Rudd Farms Heritage Turkeys

Rudd Farms attended the last two St. Helena Farmers Markets to promote our amazing heritage turkeys that Farmer Omar has been raising up on Mt. Veeder. Omar flew to Kansas to pick up the poults from the Good Shepherd Poultry Farm, owned by Frank Reese, a fourth generation poultry farmer. He brought them back and has been raising them on an acre of land and feeding them a 100% vegetarian diet. All of the turkeys are heritage breeds including Bronze, Bourbon Red, Narragansett, and White Holland. Heritage turkeys make up less than 1% of the 200 million turkeys raised in the United States. They are considered by many chefs to be the best turkey for Thanksgiving. Because they take longer to to grow they develop more fat and a more robust flavor. We only had 80 turkeys to start and they are going fast so if you are interested in one for Thanksgiving send us an email! Oh and if you're interested in these cool pumpkins they are available at the Oakville Grocery!

 

 

When I Grow Up, I want to be a Juicy Heirloom Tomato

The tomato plants beginning their life. They're ready for harvest now, but you have to stop by The Farmstand at Oakville Grocery to get them.

Brand New Products Everywhere

The store is so much bigger now. The aisles have opened up, and its packed with all kinds of new yummy treats. I want to buy one of everything.

The New Cheese Section

The Old Well

How cool is this! They built a see-through floor over the old well inside the store. What a history Oakville has. If only the walls could talk.

Come See Whats New at Oakville Grocery

They have some new wonderful sandwiches, and some old favorites too.

Just Like The Old Days

Lemonade anyone?

The Farmstand is Open

This past weekend was the opening of The Oakville Grocery Farmstand. It was a wonderful first weekend. We are now serving ice cold beer on tap, and are also offering Fresh Homemade Lemonade in three different flavors. Meyer Lemon, Strawberry and Tangerine. The Cherries and Strawberries are sweeter than ever this year. The Farmstand is opened Friday through Sunday from 10:00am-6:00pm. Come and see the new remodeled Oakville Grocery too. They have created several new delicious sandwiches and the store looks amazing. Pictured above is Danny, our newest member to The Farmstand, myself and of course Farmer Omar.

Does it get any better than this

The Crew

You haven't seen hard work until you have seen these guys work for just a day. It's amazing. From left to right we have, Omar, Isaiah (Omar's middle son, who will be graduating high school this June) Jason, Omar's right hand man, and Miguel.

They look like the ducks you would see in a cartoon on television.

Duck, duck, Goose!

The baby ducks have arrived! They are just the cutest things.

And a Chirp Chirp Here.....

Spring has sprung! All the baby chicks have arrived. Omar flew to a small farm in Kansas this past Friday to pick up 100 babies and make sure they flew first class (well, not really) back home to California. The next day 225 Rhode Island Red Chicks and 100 Poults also arrived through The Post Office. So, everyone at the farm is on baby chick watch for the next several weeks now. I have to thank Jason for taking pictures of all the activity when I can't make it up to the farm myself.

Well Hello There

Flying High on American Airlines

Packed and ready to go.

I Thought I saw a Kitty Cat!

This little guy looks either startled or very laid back.

Bambi and the Pigs

If you look closely, you can see the baby pigs in the back of the truck.

Bambi's First Steps

Bambi

Yesterday as Omar and Jason were on their way back up to the farm, they spotted a fawn on the side of the road, only a few hours old, still trying to stand up on her own. They pulled over and waited for the mama to return. With no sign of the mother returning, they scooped the baby up and brought her to the farm along with the 5 new baby pigs already in the back of the truck. The fed her milk and later on that day delivered her to a rescue sheltor. These two guys are my new heros! Life on the farm is always new and beautiful.

Half and Half

What side of the tree does moss grow on?

Snow and Hens?

We actaully got snow up at the farm! The last rainfall that we had was so very cold that it snowed up at the farm on Mt. Veder. The hens didn't know what to do, so they ate it!

Does it Really Get Any More Beautiful Than This?

Setting Gopher Traps

Bob Hope?

We think the eggplant on the right looks like Bob Hope! What do you think?

Creature Feature

We thought it would be fun to post weekly "Creature Feature" pictures of all the wonderful little creatures that live and thrive up at the farm. We named this one Morris Minor.

Turkey Trails

Look who's been strolling through the farm.

A Beautiful Rainy Sunday at The Farm

Our Olive Trees

Our Olive Trees

The New Chicken Coop

The new Mobile Chicken Coop was finished several weeks ago. The chickens can leisurely move about inside or out. The ground cover is a lush blanket of oats, peas, fava beans and vetch, which the ladies (the chickens) eat faster than you can imagine. You can see in the backround picture of Omar holding one of the chickens, how green the ground is that they feed on. The coop can then be easily moved to the next spot. The acreage is fenced off, to keep the critters out. As you can see the southern side of the coop is made to absorb the sun and keep the temperature inside warm and toasty. The eggs need to be collected twice daily, seven days a week. The egg collector is serenaded by a symphony of chicken clucking.

The Green House

This Sunday I spend several hours up at the Farm taking pictures of all the activity that has been going on. The Green House is almost complete. It's huge! Seedlings inside have already been planted even while construction is still going on. The 600 gallon metal containers that the seedling are currently sitting on, were from the gardens at "Press Restaurant". These containers will be used later in an aquaponic project to raise catfish.