Soul Food Farm

About a year after I threatened to install this for Alexis, the Soul Food Farm blog is now live. Unfortunately, it’s for a very sad reason — a devastating fire on Soul Food Farm a few nights ago.

Here is what happened, from emails that Alexis wrote to friends, from which she has given permission for me to quote:

On the night of September 3, at 1:30 a.m. Eric woke up to find a fire moving across Soul Food Farm’s fields, possibly begun on the property next door. The flames were as high as the trees. In the commotion suddenly three strangers appeared, like angels, and started helping us. They made a water line around the chicken houses, fire breaks, helped rescue baby chicks and were utterly amazing.

Two chicken houses caught on fire, and the we lost 1000 baby chicks. Trapped. Our old 1880s barn burned and it was almost too much at that moment. Thirty acres of pasture for the meat birds is gone and several old beautiful oaks, all the old plum trees that were our connection to the original homesteaders.

When we could see the farm this morning we found that the front of the farm escaped and looks much like it always has. Across the creek all is burned up to the top of the ridge, and the fire just marched on along the hillside and down the valley.

Fire burned into several meat bird corrals but the fire crews were able to stop it before more animals were lost. Those fire crews and firefighters were amazing. As of this morning they are still here on the farm putting out spot fires and will stay for several more days.

We are cleaning up and building a new quick little chicken house this morning for the 600 baby chicks that arrived in the post. replacing water buckets, feeders, baby chick lights, and feed.

Emma and Justin are both here being such good help. Thank you to all for the kind words and offers of support. We will let you know if and how you can help when we have found our bearings.

I will continue to post occasionally here on the family’s behalf, while I get them up to speed on blogging — probably after they finish recovering from the fire.

I’ve known Alexis since she first called me up in November 2006 to say “I read you were starting a meat CSA — how is that going to work? Want some eggs?” She was only selling at farmers’ markets and to a few restaurants then, and we had a fun discussion about just how badly the Bay Area needed some more pasture-based producers of meat chickens. A few months later, with the help of Chez Panisse chef Cal Peternell, Alexis started raising meat birds, and my group, Bay Area Meat CSA, was soon proudly distribute her chickens and eggs to our members. The latest incarnation of BAMCSA, online at meatshare.org, has organized group buys of Soul Food Farm chickens. In June, Alexis asked me for help starting Soul Food’s very own CSA, which we were hoping to launch in October. (Read SFFoodie’s writeup.)

Plans for that are on hold for the moment, but if you’re interested in joining, sign up to stay informed of its progress.