When someone asks me, “How did you get into farming?” I usually tell the Claire story.
In 1999, George and I lived in an Anhalt townhouse apartment on Queen Anne. After graduating from UW in Physics, George worked as a software engineer for Guidant, a medical device company in Redmond. Admittedly, he was much more passionate about the Madeleines he baked every afternoon in his cube’s toaster oven than he was about pacemaker programming. But things have a funny way of working out.
A coworker that lived in nearby Carnation kept a few chickens and brought in some fresh eggs; that was it. George became obsessed with the quality difference between store-bought eggs and farm eggs. The coworker could hardly keep up with his pleading, so Claire was gifted upon our urban homestead on Queen Anne.
The chicken arrangement was set up on our veranda. No cage; it was free range from day 1. And when the newcomer wasn’t pooping on the veranda, she was pooping on various windowsills and door stoops. Yet despite those first impressions, the neighbors took to her and named her. Claire.
And she became, Claire: The Urban Chicken Experiment.
Claire failed to lay one lousy egg. We waited for about 3 months. Nada. So George thought Claire should be put to other purposes. Our buddy Camron was called in to lend an assist, several books were purchased, and George’s first chicken slaughter, plucking, and evisceration began.
It took nearly four hours. Long. Complicated. Arduous. We still talk about it. The most memorable point came about half way through the process; the plucked bird lay on the counter, and Camron unabashedly exclaimed, “Hey! Now it’s starting to look like a chicken!”
Thankfully, Camron snapped a few pictures that evening. It was a place and time before aspirations of farming. Before Vashon. Before goats and pigs and cows and sheep and wine and farmers markets and butcher shop and restaurant. Just trying something new. Fancy that.
George in kitchen at Franco Villa Apt, Seattle 1999
Great story. Cheers to Claire. She started a good thing!
Glad you guys decided to be farmers; your customers truly appreciate the efforts you make to bring us the best.
HAHA! I just made a great connection between the photo in the restroom here at la Boucherie, and this story! I’ve always wondered about that photo, where it was taken, who is that weird guy with the shaved head, etc?? great story!
[...] July 29, 2010 by Kristin Thompson Page One of the great things about having a farm is meeting other people who desire the same. We are often graced with visitors that have the gleam in their eye, who almost always ask first, “So, did you grow up on a farm, doing all this?” (The short answer is no. For the answer to the follow-up question, see Claire: The Urban Chicken Experiment.) [...]
[...] had one chicken slaughter under his belt. I wrote about that experience a few months ago. (“Claire, the Urban Chicken Experiment”) Fast forward to yesterday; our Farm Manager Liz passed on our cumulative poultry processing [...]