Producer

The Little Red Hen began in the spring of 2021 by Chase and Sheldon Prentice with a small backyard flock of chickens that the couple had started with in early March of 2020 and a jar of sourdough starter gifted to Sheldon by her sister-in-law that was started in 1934. A love of food, agriculture, and enjoyment in slower living quickly grew into a passion that Chase and Sheldon wish to share with their community by helping establish a stable, healthful source of high quality food that is locally produced. From a simple beginning that started out as a way to be more self-reliant, The Little Red Hen steadily grew into a small home-based business selling fresh eggs and artisan breads with aspirations to expand even further. In addition to the main-stays of the menu, The Little Red Hen will soon be offering carefully grown seasonal produce.

The laying flock consists of 22 individually named hens ranging in a variety of beautiful breeds who have been lovingly raised and cared for by Chase and Sheldon with the very willing assistance of their 4 young children. They are provided with a roomy coop and spacious enclosed run with access to both plenty of shade and sunny areas to enjoy, as well as time roaming outside of the run to forage and experience enrichment. They always have access to plenty of clean water, are fed a certified organic diet ad libitum supplemented with oyster shell, and are checked at least three times daily.

Breads are made fresh using high quality certified organic ingredients and USA grown certified organic wheat. Each loaf is crafted by hand using original recipes Sheldon herself has developed or which have been passed down through the family. Sheldon does all of her baking in a registered cottage kitchen. She holds a food handling and safety certification that is regularly renewed, as well as brings 11 years of restaurant experience and practices to her kitchen to ensure best practices and a healthy, clean workspace.

New to 2023, The Little Red Hen will be offering fresh, seasonal produce and herbs with a heavy emphasis on heirloom varieties Chase has started from organic seeds using a soil he has mixed himself. The growing areas are always amended using natural methods, and plants and growing spaces are never treated with synthetic products. Chase uses a variety of methods to ensure plant health including going over each individual plant by hand, natural safe pest and weed control, and growing plants in a proper rotation throughout the plots. He has been majorly influenced by the practices of Eliot Coleman of Four Season Farms and Jere & Emilee Gettle of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company.