2012 was a magical year, filled with memories we will cherish forever. We chronicled some of the more poignant events on our blog in an attempt to keep you apprised of the foibles of our nascent oyster farm. Here is a brief look back.
It was a year we rang in camping at The Neck on New Year’s Eve. We made great use of our buddy Wilson’s Oyster Hoister throughout the year and we are happy to report no one ended up in the hospital as a result. Our beloved Oyster Hoister has since received his gold retirement watch, living the well deserved life of leisure after lifting many an oyster cage.
We had a momentous road trip to Ocean City where we barely avoided the trappings of Mustang Sally. It was on this same trip that our plan for our oyster nursery coalesced. We spent the remainder of the entire year slaying countless regulatory dragons, so we can officially put our nursery in place in 2013.
In the mean time we planted our Second Vintage of seed and spent the year with our volunteer army rearing our precious oyster babies. It was on one of these maintenance trips to the farm we experienced an enigma on the water as chronicled in The Mystery On the York.
But 2012 wasn’t all fun and games. In fact, we were repeatedly Taken to the Woodshed in our never ending construction project. We also spent half a year waiting on the delivery of Our Oyster Jet Boat. Sadly, 2012 also brought to bear the near total collapse of our close cousin, the legendary oyster of Apalachicola Bay. The mighty “App” appears to be in its final death throes as a result of its multi-century fight against the hulking metropolis of Atlanta. We pray the Chesapeake Bay does not suffer a similar, irreversible fate. God Speed mighty App, our hearts and prayers are with you in your epic struggle to survive.
We spent considerable time doing outreach in 2012 in an effort to explain why oysters are important keystone species for the Bay. We shouted from the mountaintop to anyone who would listen about the positive chain of environmental events oysters bring to bear in More Oyster = More Birds and 1 Billion Gallons Filtered. 2012 was also the year we experimented with alternative energy on our farm as described in our Solar is Power article.
This past year reporter David Larter of Richmond BizSense took an interest in our combined conservation and entrepreneurial oyster farming endeavor. Mr. Larter’s article, entitled “Sticking His Neck Out“, spread the word about our mission and helped us assemble a cadre of loyal supporters.
After two year’s of farming, 2012 was the year our website finally went live. We have since opened our web store and made our oysters and apparel available for online purchase. We are proud to report our Eagle Flats are officially available via overnight delivery anywhere in the domestic US, arriving in our insulated shipper boxes as described in our tongue in cheek piece, Love in A Box.
We took delivery in 2012 of our refrigerated delivery truck with solar tie in and we have tried to Keep on Shuckin’ ever since. Chef Lee Gregory of The Roosevelt did us the honor of being the first restaurant to feature our oysters as a special in the Richmond market. Top notch restaurants and gastropubs such as The Magpie, Mezzanine, Bistro Bobette, and 525 At The Berry Burk have subsequently featured our Eagle Flats.
We looked back in time at the important role oysters have played in American history in Oysters and Thanksgiving: That’s What America Does! We played history detectives in our R Rule Demystified post in attempt to shine some light on this often quoted, but poorly understood urban legend. We also gave a glimpse into our view on the promising future of North American oyster farming in Oyster Futures.
Our favorite post is the short article we put out explaining how integral our oyster farm has become to our lives. If you have only a moment to read one short post, we suggest you read Oysters Are Life. It will give you a glimpse into the soul of our farm.
2013 will be another tremendously exciting year as we launch our oyster nursery. This important step will allow us to ramp up the size of our farm while allowing us to take delivery of oyster seed direct from the hatchery. We will chronicle the roll out of our innovative oysterplexes here on this blog in the Spring of 2013. We will work to keep you informed as we expand our team and broaden our reach to new restaurants.
In the mean time, we want to thank all our loyal followers for your support, business, and words of encouragement. May 2013 bring joy to your soul and oysters to your table!
