Featured Farmer: Sharon Palmer

I’ve never officially met Sharon Palmer, for reasons I will explain, so I unfortunately don’t have a picture of her to share with you. Instead, I thought I would open with a shot that I think accurately represents her farm’s silent message to the overcrowded factory farms of our aching food chain. Man, did this pig seem happy on Sharon’s farm Healthy Family Farms. Having just rolled in some cool piggy mud, I saw him scratch that big ‘ole butt across the fence for a solid 5 minutes. Ahhhhhh….

Last Thanksgiving, I begrudgingly realized that most poultry, even expensive organic heritage poultry, are fed soy. Being allergic, I mourned the inconvenient loss of the grocery store bird, and I bristled a bit, muttering that “birds shouldn’t be eating soybean in the first place.” After a good sigh, I googled for a soy-free turkey, which led me to Healthy Family Farms, a local and sustainable farm. Like a cute boutique, their name caught my eye. They were sold out by the time I called, but a lucky chain of events landed me a 17 lb soy-free beauty. To me, it was as though Santa himself delivered it to my Santa Monica Farmers’ Market. After profuse thanking, I walked towards my car, arms full of turkey, grinning from ear to grateful ear. Between the effort it took to source, the flavor of a pastured bird raised on a loving farm and let’s not forget a generous helping of truffle butter slathered under the skin, that bird tasted like a million bucks. I was so satisfied and appreciative. The feast of Thanksgiving really captured it’s authentic meaning last year. I don’t think it’s meant to be easy.

 

Last weekend, Healthy Family Farms invited their CSA Members for a potluck dinner and screening of Food, Inc. in their main barn. Needless to say, sign me up! John, too! And Rescue Doggie Todd! I’ve had dreams of taking my future dog to a farm long before I even met my little guy. And there is nothing I’d rather do than spend my day on a farm with John. Seriously. It fills my soul up. I am left feeling happy and sleepy. Not tired. Sleepy. I love sleepy. For me, it springs from contentment and relaxation.

Now this little guy above was far from sleepy. He gave Todd a good jolt in the pants when he broke free from the baby goat barn. Ha! Todd actually gets an “A+” because there were temptations everywhere. Ducks, birds, baby goats, big goats, cows, pigs, rabbits and more. He whined a little, pulled on his leash a little and had a close call jumping after one baby chick, but overall, he handled himself with a generous dose of doggie class. The next day, a nice lady even recognized us from our farm visit and gushed about how nicely Todd had behaved. She actually commented that John and I must watch the Dog Whisperer. Heck ya! I was proud of all three of us. This has been quite a learning experience.

After dinner, we were generously offered the chance to milk the mama goats. John held Todd and took some video while I waded my way through the excited herd to the milking station. While in the pen, a solid-spirited and confident female farmer showed me how to correctly squeeze the udder and produce milk. I wished I had introduced myself properly because I liked her and appreciated her inclusive nature. She knew what she was doing and her work with the animals flowed from her fingers. With her guidance, I actually got some milk to flow! It’s not super easy, more of a massage/squeeze than a pull/tug. Fresh from the udder goat’s milk tastes sweeter and creamier than the very freshest raw bottled milk. It’s warm and absolutely delicious.

Here’s John’s beautiful video of the goat’s lining up to be milked. They are fed a special mix of food while being milked that includes sweet mineral-rich molasses and oats. The goat’s basically associate milking with a goat oatmeal cookie. And it works! You’ll see!

By now, I was lost in the relaxing spell of a day spent lounging with farm animals and had plum forgotten to meet Sharon Palmer… the woman responsible for all this magic! Having to skip the Food, Inc. screening for another engagement (though I have seen it and highly recommend it), I began my goodbye rounds. When asking for the chance to personally thank Sharon, I was told that I would have to wait because she was down… milking the goats! But, of course! I should have known. We didn’t have time to wait, so I don’t have a picture to share, but I do have quite an experience.

And much like the llama in the picture above, our time at the farm left us with a big ‘ole toothy grin, just like when I scored my soy-free turkey and every time I buy my eggs and chickens at their Santa Monica farm stand. Sharon Palmer, thank you for a fantastic day. Thank you for teaching me to milk a goat. And thank you for nourishing my family often. For that, I am extremely grateful.

xo – Organic Spark