Holy Cow, I'm In Hog Heaven !! Part 2

After some deliberating, I decided to call Marc Felton at Felton Acres in Sebastopol. (See his blog at
( http://feltonacres.blogspot.com/ ) I had contacted Marc about the same as my first contact with Denny and felt obligated to visit him as well. Denny and I spent about a hour at Marc’s place. After finishing up with his Photographer, Marc Graciously showed us around his farm and spoke with us in great detail about his poultry operation and the learning curve he had and was very candid about the mistakes he made. He also let us pet his yearling pigs and also showed us his goats. Thanks Marc !!
As Denny drove toward Gleason Ranch we meandered through the valley’s and Hills of Bodega hwy towards Bodega, Ca We made a quick stop in Freestone to try to get a quick bite to eat at Gerald’s Paella but it was packed, so we continued on. About 15 minutes later, We found the entrance to Gleason Ranch a
Inconspicuous, unassuming farm that has been in the Gleason family for about a hundred years. Nancy Prebilich Wasn’t there, but both her parents were there and a cousin building a new door frame for their
Hog barn. At first, they were not friendly, and understandably so, as we were strangers who just showed up unannounced ! After a quick phone call to Nancy, she assured them we were ok and then they warmed up and also graciously showed us around their farm.

Gleanson Farm currently raises naturally raised, beef , Swine and Poultry. Like Marc they showed us their
Brooder, their sow barn, and the movable chicken tractors. I’m always impressed when a family sticks togheter and keeps a Farm running and changes with the times to keep itself profitable.

Denny and I left with the hopefulness that we (I) would be making many more trips to the
Gleason Ranch at Least as invited guests and Possibly as partners.

As we drove back to Denny’s place, I got to see more of the bodega/ Valley Ford area, I am already
Falling in love with this area. Then Denny had a idea, First he called his mom again and then he
Called Nancy Prebilich to invite her to a dinner at his mom’s place in his honor as it was his early
Birthday party. Nancy accepted and we went back to Denny’s place to change into cleaner
Clothes and to meet up with Denny’s wife Jennifer who had just came back from a northern California dog show with Tina, one of their border collies. We then headed to his mom’s

When we showed up, Denny’s sister, niece had already showed up and as we were walking up to the house, Nancy Prebilich showed up. We had many lively conversations, but the one that enthralled me the
Most was Nancy’s story of how she sacrificed her life to come and help save her Family’s Farm. Doubly
Impressed !! I left that evening with the hopefulness that I will soon be raising Poultry

The Next morning I left, after having a brief conversation with Jennifer I left with the promise that I would be back soon and then sped off to go back to work.

Thanks for a great Weekend Denny and Jennifer.!!

Holy Cow, I'm In Hog Heaven !!

Last weekend I went to Cotai, CA to do some Family history research and what a weekend !!

Prior to my trip, I noticed on Facebook my cousins had posted some comments
that gave me information that finally gave me enough info to justify a trip
up there but just for added sucess I decided to see if I could find someone
near where I believed my grandfather had his dairy farm. Enter Denny and
Jenifer Hunt at blankity blank Potatoes & Produce.(http://sites.google.com/a/blankityblank.biz/http-www-blankityblank-biz/news)

I e-mailed Denny to ask if he or anyone he knew anything about my great-grand Father, My Grandfather or other family members who had lived around the area.

He told me that he would ask his mother, but it was ok to come up and he
would take some time out of his schedule to visit with me. In addition to the
e-mail,I attached two photos of my Great GrandFather. Later, he told me that
he printed out the pictures and showed his mom and she rememberd him.

Once I arrived thinks started happening fast and furoious, turns out that his
mother knew my great-Grandfather well enough (even though she was only
nine) that she used to yell out when he went by in his horse drawn waggon
"hello old Charle Bean" and sometimes he would give her and other neighborhood children rides on his wagon as horse drawn waggons were becoming more rare and motorized forms of transportation were becoming more common.

For the balance of Saturday, we talked and talked and talked.... you get the idea.

Let's just say, that not much farmwork got done that day. by late afternoon he invited me to stay the night as it was getting dark and I was not real crazy about driving back to the bay area at night, but I had signed up for overtime at
work and needed to go back on Sunday morning. As the day progressed he
decided to call another farm that he knew that was rasing pastured poultry
as I had expressed a desire to get back into farming and my delima.

I spoke with Nancy Prebilich (of Gleason Ranch)for about a hour on the phone.

As I went to sleep I could hardly believe the events of the day but little would
I know of what would tranpire the next day.

When I woke up on sunday morning I discovered to my surpries that the sun was shining and it was a beautiful day, contrary to the weather forcast of just a
few days prior. Then Denny discussed the possibility of going out to
Gleason Ranch and checking it out first hand. Denny admited that even though
he knew Nancy, He had never visited their Ranch and had a desire to do so.
After much deliberating and agonizing, I decided to call and cancel my overtime.

After eating breakfast I called Nancy but to no avail. Even so, we were dertimined and after looking on google maps and a few phone calls to friends later, we were farily confinant that Denny coud find the Geason Ranch.

More Later.....