New farmstand to offer locally raised meats, eggs on Elgin's west side

Just in time for grilling season, a new farm store offering locally raised meats and fresh eggs will open Saturday on the west side of Elgin.

Pasek Farms General Store will take over the former farmstand of Klein's Farm and Market on Route 20 just east of Coombs Road. Klein's built a new location west of the intersection last year and leased its previous spot to Pasek Farms.

First-generation farmers Jessica and Chase Pasek just started farming about six years.

“We just decided that we wanted to get out of the city life,” Jessica Pasek said.

The couple and their four kids started with 25 chickens bought at Farm and Fleet and some pigs Chase bought on Craigslist.

Since then, they've expanded to have two farms. There are about 220 chickens and nearly 100 pigs on their farm in Malta and a few dozen cows on a farm in nearby Lindenwood.

The Paseks started off doing direct-to-consumer online sales, offering quarter, half and whole beef or pork.

When the pandemic hit, they launched Right From The Farm, a weekly service that delivered individual cuts of meat and fresh eggs to people's homes.

Jessica Pasek said their goal was to bring humanely and locally raised food to people's doors.

“Being on a budget sucks,” she said with a laugh. “You should be able to buy a quality product without it being outrageously expensive.”

And while she said the pandemic also sucks, it was a boon to their business.

“COVID put us on the map,” she said.

Pasek Farms offers standard cuts of pork and beef steaks and roasts. It also sells ground beef, pork sausage patties, hamburger patties, bacon, and locally produced bratwursts in various flavors from Country Village Meats in Sublette.

Aside from the meat and eggs from their farm, the store will sell offerings that are either locally sourced in the Midwest or from veteran-owned companies. Chase is an Army veteran.

The store will be open Wednesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Jessica Pasek said she looks forward to connecting with the local community.

“This is just a way of getting back to when you could get to know your farmer and know where your food comes from and how it's raised,” she said.