Tired of the “bulls***” at the store? This Bethlehem farmer was too

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The barbershop had that usual Friday energy: clippers buzzing, conversations overlapping, guys chopping it up across chairs, when one of the guys across the shop stood up, paid, and walked out the door.

Then he came back with eggs.

Carlos Borges had just gotten his haircut at Lifestyle Barbershop, 901 N. New St., on April 10. But when he reappeared moments later, he was carrying stacks of flat trays, dozens upon dozens of fresh organic eggs, delivering to the same shop he’d just been a customer in.

I was still in the chair. I called across the shop and asked if it was his business. He said yes, gave me his info, and kept moving.

It was the kind of scene you don’t see much anymore: a young farmer making rounds, hand-delivering product to local businesses on his route. And he wasn’t finished. About 20 or 30 minutes later, when I stepped out and got to my car, I looked across the street, and there he was — outside Sabor Poblano Taqueria, 835 N. New St., unloading more from the back of his truck.

Pure hustle.

I left the car running, sprinted across the street, and caught him next to the tailgate.

“I just got tired of eating the bullshit at the store,” Borges said, pulling trays from the back of his truck outside the taqueria. “So I was like, you know what? No one’s starting a farm. I need to start a farm.”

What started around 2021 as a personal experiment — 10 or 20 chickens, just for himself — Homestead Heaven Farm LLC has grown into a full operation spanning eight acres and roughly 300 birds.

Borges, who also works in construction, said he funded the farm by flipping houses and poured the proceeds into fencing, land, and infrastructure.

He incubates his own eggs to grow the flock, which now includes Leghorns, Barred Rocks, Plymouth Rocks, and a range of mixed breeds that have naturally crossbred over the years. The result is a rainbow of shell colors — green, white, brown, beige — that Borges said customers love cracking open.

The chickens are raised organically. “They eat really well,” he said.

Alongside the chickens, Borges keeps cows and horses on the property, an operation he manages largely on his own since his marriage ended, a casualty, he said with a half-laugh, of the farm itself.

“This caused a divorce, man,” he said. “She liked the animals, but not the washing eggs and the, you know — you got to deal with chicken poop.”

Borges sells eggs by the dozen at $5, or in 30-count flats at $4 a dozen, and if you bring back a clean carton, he’ll hand you 25 cents for it on the spot.

“I love to recycle, man,” he said.

He’s built his customer base almost entirely through word of mouth. Restaurants know his schedule — he swings by every two weeks — and they’re waiting for him.

On Instagram at @homestead_heaven_llc and TikTok at @cityfarmer89, Borges mostly documents how the animals are kept and what they’re fed. The social presence helps with visibility, he said, even if it doesn’t drive direct sales.

@cityfarmer89 feeding bread from one of my bakers to the chickens. they love it! #feedingtime #homestead #chicken #bakers ♬ original sound – man_with_the_fam

“It really doesn’t make you money,” he said.

The harder sell, he acknowledged, is the price point. Some customers balk when supermarket eggs run $2 or $3 a carton.

“People argue with me sometimes,” he said. “But it’s not the same.”

Borges said he didn’t grow up farming and had no family history in agriculture. The idea, he said, came from somewhere deeper.

“I think God put the idea in my head, and I ran with it.”

He’s been running ever since. In five years, the operation has grown steadily, and he said he’s still behind demand.

“I need more eggs. I need more chickens. I don’t have enough.”

His pitch to the community is simple and direct: buy from the people who care.

“Support small farmers,” he said. “It’s the only way. Otherwise, everything will be corporations, and they don’t care about us.”

Homestead Heaven Farm LLC eggs are available for direct purchase. Reach out to Carlos at [email protected] and follow @cityfarmer89 on TikTok and @homestead_heaven_llc on Instagram.