I envied those chickens. What a great place to live! The first time I saw their happy chicken faces was in May. D and I were driving out to McClure's Beach in Point Reyes - one of my favorite places on earth, next to San Francisco, Paris and Big Sur. The beach is at the end of Pierce Point Road - the very last beach at the end of the line. Signs along the road read 'A Ranch, B Ranch, H Ranch'. All of them original and historic ranches from the 1800's. Beautiful grazing land, lots of cows, a few steers and, wait, are those chickens? Fluffy white puffs with red heads strolling along the wide-open landscape. My immediate thought was 'why aren't they flying away?". We pulled the car over and got out. Near the chickens were Darth Vader like huts. For the shepherds? Searching my back file of somewhat limited chicken knowledge I was trying to recall how the chickens in my grandmother's yard in Oakland, California had lived. Seems to me they had a coop. I don't remember any chickens free ranging it in Oakland. And then I remembered her chicken's eggs. Those amazing eggs with the orange yolks. Fresh eggs with firm whites. Eggs of substance. You could eat just one of those eggs and be satisfied.
Fast forward. I was at the Marin Farmer's market Thursday. (It brought back happy memories of the early days of the 'Embarcadero Farmer's Market' before it moved to the Ferry Building and was just this great market squeezed onto a meridian in the middle of the Embarcadero). The Marin FM has lots of room to walk and the traffic pattern makes sense. You can make the loop once, think about what looks appealing, grab a cup of coffee, put together a shopping list and then walk the loop a second time and purchase. Prices are comparable or less than in San Francisco. Lots of the same vendors, more baked goods.
So, I'm strolling along and I see a vendor with beef and eggs. I never buy beef at the Farmer's Market but D always seems to wander over to chat with the meat folks. The very nice guy behind the table explained that everything is from the historic H ranch, Marin Sun Farms. Even the eggs. I looked at his pamphlet and there they were! My girls! All white fluff photographed in the beautiful green field with the black domed Quonset huts in the background. "How much" I asked. "$6 dollars a dozen" he answered. And without skipping a beat he explained why they were so expensive. I told him that I understood and would be back right before I left the market to buy a dozen. I continued through the market sampling pluots and white nectarines and Old Portuguese cheese. I wondered what my Grandmother would think if someone told her that her granddaughter was going to spend $6 on one dozen eggs. Is this what she was hoping for when she crossed the Atlantic in 1920? Is this what a better life for her grandchildren meant? What a crazy turn of events. She leaves the island of Madeira to come to the United States to give her children a better life so that her grandchildren could get college educations and earn enough money to be able to spend $6 for a dozen eggs that were identical to the eggs that she raised in her backyard in Oakland but are no longer available for less money. Face it. This has become the high price of getting back to pre-industrial age organic farming techniques. And if I want food that tastes like something besides cardboard this is the price I am willing to pay.
I brought home my wonderful eggs and have been enjoying two each morning. Poached for five minutes. Sprinkled with Maldon sea salt, a grind of Tellicherry black pepper with a toasted slice of Anna's Daughter's Rye Bread with Flax and Sunflower seeds. Delicious and deeply satisfying.
I think it's worth it. What better thing to spend our money on than stuff we feed our bodies with?
And Point Reyes is absolutely gorgeous. I've only been there once, but I'm quite haunted by it, and can't wait to go back.
Posted by: ladygoat | July 28, 2005 at 01:44 PM