2011: high points and random points

2011 started on the rocky side, when we accidentally deleted all blog posts back to April Fool’s Day 2007, but we quickly recovered and ended up having a fantastic year, minus the truck theft. We bought a new truck, built a Flupsy, built a downweller, attended the first ever Meritage Oyster Fest in Saint Paul, had lots of fun here on the farm, and nursed babies of all shapes and sizes into 2012.

Here’s a recap:

Blue Pool Oysters hit the shelves. We’re really proud of these little jewels, and can’t believe we’ve only been selling them a year.

First annual Oyster Rama. Washington Sea Grant led interpretive tours, visitors harvested their own oysters and clams, and we paid hilarious homage to tideflat work with the world’s first intertidal oyster sports competition. Plus, we ate a lot of shellfish. Even better: we were able to donate half of the proceeds to a local education non-profit, and we kept the party intimate and real with lots of local participation and flair. Some of the best feedback came from people who said the Rama “felt like a family barbecue.” We’re already cooking up ways to make Oyster Rama 2012 better, but not necessarily bigger… stay tuned for more details!

Restaurant Visits: We love it when restaurants visit the farm because A) restaurant people like to party, B) we get to figure out what they’re looking for in an oyster, and C) we get a chance to show them what makes Hama Hamas special. This year we had a blast hosting several restaurants, most notably the Urban Farmer from Portland and the Meritage from St Paul. If you’re in the restaurant world and would like to visit the farm, give us a shout out at orders@hamahamastore. We promise it’ll be worth your while.

Oyster Stout: We partnered with Upright Brewing in Portland to concoct a deliciously salty stout that, in the words of one our customers, “tastes like it’s been lost at sea for six years.” Oyster Stout 2012 will begin brewing in early January.

Farmers Markets: There’s nothing happier than a farmers market full of dogs and kids and bluegrass music and absolutely delicious food. We began selling our oysters at two Seattle-area Farmers Markets (U-District on Saturdays and Ballard on Sundays) in April and despite missing a couple of weeks after Truck Heist 2011, we’ve been going strong ever since.

Best Hama Hama Song of 2011: Guster’s version. Some of the Guster band mates visited along with the Urban Farmer in January and got totally psyched about the farm.

Happy New Year!