresh: Shelton's Farm Market

Coming from a family that owned a grocery stores for several decades, finding a mom and pop grocery is not commonplace. Not only did my family own grocery stores, most of the men were butchers by trade. I remember watching my father cut and wrap meat like it was yesterday. It seemed that in a matter of seconds, a tender piece of meat was beautifully wrapped and packaged. One of my favorite days to be at the store were Wednesdays since we would set up the makeshift wheel rack to slide the groceries down out of the delivery truck. It wasn't long until the carts were loaded and you heard the old-fashioned price guns being adjusted for pricing and the click-click as it spit out an orange sticky tag. Watching my grandma price gun a loaded cart in a matter of minutes was always fun. Another favorite place to visit was the produce room where my dear great-great-great aunt worked. Since she specialized in produce, nothing but the best was packaged and placed on the shelves. When you walked in, you better watch your step since there was a chance of flying veggies as she said, "these god damn tomatoes are rotten" followed by a thud in the trash can. Watching heads of lettuce were far more comical since my aunt was such a tiny gal.

Although our family grocery is long gone, one place that constantly reminds me of it is Shelton's Farm Market located in Niles, Michigan. Unassuming from the outside, Shelton's is one of my favorite local places to shop for local meat. Often times, my partner and I will see the owner, Jim, arranging a display of assorted varieties of fresh apples. He always has a smile and says, "hello, hello." Once we try a few samples of apples, (and usually buy a few), we make our way back to the meat case and take a number. Sometimes, I feel like I'm four again in my family's grocery watching my dad cut and wrap meat. One of the tastiest things in the meat case is the fresh butcher bacon. Who can possibly go wrong with bacon? Shelton's butcher bacon blows the competition out of the water not only by the price per pound but the flavor is simply unmatched. My partner and I usually pay about $2.50 - $3.00 / lb and we get at least five pounds each time.

Another favorite that we purchase is the in-house, homemade stuffed sausage which comes in a myriad of flavors and only costs $3.00 - $3.50 / lb. They are sure to make a perfect grilled treat especially when they are garnished with caramelized onions. As the overall prices for meat continues to soar, one thing that I love about Shelton's is that there meat is local, fresh, flavorful, and the price per pound does not break the bank. We also love the ground chuck which costs $2.29 - $2.89 / lb depending on the week and it makes some of the tastiest burgers I've ever had. One of the best things about Shelton's is that it allows us to have wonderful cook-outs for family, friends, and colleagues with great food that everyone can enjoy!

While prices are already cheap, Shelton's has an internet coupon that you can print off from their website. All you need to do is spend $10.00 and you can use the internet coupon on the item listed. In addition, Shelton's has Wild Wednesday! which are specials that are only on Wednesday of each week and can really stretch your dollar. It is literally a sale on top of a sale. Two of our favorite items on a Wild Wednesday! are the 50 lb bag of onions and 50 lb bag of potatoes which are usually about $8.00 - $10.00 / bag. At $0.16 - $0.20 / lb, we share with the family and don't break the bank by spending $5.00 for 5 lbs of onions and potatoes at the supermarket.

During our canning saga last summer, we purchased an incredible amount of local, fresh blueberries and cherries to can whole and try our hand at jam making. Even if Shelton's didn't have them out on the shelves, we simply asked and they brought it out cold from their back cooler. It was amazing and it made some of the best jam! In fact, we already have requests for this year, so we definitely did something right! We also love to landscape our yard with the gorgeous flats of flowers from Shelton's greenhouse. If you're a green thumb or love to garden, be sure to walk down to the greenhouse and take a look at their veggies and flowers.


Shelton's Farm Market
1832 S 11th Street
Niles, MI 49120
(269) 684-3230

http://sheltonfarms.com/

Business Hours
Monday       8:30a-7:00p
Tuesday       8:30a-7:00p
Wednesday  8:30a-7:00p
Thursday      8:30a-7:00p
Friday          8:30a-8:00p
Saturday      8:30a-7:00p
Sunday        9:00a-6:00p

Check them out on Facebook: Shelton's Farm Market