Our History

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On a hill just south of the town of South Paris there is a farm that has been in one family for four generations. From the hill there is a stunning panoramic view of the White Mountains and majestic Mount Washington. 

The Shaw Farm is located on the East Oxford Road and has been owned by the Shaw family since 1928 when Harold Shaw, Sr. purchased the first of 4 small farms which make up the operation. He bought Guernsey and Jersey dairy cows and sold milk through a local dairy.

When his oldest son Harold Jr. was young, he helped his father milk the cows and he kept his own flock of Rhode Island Red laying hens, along with a few bantams, and sold eggs to neighbors. The family raised crops of sweet corn, cucumbers, and tomatoes, plowing and cultivating the fields with teams of oxen and horses. 

Around the time of his graduation from high school in 1943, Harold Jr. bought the farm just south of his Dad’s place and began milking cows for himself. He began his dairy herd with Milking Shorthorns, then added Jerseys and Guernseys. Eventually he began switching over to Holsteins for their increased milk production. In 1958 he bought yet another farm, adjacent to his first. This provided more land for growing feed for the dairy herd, and a house for his family. He too grew sweet corn and cucumbers to sell to a local canning company. In the early ‘60’s Harold Sr. and Harold Jr. went into partnership. They merged the 2 dairy herds and the farmland. Over time, Harold Sr.’s Guernsey cows too were replaced by Holsteins. 

Harold Jr. and his wife Joyce had 3 sons, Stephen, Jim, and David and a daughter, Juanita. They all became farm hands at a young age, caring for the calves and heifers, and advancing to more complicated tasks as they gained skill and competence. 

The jobs on a dairy farm are many.  Those who have not had much exposure to farming may not realize how varied the tasks can be. Year round they include milking the cows twice each day, washing the milking equipment and the bulk tank, and cleaning up the manure the cows leave behind wherever they go. There are births to attend, calves to de-horn, hooves to trim, and occasionally sick animals to be doctored. 

In the spring there is plowing, harrowing, digging rocks out of the fields, spreading manure, planting corn, seeding grass, and manure to shovel. In summer there is hay to be made – mowing, tedding it to spread it out and make it dry faster, raking it into windrows, baling it, loading the bales onto trucks, and stacking it in the barns, … and manure to shovel. 

In the fall, corn needs to be chopped and blown into the upright silo, or piled and packed into a horizontal bunker, then covered with a huge sheet of plastic and weighted down with tires to keep air out so it won’t spoil, … and there is manure to shovel. 

In the winter there is snow to plow, frozen water pipes to thaw, and more manure to shovel. 

Harold Jr. and his sons along with several hired men milked cows on the Shaw Farm for over 60 years. They developed a herd of registered Holsteins that was well known across New England for high milk production and good type. The closer a dairy cow’s make-up is to the ideal cow, the longer she will live, the healthier she will be, and the more milk she will give, (at least in theory!). 

The Shaws bred several cows which were classified as “excellent” by the Holstein Friesian Association of America. They had a number of Holsteins that gave over 20,000 lbs. of milk per year, which would be 2,325 gallons, or over 6 gallons per day from one cow! Their top producer gave 28,000 lbs. in a year, or almost 9 gallons per day!

As adults, the 3 Shaw boys, Steve, Jim, and David all worked on the farm at one time or another, as well as Nita’s husband John. They usually milked around 70 cows, but at the peak, with several families to support, they managed 110 milkers. 2 of the boys pursued other careers, leaving Steve and Jim to help their Dad run the farm until the mid 1990’s. 

In May of 1996 the oldest brother Steve suffered an aneurism and died very suddenly at age 46. 

Harold Jr. oversaw the farm operations until the last few years of his life. He passed on to glory in May of 2011. An appropriate way to sum up his life is to say he loved God, his family, and his farm. As a matter of fact, this is etched on his gravestone in the Fairview Cemetery, which is located adjacent to the farm.

Son David, his wife Joy, and their 7 children had been living in one of the farm houses, while David delivered mail for the Postal Service. When his oldest son Aaron was 23, he convinced his Dad that they could at least make hay to sell to help pay the taxes. This they did for 5 years. Equipment always needs to be maintained and repaired, and Aaron has a real knack for that.  He is a mechanical engineer, and was usually able to keep the tractors and machinery working. Eventually a job change took him to Connecticut, and now to North Carolina. His hard work and “tinkering” ability are sorely missed.   The youngest son Nathanael stepped up and  very capably filled the gap for several years until he too moved south.

Harold’s daughter Nita and her husband John Theriault have now moved back to Maine and are helping out on the farm. They and their daughter Amy care for Joyce in her later years.

The Shaw Farm began raising laying hens, a few meat birds, pigs, and then beef cattle. All these animals are raised as naturally as possible, with no antibiotics or growth hormones. The family tries to make the lives of their animals pleasant and stress-free. 

For the past 20 years or so, no chemical fertilizers have been used on the fields. One benefit of having the beef cattle is the manure they produce, which can be used to naturally fertilize the fields.

All the Shaws’ animals have the benefit of fresh air, sunshine, and green grass to eat. Cattle in particular were created to eat grass rather than corn or other grains. Cows have a rumen which is specifically designed for digesting grass. Feeding them grain is not natural for their digestive system and can be stressful for them. That is one reason cows which are fed mostly on grain need so much medication. 

Pigs and chickens do not have rumens, but they too benefit from the availability of fresh green grass to eat. Chickens love to eat grass - and insects - and it makes their egg yolks a rich orange color. Eggs from chickens on grass have firm whites, with golden yolks, and wonderful fresh flavor. 

The Shaws have had laying hens of many different breeds and at times they have produced more eggs than the family can use. In the past they have sold the excess eggs to the Fare Share Co-op in Norway, and Rising Sun Bakery in South Paris.  

Currently egg production is a major contributor to the well-being of the farm and we sell eggs to lots of friends and neighbors, as well as to several local businesses.

In the past the farm has raised meat chickens on grass as well, with corn, oats, and commercial pelleted feed included in the ration. It is said that the birds can get approximately 30% of their feed from grass and insects. It is not inexpensive to raise meat chickens this way, but you can be sure they have not had unnatural or unhealthy inputs, and the meat tastes great.   We currently offer pastured poultry in our farm store.  

Over the years the Shaws have raised several litters of piglets on the farm. Several of their sows have given birth and it is quite comical to see the antics of the little ones. At times they move over the ground in a wave – and sometimes right under the fence! They are quite entertaining to watch.  Joy did not find it entertaining when she was the only one at home to retrieve the herd of piglets from the neighbor's yard up the street!  But she managed it just the same.

Many of the ideas implemented at Shaw Farms have come from the writings of Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms in Swope, Virginia. He has written several books detailing how he raises animals with natural methods on his own farm.  He developed the moveable field pens the Shaws have used for raising their laying hens and meat birds. These pens have no floor, which provides direct access to grass, and are moved daily to provide a continuous supply of fresh grass and insects. 

For years Harold Shaw Jr. hoped that some of his children or grandchildren would continue working the farm. All of the 4 children have worked there for various amounts of time, and many of his 17 grandchildren have as well. It was truly a co-operative family operation, and the Shaws are optimistic that if God wills it, the land and resources passed down to them can continue to provide wholesome and nutritious food for their family and the community, and it remains to be seen if the land may yet be of use to benefit the community in other ways.

In operating this farm, and in life in general, we have had struggles. We all have to work through some difficult things in life, don’t we. But we are all in this together, and should help each other out. When we find something that helps make life easier to deal with we should share it with each other, should we not? 

Probably none of us has all the answers, but I believe there are answers to be found.

So why have we farmed this land, and followed the paths we have chosen in life? 

The main motivation for what we do is to bring honor to the Lord our God. He has given us our family, which we deeply treasure, and has provided this land we live on. We try to live our lives as followers of Jesus Christ. He died on a cross 2000 years ago, and the remarkable thing is, he came back to life, according to many witnesses, and lived on earth for another 40 days, meeting with many of his followers before going back to heaven. 

We recognize His love for us, and look to Him as our savior from sin. We look forward to spending eternity with him in heaven after we die. He made this offer to me, and He makes it to you as well. He is not asking us to do something for him. He is asking us to accept what has already been done for us by his death on the cross. 

We just need to humbly believe he is the savior, and by faith accept his forgiveness for sin. There really is no more loving and caring individual than Jesus. 

We all have problems in life, whether it be poor Health, trouble getting along with people we are close to, work that we don’t enjoy, not enough money to pay the bills, addictions. Jesus is there to help us deal with absolutely anything that comes our way.

Have you ever heard someone say “my good works need to outweigh my bad ones?” How is that working out for us? Usually not well. And that idea is not taught in the Bible.

Do you know what Jesus asked of His followers? Follow me. Not too complicated.

What about keeping the 10 commandments? Jesus never asked us to do that. In fact, the Bible says the whole reason they were given was to show us that we can’t keep them! Is following them a good way to live? Absolutely. But they were not for us! They were for the nation of Israel, many years ago. 

Someone asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment. His answer? Love God, and love your neighbor. And later just one : love each other as I have loved you.

Some people say “there are lots of paths that lead to God.” Do you think that idea is in the bible? It is not. Jesus says the opposite – I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.

You may or may not know me. If you do, I hope you have some level of respect for me. I’d like to think I am a reasonable and rational person. So please consider this – I am all in with Jesus Christ. 

He walked this earth for 33 years, and he never sinned. He taught the people in his day that he came to establish a brand new way to relate to God his father. He taught many things during his 3 years of ministry. And then he punctuated his teaching by allowing himself to be crucified on a cross. He died. 

But he didn’t stay dead! He came back to life 3 days later.

I am all fully committed to this man. I believe what he said. He said “follow me”. You can do that. He doesn’t say you need to start being religious. He doesn’t say you have to start going to church (although you may choose to, and that’s a great idea!) 

It’s not too late. You are not too bad for him to forgive. No one is. That’s why Jesus died.

This is not a trivial matter or one to ignore. Talk to Jesus. He is there waiting for you with arms wide open, ready to welcome you. Tell him you accept his offer of love and forgiveness. The Bible makes it clear that when we do that, we are born into His family.

If you want more information about this, or want to talk with me about it, feel free. Call me, text me, find me on Facebook.