Happy Thanksgiving!
The production season is now at a close, and boy was it great. We really learned a lot and are thrilled about diving in again next year.
Thanksgiving was a lot of fun and was just the celebration we needed. We were invited by our neighbors Donna and Gene to come have dinner, and while we had our reservations about leaving the house at all (when we were in the thick of processing we promised ourselves that we’d recover by staying in our pajamas for a month and eat ice cream), the dinner was spectacular. We had an Early Bird Turkey, and I was quite proud and impressed.
The turkeys ended up being absolutely huge. In addition to just excelling on the pasture and expressing that as physical growth, we received so many requests for processing dates closer to Thanksgiving that we let the birds go an extra 10 days while they were at their peak growth rate. All of this will be taken into account next year, but what blew me away was that the large size of the turkeys did not diminish their tenderness or flavor. Email after email from customers, as well as our own dinner at Donna and Gene’s, showed us that customers with the same concerns ended their Thanksgiving suppers satisfied and fighting with their guests over who got to have the leftovers. That said, we still have a 28 pound turkey in our freezer for anyone looking to host a minor diplomatic gathering or very complete family reunion.
I don’t think I’m going to say much more today. Shae and I are overcoming our obligatory “we can finally rest now” colds and I’d much rather be under a blanket right now (admittedly, though, I’ll probably do some farm finances or something while I’m there).
I’m not sure how often we’ll be posting on the blog over the Winter. I suspect we can keep a once-per-week pace up, but that all depends on us having interesting things to say. We’ll do all we can to be fascinating!
Have a great Winter. Happy Everything!
Welcome to the Early Bird Ranch Blog. My name is Kevin and with my wife, Shae Lynn, I farm pasture-raised turkeys, rabbits, pigs, and chickens on our small ranch in Pescadero, California. You can find more information at www.EarlyBirdRanch.com.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Tread Softly...
I certainly don’t want to tempt fate by counting my turkeys before they are processed and sold, but with winter approaching it’s time to start making some plans.
Rabbits- In 2011 we are planning to start a small rabbit enterprise on the farm. Many restaurants and customers we’ve talked to have been disappointed at the availability of local and especially pasture-raised rabbits, and we are thrilled that we might be able to help fill the gap. The project would likely be quite modest as rabbits don’t scale easily. However, on a small-scale they are wonderful and can potentially bring in a nice supplemental income for the farm.
We are thinking of breaking from the Polyface Raken House (It really should be spelled Racken House) that combines Rabbits and Chickens on a composting floor to eliminate the dangers of concentrating rabbit waste. Instead, we are considering combining the rabbits with a worm composting structure that will keep our hens out on the pasture and control the rabbits’ waste while creating some really valuable compost for our garden.
Garden- So this one is a bit of a pipe dream, but it’s an important one to me. I have very limited gardening experience, but next year I’d like to produce 75% of the vegetable calories Shae and I consume. In fact, I’d like to produce a heck of a lot more… like comfrey for the rabbits to eat and herbs to sell with chickens. However, I think this is possible. I am a devoted student of Steve Solomon (look up his books on gardening!) and I’m surrounded by truly gifted vegetable growers and a near-constant supply of manure. Additionally, ShaeLynn’s father and mother are both now experienced gardeners, and would be amazing resources. If I can’t get them out here to help by offering chickens, I’m willing to try luring them with grandchildren.
Bread Baking- A big challenge that we have to overcome is that our cash flow ends in the winter. This is not completely terrible, but it does put some hefty pressure on the other seasons. In the next few weeks Shae and I will be talking with some local farms and seeing if we can team up with their CSAs and provide them with a steady supply of artisanal breads baked in a wood-fired brick oven. Sounds pretty great, huh? Shae is an accomplished baker now and her curiosity and devotion to the craft are really exemplary. In the end of 2009 and the beginning of this year she worked full-time baking these sorts of breads in New Jersey and frankly we haven’t been able to find anything like them out here. The time commitment is quite serious, but as a winter business I think this is a great fit. I can’t imagine Shae will be too unhappy in front of a roaring oven during the cold wet months and I can’t think of a single customer that wouldn’t be interested in fresh hearty breads to enjoy with a warm bowl of soup this winter.
Soup and Chicken Stock- As I am not one to brag, I’ll simply say that the stock we make from our chickens is downright stellar. With the rich and nutritionally-dense fat that our birds put on eating grass and clover, we can produce a stock that is thick, flavorful, and wonderfully healthy. The best part about stock and soup is that it is a great way to add value to the chickens and empty our freezer (that is in cahoots with PG&E to destroy our budget). Producing chicken stock or soup would be a great winter business as well and help to distribute or income a little more evenly. Further, it would be a great way to cooperate and build relationships with the local vegetable growers whom I am sure would like to see aesthetically unsalable vegetables get purchased and used to feed people.
Slow Growth Broilers- The last project (although the list goes on) that I’ll put out there is that we’d like to begin experimenting with new breeds of meat chickens. I love the Cornish Crosses that we raise. They are efficient growers and produce at a low cost a meaty bird that we hope lets more families eat wholesome and local food. However, they are not the only meat bird out there. Other breeds bring other assets to the table and many of our customers have been interested in the slower growing breeds. These birds take longer to produce and have mostly dark meat, but as a result are usually quite flavorful. One of our big ambitions is to see if we can actually start a self-sustaining flock of these guys that we breed and raise on the farm. Over time, this would allow to us experiment with breeding a meat bird that is specially suited to unique climate and pastures of the Cloverdale Valley. Pretty exciting!
We’ll see how all of this develops. Our model for growing this business is to expand the diversity of the farm rather than the size of any one enterprise. We are also looking into getting a dairy cow (my cheese making skills are in desperate need of practice), starting a grass-fed lamb operation, and beginning to raise pastured pigs, but these enterprises might be too capital-intensive to begin in the winter and may have to wait until spring.
All that said, 2011 looks like it’s going to be a pretty formative year for the business. As I mentioned above, we’d love to hear ideas, encouragement, warnings, or anything else any of you are willing to offer. We really can’t thank all of you (friends, customers, family, and blog-readers) enough for helping us start and keep the farm going. We wouldn’t have even gotten this far if it wasn’t for your cheering, advice, support, and friendship.
Happy winter!
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet,
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams
Having a seasonally-driven schedule has some significant disadvantages, but it allows us to reset our minds and use the “off-season” to play around with projects and see how we can improve or expand the business. This year has been truly wonderful to us and while we are still a little ways away from paying for the broiler and turkey business and rebuilding our savings, we have a few projects that we are planning for the winter that we’d love to share with all of you. Your input, critiques, ideas, and even help are all welcome and encouraged.
 |
| Our winter planning board! See all the ideas? |
Rabbits- In 2011 we are planning to start a small rabbit enterprise on the farm. Many restaurants and customers we’ve talked to have been disappointed at the availability of local and especially pasture-raised rabbits, and we are thrilled that we might be able to help fill the gap. The project would likely be quite modest as rabbits don’t scale easily. However, on a small-scale they are wonderful and can potentially bring in a nice supplemental income for the farm.
We are thinking of breaking from the Polyface Raken House (It really should be spelled Racken House) that combines Rabbits and Chickens on a composting floor to eliminate the dangers of concentrating rabbit waste. Instead, we are considering combining the rabbits with a worm composting structure that will keep our hens out on the pasture and control the rabbits’ waste while creating some really valuable compost for our garden.
Garden- So this one is a bit of a pipe dream, but it’s an important one to me. I have very limited gardening experience, but next year I’d like to produce 75% of the vegetable calories Shae and I consume. In fact, I’d like to produce a heck of a lot more… like comfrey for the rabbits to eat and herbs to sell with chickens. However, I think this is possible. I am a devoted student of Steve Solomon (look up his books on gardening!) and I’m surrounded by truly gifted vegetable growers and a near-constant supply of manure. Additionally, ShaeLynn’s father and mother are both now experienced gardeners, and would be amazing resources. If I can’t get them out here to help by offering chickens, I’m willing to try luring them with grandchildren.
Bread Baking- A big challenge that we have to overcome is that our cash flow ends in the winter. This is not completely terrible, but it does put some hefty pressure on the other seasons. In the next few weeks Shae and I will be talking with some local farms and seeing if we can team up with their CSAs and provide them with a steady supply of artisanal breads baked in a wood-fired brick oven. Sounds pretty great, huh? Shae is an accomplished baker now and her curiosity and devotion to the craft are really exemplary. In the end of 2009 and the beginning of this year she worked full-time baking these sorts of breads in New Jersey and frankly we haven’t been able to find anything like them out here. The time commitment is quite serious, but as a winter business I think this is a great fit. I can’t imagine Shae will be too unhappy in front of a roaring oven during the cold wet months and I can’t think of a single customer that wouldn’t be interested in fresh hearty breads to enjoy with a warm bowl of soup this winter.
Soup and Chicken Stock- As I am not one to brag, I’ll simply say that the stock we make from our chickens is downright stellar. With the rich and nutritionally-dense fat that our birds put on eating grass and clover, we can produce a stock that is thick, flavorful, and wonderfully healthy. The best part about stock and soup is that it is a great way to add value to the chickens and empty our freezer (that is in cahoots with PG&E to destroy our budget). Producing chicken stock or soup would be a great winter business as well and help to distribute or income a little more evenly. Further, it would be a great way to cooperate and build relationships with the local vegetable growers whom I am sure would like to see aesthetically unsalable vegetables get purchased and used to feed people.
Slow Growth Broilers- The last project (although the list goes on) that I’ll put out there is that we’d like to begin experimenting with new breeds of meat chickens. I love the Cornish Crosses that we raise. They are efficient growers and produce at a low cost a meaty bird that we hope lets more families eat wholesome and local food. However, they are not the only meat bird out there. Other breeds bring other assets to the table and many of our customers have been interested in the slower growing breeds. These birds take longer to produce and have mostly dark meat, but as a result are usually quite flavorful. One of our big ambitions is to see if we can actually start a self-sustaining flock of these guys that we breed and raise on the farm. Over time, this would allow to us experiment with breeding a meat bird that is specially suited to unique climate and pastures of the Cloverdale Valley. Pretty exciting!
We’ll see how all of this develops. Our model for growing this business is to expand the diversity of the farm rather than the size of any one enterprise. We are also looking into getting a dairy cow (my cheese making skills are in desperate need of practice), starting a grass-fed lamb operation, and beginning to raise pastured pigs, but these enterprises might be too capital-intensive to begin in the winter and may have to wait until spring.
All that said, 2011 looks like it’s going to be a pretty formative year for the business. As I mentioned above, we’d love to hear ideas, encouragement, warnings, or anything else any of you are willing to offer. We really can’t thank all of you (friends, customers, family, and blog-readers) enough for helping us start and keep the farm going. We wouldn’t have even gotten this far if it wasn’t for your cheering, advice, support, and friendship.
Happy winter!
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet,
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams
Friday, November 5, 2010
Fancy Shmancy
Here we are, as promised, coming up for air.
As many of you can guess (or saw when you came by the farm), we are a little bit run down by the intensity of the schedule we’ve been maintaining over the last two weeks. However, we've made it over the substantial obstacle of processing our second batch of chickens, and we even got enough last minute customers to bring our chicken inventory down to something that will fit in our garage freezer!
Everything seems to be going great on the farm, though. We've been a little worried to hear that two farms run by neighbors and friends of ours are closing down. Both farm operations were run using sound and even impressive methods, but regulatory and market-based challenges made the businesses and, more importantly, the quality of life unsustainable for the farmers. This is obviously a real concern for us. We are willing to sacrifice to get the farm started and off the ground, but I think we are shooting in the short-term for something a little more modest than 12-14 hour days.
With that in mind Shae and I cleared our schedules and threw worries of morning fatigue to the wind and had a spectacular night out.
For the past two weeks we have been waiting anxiously to go and try the amazing ways that Flea Street Café’s executive chef, Carlos, told us he’d be using our chicken. We haven’t had a night out in quite a while and our dress clothes were looking dusty. When Carlos and the restaurant’s owner, Jesse, came by in the middle of our 10 day processing marathon to pick up their order and invited us as their guests to come have dinner, we accepted immediately. In the days that followed, while we were standing in the wet and cold, covered in chicken guts, Shae and I created a wonderful fantasy of how great it would be to go out and have dinner to celebrate being done. While it would have been enough for the dinner to have just provided us with the energy and morale to make it through 500 birds, it turned out to be an incredibly special night.
Perhaps the most important part of the evening was meeting everyone at Flea Street Café. Before we sat down, we were introduced to almost all of the staff and had time throughout our dinner to steal small conversations with them as they darted from table to table. What made this so important was that Shae and I really don’t want to have traditional customer-vendor relationships. When we look for customers, we proudly blur the line between personal and business matters. Part of what we love about farming is that we have the ability to use the business as a means to meet new friends and develop ties to the people/community that are nourished by our food and in turn let us continue to heal the land and care for our animals. However, all this gushing might be a little much--I’m sure many of you are interested mostly in what we ate.
The food was downright amazing. Shae and I both get a great deal of pride from taking the time to cook delicious meals at home and experiment with different ingredients and preparations, but the food we had was just a great example of what years of culinary experience and training can produce. The care and creativity that Flea Street Café put into their menu was really apparent. We are usually a pretty cheap date, and as good guests we were planning to just have two modest entrees, but the people at Flea Street Cafe had a different plan. Through taste after taste of exquisite food that they sent out to surprise us, we found ourselves a little overwhelmed, but supremely happy and satisfied.
Here’s what we had: squash ravioli with an Early Bird Chicken ragu, housemade lamb sausage with spicy peach compote, friend green tomatoes with corn relish and chipotle aioli, harpooned San Diego swordfish topped with crab, slow-braised grass-fed short ribs, pasture-raised duck with a bacon sherry vinaigrette, black mission fig bread pudding with bourbon cream carmel sauce, and chocolate almond cake with rum peach ice cream.
I meant to take a picture of the beautiful presentations, but I kept getting distracted. Everything, with absolutely no embellishment, was awesome.
Our wonderful waiter Steve, who couldn’t have steered us towards better choices, masterfully calmed all of our fears by reminding us that pre-industrial agricultural peoples usually needed twice the daily calorie intake that we consider normal today. That was a big relief because it means Shae and I were only overeating by a factor of 4 rather than 8.
But here’s what really made this blog-worthy, the night was inspiring. The time to rest was important, and the food was amazing, but meeting the staff and seeing their passion for real and high quality food reinvigorated our tired spirits. Shae and I spent most of the night gazing into each other’s eyes… and brainstorming what breed of hogs we’d like to raise and doodling sketches for a mobile rabbit/worm compost structure. It was as romantic you’d imagine.
So we’re back to our schedule, but things couldn’t feel brighter. I suppose though, it’s easier for us to recover from being tired and overwhelmed. This is the one job where the grass is greener where we are.
As many of you can guess (or saw when you came by the farm), we are a little bit run down by the intensity of the schedule we’ve been maintaining over the last two weeks. However, we've made it over the substantial obstacle of processing our second batch of chickens, and we even got enough last minute customers to bring our chicken inventory down to something that will fit in our garage freezer!
Everything seems to be going great on the farm, though. We've been a little worried to hear that two farms run by neighbors and friends of ours are closing down. Both farm operations were run using sound and even impressive methods, but regulatory and market-based challenges made the businesses and, more importantly, the quality of life unsustainable for the farmers. This is obviously a real concern for us. We are willing to sacrifice to get the farm started and off the ground, but I think we are shooting in the short-term for something a little more modest than 12-14 hour days.
With that in mind Shae and I cleared our schedules and threw worries of morning fatigue to the wind and had a spectacular night out.
For the past two weeks we have been waiting anxiously to go and try the amazing ways that Flea Street Café’s executive chef, Carlos, told us he’d be using our chicken. We haven’t had a night out in quite a while and our dress clothes were looking dusty. When Carlos and the restaurant’s owner, Jesse, came by in the middle of our 10 day processing marathon to pick up their order and invited us as their guests to come have dinner, we accepted immediately. In the days that followed, while we were standing in the wet and cold, covered in chicken guts, Shae and I created a wonderful fantasy of how great it would be to go out and have dinner to celebrate being done. While it would have been enough for the dinner to have just provided us with the energy and morale to make it through 500 birds, it turned out to be an incredibly special night.
 |
| What a team! |
The food was downright amazing. Shae and I both get a great deal of pride from taking the time to cook delicious meals at home and experiment with different ingredients and preparations, but the food we had was just a great example of what years of culinary experience and training can produce. The care and creativity that Flea Street Café put into their menu was really apparent. We are usually a pretty cheap date, and as good guests we were planning to just have two modest entrees, but the people at Flea Street Cafe had a different plan. Through taste after taste of exquisite food that they sent out to surprise us, we found ourselves a little overwhelmed, but supremely happy and satisfied.
Here’s what we had: squash ravioli with an Early Bird Chicken ragu, housemade lamb sausage with spicy peach compote, friend green tomatoes with corn relish and chipotle aioli, harpooned San Diego swordfish topped with crab, slow-braised grass-fed short ribs, pasture-raised duck with a bacon sherry vinaigrette, black mission fig bread pudding with bourbon cream carmel sauce, and chocolate almond cake with rum peach ice cream.
I meant to take a picture of the beautiful presentations, but I kept getting distracted. Everything, with absolutely no embellishment, was awesome.
 |
| I swear it looked great. |
But here’s what really made this blog-worthy, the night was inspiring. The time to rest was important, and the food was amazing, but meeting the staff and seeing their passion for real and high quality food reinvigorated our tired spirits. Shae and I spent most of the night gazing into each other’s eyes… and brainstorming what breed of hogs we’d like to raise and doodling sketches for a mobile rabbit/worm compost structure. It was as romantic you’d imagine.
So we’re back to our schedule, but things couldn’t feel brighter. I suppose though, it’s easier for us to recover from being tired and overwhelmed. This is the one job where the grass is greener where we are.
 |
| This is our first slaughter spot in front and our second in back. Amazing. |
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