The Great American Egg

End of the Winter Egg Drops

G.A.E. — Wed, 02 May 2012 00:47:34 +0000

Good news/bad news….

Sunday was the last egg drop for the winter season in Drake Park. The good news is we begin butchering chickens again this week!

Thanks much for the support over the winter. Eggs may have been scarce, but the feed bill wasn’t…these drops certainly helped!

No Drop Today – Happy Easter

G.A.E. — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 21:39:44 +0000

Shoog…getting down to business!

G.A.E. — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:43:02 +0000

Winter happenings on the farm

G.A.E. — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:23:35 +0000

Hello Everyone,

We thought it was about time to let you know how your animals are doing…..here are some updates from the Egg.

Farrowing
Our sows Sugar (Shoog for short) and Piper are doing their job to bring beautiful little piggies into the world. Piper gave us a small litter of four gilts (girls) three weeks ago. All are healthy and solidly built and exploring their surroundings and pasture when the sun shines. Sugar is due this week and looks really ready to pop. She waddles the length of the pasture though her teats almost drag over the grass. She gets some extra brushing which results in some contented grunts and sighs to take her mind off the wiggling masses that are preparing to make their appearance!

Buffies
Our Buff Orpingtons are starting to come into lay now as we find tiny little ‘wind eggs’ (nothing but shell and whites) and slightly bigger ‘rooster eggs’ (the whole package only very small) each day. We’ll have rooster eggs for sale later in the spring (all smalls) for $2.50/doz. but don’t be fooled by the name. The old wive’s tale on ‘rooster eggs’ is that the girls are rather embarrassed to be producing such small eggs so they blame them on the roosters.

Egg drop until April

We’ll continue the egg drop at Drake Park on Sundays between 3 and 4pm through April, and if egg production is looking massive (see the note above about the Buffies) we will start deliveries then as well. In the mean time, we have lots of sausage (Breakfast, Maple, and Sweet Italian), bacon (Maple, Jowl, Cottage/Shoulder, Peppered and British/Loin in a few weeks), as well as boneless and bone-in chops that we bring each Sunday.

Spring is around the corner

Chicken again in May! The abattoir has been cleaned and closed for the winter but as the weather changes, chicks will arrive and we’ll start processing chickens again in just a couple of months. Like last year, we’ll have fresh and frozen chicken at the farmers markets this summer! Yum! Don’t forget to plan for farm days this summer….these are definitely our favorite days of the season.

Turkeys in July and November

Thanks to all who emailed or called with Thanksgiving turkey reports. We really appreciate the feedback and are so pleased by the responses. This year we finally got the size right as most were a good fit for the dinner table. We’ll have turkeys again this year with some available this summer (think about BBQ-ing some drumsticks or plan a truly awesome summer wing party) and for Thanksgiving 2012. Last years birds were great on the farm and the table so we are sticking with the formula for 2012. They are social birds that forage well- so the summer birds are really going to enjoy the pastures! The fact that these turkeys herd so well really make them fun….nothing worse than chasing a rouge birds off the neighbors field!

Bend News
Where will the market be this year? Not sure, but the rumor mill has us back in the alley between Oregon and Minnesota….hope we hear soon!

Salem news

You will find the Great American Egg products at the Salem Public Market (www.salempublicmarket.com), Oregon’s oldest farmers market, on Saturdays from 8:30 to 2pm along with Ling Farm Beef (www.lingfarm.com) and Henny Farm Lamb (www.hennyfarm.homestead.com). This is a great market with great traditions and has been a good fit for us. Your patronage has really helped the farm this winter. We’ll be back at the Saturday Salem Market when it opens in April as well. We hope to have a fixed booth along Marion Street this year which means no more playing Marco Polo as you try to find us by the port-a-potties. . . or behind the band. . . or next to the zero-waste stations!

Chicks and turkey poults and ducklings have been ordered so spring must be near! See you soon!!!!

Winter Progress

G.A.E. — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 01:57:04 +0000

It has been nice to be done butchering chickens and turkeys for a while. There has been so much piling up that having the time and some nice winter weather has really been a blessing. I’ll post some pictures but we have revamped the ballast system on the hen’s SuperDoops. This change has really helped us sleep at night (thinking back….I remember posting one time about how well the superdoops are holding up against the wind- only to lose one the next day! And yes, there is a high wind warning posted for tomorrow!?!). We have also completed a winter hut for the sows and boar. This is a group house for gestation, then each sow will choose her birthing hut when she is ready. We have also moved the cows to the pond area for the winter. This will help with winter water and help build up some of the worst soil on the farm. The sows followed the cows and will help turn the top soil for spring planting. ..they also consider cow patties a delicacy.

The girls are strong and helpful and we have had a nice family time this Chistmas break. It has been nice to recharge the family batteries!

In other news, CoCo the Grey Murray gave birth this afternoon!! More news on this later, but mama and calf are doing fine, looks like she will have her all cleaned up before it gets dark tonight!

Merry Christmas- but no Egg Drop

G.A.E. — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 01:55:41 +0000

We will be back at Drake Park on New Year’s Day.

Egg drop cancelled this week

G.A.E. — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 22:18:41 +0000

We are under the weather at the farm so we won’t make it to town today. Sorry and see you next week.
Anita

3rd Annual FFA Fruit Sale

G.A.E. — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 21:19:14 +0000

Great Fruit, Great Deal, Great Cause

The annual Crook County High School FFA fruit sale is back and you can order on the Great American Egg Facebook page. You can choose four different varieties of apples and three varieties of pears from the Walter Wells and Sons Farm in the Hood River Valley. The Crook County FFA students and alumni have again grown three varieties of potatoes this year. The potatoes are going through a heavy premium sort this year for a bit more consistency in your bag. The fruit comes in 25 pound flats ($13), and the potatoes are coming in 10 pound increments ($3).

We are using Facebook this year because the website handles everything for us. For this convenience we are happy to pay the service fees. This means that you can pre-pay and confirm you order with a computer rather than through us…..impersonal maybe, but far more reliable. There is also the benefit of the social networked world to help spread the word about the sale. If you have trouble or have opted out of this service- give us a call and we can work it out.

The items will be available at the farm on November 19th, and also at the Salem Public Market on the 19th. Your order must be in by November 9th. As always, this sale is merely facilitated by the Great American Egg- these aren’t our products; however, we do support the efforts of the Crook County kids. Last year the local chapter was able to travel to Indianapolis for the annual convention. So spread the word! The fruit and potatoes have always been fantastic and we so love the look on the kids and instructor when we drop off your orders- they are so appreciative (last year we were the largest group supporter!).

CLICK HERE to ORDER!

Happy Halloween,
Great American Egg

Flush with Pigs

G.A.E. — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:05:42 +0000

The sows and their litters came home yesterday. This means that we have four litters on the ground right now! Two sets are ready for butcher and will be offered up through winter pork boxes. The new sets – four weeks old right now…will be ready by the spring markets. These pigs will also be the first on the kale/turnip pasture. We are excited to see how this works. In the meantime, enjoy a video of the little guys greeting the morning.
Hamp/Tam Piglets

Butcher Day this Sunday

G.A.E. — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:56:50 +0000

We are butchering this weekend! We plan to process in the morning and open the farm up in the afternoon for folks that are looking for fresh chicken. Please let us know if you are coming out and how many birds you would like so we can plan accordingly. I hate to even mention this, but we should have cures (Cottage, Belly, British and Jowl bacon) back on Friday of this week- you will have first crack at these on Sunday if your interested!