Has anyone heard from George? I can't reach him on his cell.

New song posted


or DL the file here

Andrea will be on the radio, KIDO (580 AM) tomorrow morning at 8:55 - 9:00 talking about Hare of the Dog Ranch and the Buy Idaho trade show at St. Chapelle on Father's Day.

Our phone(s) have been ringing off the hook since the Capital Press and Press-Tribune articles were published. We've got another grower (we've checked their operation and like how they take care of the animals) that is going to supply us with more rabbits for butcher and we got 20 more ducks today (for eggs). The demand for rabbit and duck eggs is crazy. The last two Saturdays at the Farmer's Market we've completely sold out of everything by noon. The Co-op wants eggs, rabbit, and lamb, Cafe Vicino wants rabbit, and the chinese restaurant in Caldwell called yesterday and I'm delivering 10 dozen duck eggs (all I have!) this evening.

Here's the Press-Tribune article:

RABBIT RANCH OPENS IN GREENLEAF

— Farming: Hare of the Dog Ranch raises animals without hormones, antibiotics

By Lee Vander Boegh

lvanderboegh@idahopress.com

GREENLEAF — Ranching has played an important role in Canyon County’s economy for eons. Yet Hare of the Dog Ranch has managed to put a new twist on the age-old local tradition.

Rather than raising the usual cows, hogs or chickens, the Greenleaf-based company specializes in health department-approved, hormone and medicine-free rabbits. And it’s keeping its operations local.

“The time is right; people want more choices when it comes to meat,” owners Andrea Scott and Tami Marler said in a recent press release. “They also want to know where their food came from and what it was fed. Rabbit is lower in cholesterol and fat than chicken, pork, beef, lamb and even some kinds of fish. It is also higher in protein and is all white meat.”

Scott said she and Marler began raising their own rabbits about a year ago, exclusively for their own use.

“It’s kind of silly to own a farm and then go buy food at a store,” she said with a chuckle.

Eventually the duo began sharing the meat with friends and family. Word quickly spread, and Hare of the Dog was born.

The name “Hare of the Dog” comes from Scott’s love of dogs. She originally used the ranch to train her Australian shepherd dogs for competitive events. She said the dogs get along with the rabbits just fine.

Scott said that when they began raising rabbits, they never considered turning their ranch into a commercial opportunity.

“It didn’t even enter our minds.”

Hare of the Dog officially began commercial operations earlier this month, and it as met with strong, positive customer responses. The business sells its product at the Capital City Public Market in Boise on Saturdays and has inked a deal with the Boise Co-op. The business also is supplying Cafe Vicino with meat.

Hare of the Dog utilizes the processing services of Home Grown Poultry in New Plymouth, a new company that specializes in butchering chickens and rabbits. It also hires a local veterinarian to inspect each animal before and after processing to ensure quality, to meet health department requirements.

“One of the exciting things about our business is that not only are we able to offer a good product, but we are native Idahoans working with other Idaho businesses,” Scott said.

Hare of the Dog also sells and raises ducks, and sells the eggs, which Scott said have proved popular.

Great care is taken to make sure both types of animals are raised safely and humanely.

“We’re going to stay small and raise our animals the right way,” she said. “It’s really huge, and it makes a big difference at the market.”

For more information

Learn more about Hare of the Dog Ranch at www.hareofthedogranch.com or call 724-2920.

Small-acreage ranchette offers rabbit meat
Partners get into the business at just the right time

Patricia R. McCoy
Capital Press Staff Writer

GREENLEAF - The age-old question of "what's for dinner," with the entire family wanting something besides the same old, tried-and-true food, just may have an alternative answer: rabbit.

At least that's what Andrea Scott and Tami Marler, owners of Hare of the Dog Ranch LLC, hope will happen.

The partners are offering naturally raised, hormone- and antibiotic-free rabbit meat.

Marler and Scott raised rabbits for personal use for the past year or so, but the recent opening of Home Grown Poultry, a rabbit and poultry processing plant in New Plymouth, is allowing them to offer their rabbit meat to the public.

Hare of the Dog Ranch pays for a state-licensed veterinarian to inspect their animals. That lets them sell rabbit in a Boise farmers' market. A Boise chef is also ordering it for his restaurant, and the partners are negotiating with a local market to handle it as well.

"Rabbits can have a lot of diseases. The list the veterinarian checks for is a full page long," Scott said. "He has to inspect both before and after slaughter, so it's a long process. But none of our rabbits failed."

Why rabbit?

Both Scott and Marler love the meat, and it's easily managed on a small acreage like their ranch - a 10-acre operation where they also raise Katahdin-Dorper cross sheep, Australian Shepherd herd dogs, chickens and ducks. They sell duck eggs, among other products.

They got into rabbits after Scott happened to pick up a 1940 farm book and read about raising them. She finds them very calming. Marler enjoys them for the same reason but also enjoys poultry, so she handles the chickens and ducks.

"All farmers are struggling to make ends meet. Those who survive have to be flexible so they can respond to societal trends and produce for new markets and needs," Scott said.

Versatile meat

"We love the meat. It's very versatile. You don't need special recipes. You can use it in place of veal, pork, chicken ... you name it," she said.

"The meat has a completely different texture. It's denser than other meats, so it takes less to satisfy you. It is also very mildly flavored. It tastes like however you cook it," Marler said. "If you use it in a chicken recipe, for instance, it will take on that flavor.

"It's also very low in cholesterol. Some doctors are even starting to prescribe it for specialty diets, such as for certain heart diseases," she said.

Both women have city jobs, but enjoy farming. Coming home to chores with their animals is relaxing. Scott grew up on cattle ranches and loved everything about being there. She and Marler started out trying to produce their own food.

"I love to cook," Marler said. "I also like knowing where my food comes from and how it is fed."

She and Scott are taking advantage of a trend. Other consumers also like knowing where their food comes from and how it was raised.

"We did this completely on our own. It was hard to find anybody in Idaho who knew enough about rabbits to give us any help. Yet because of consumer trends, we've been told we lucked out and got into this at just the right time," Scott said.

Humane production

"We stress humane, low-stress, sustainable production. Our rabbit barn is designed to be open, for fresh air and sunlight. Our rabbits are fed alfalfa pellets. Does get an apple or other special treat when they litter," she said. "We keep our operation small. We have 20 breeding does right now, and don't intend to grow past 30. Does can be bred every 28 days. We let the does keep their kits for six weeks, then give them a couple of weeks' break. That holds it down to four litters a year."

Marler and Scott raise New Zealands, which are pure white rabbits, and California rabbits, which have brown ears. Both are meat breeds. Domestic rabbit meat is white, they said. Wild rabbit is mostly dark meat.

A rabbit litter, or more correctly a kindle, can consist of up to 10 kits, which Scott said is the average at Hare of the Dog Ranch. Does may abandon or even kill part of their litter.

"The old adage about breeding like rabbits isn't necessarily true. They have a fairly high mortality rate, and they're very sensitive to heat. That's why we're installing air conditioning in our barn soon. The babies are also very sensitive to cold until they get their fur," she said.

Small town

Greenleaf is a small community west of Caldwell on Highway 19. While very rural, it's within sight of a huge Simplot Co. potato processing plant. Even so, Scott and Marler have had to deal with coyotes, hawks and once even a cougar. Though their rabbits are in cages, they're still vulnerable. A predator doesn't always let that stop them. Having guard dogs around is a definite advantage, they said.

Pat McCoy is based in Boise. Her e-mail address is pmccoy@capitalpress.com.

Photos from Saturdays Party

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackcrowne/

Just a little something for the spambots out there on the information super-hiway.

Okay, so I rarely post here or anywhere but here is an update. For those of you who haven't heard... I've been having some facial numbness/tingling like novacaine feeling for about 2 years or more. Initially it was attributed to stress and I took the fun stress class. Well, the classes didn't help with the symptoms but I never went back. Well, then a month or two ago I had some chest pains and got to spend a few hours in the ER. It was nothing so no worries. It did make me talk to my doctor about the numbness issue and the fact that it spread to my arms and is now hitting my legs. My doctor had me take Xanax for a weekend to see if it would "reset" my brain or not. It didn't. All I did that weekend was sleep and fall down a lot. Xanax makes my legs not work correctly but the numb thing did not go away. So --- off to the neurologist. I "passed" the initial exam but he did an MRI anyway. My primary care doc and the ER doc thought that MS was a probable diagnosis, the neurologist didn't. Well, I passed the MRI. There was one small white spot on my brain but that is NOT, emphais on NOT, indicative of MS or tumor. I am somewhat relieved at that news. Why only somewhat? Well, MS was the likely choice and would explain so many symptoms. I was hoping for an answer but we are back at square one. I am happy that it was not MS or brain tumor but am frustrated that there is still no answer. I am following up with my FP to find out where we go from here. The neurologist thinks that it may be migrane or arthritis in my neck and that I will just have to live with it since I can't take any of the preventative medications for migranes. I am WAY too sensitive to too many medications so I can take the preventative but can't function when I do.
Okay, so ........... maybe this is why I don't blog. haha Long one, huh?

Bottom line..... so far, so good.

If any of you happen to go see the movie "Georgia Rule", here's something to watch for: Near the beginning of the film where Lindsey Lohan is let out of the car and starts walking down the street, watch for an old bearded guy on an electric scooter coming up the sidewalk. Do you recognize him? Look quickly 'cause he's only there for about 2 seconds.

Just in case I forgot to mention it I have a new hotrod. There are more pice on the pic blog.

Hey!
It's nurse Stacy!

Happy Mother's Day

"If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden."
~Attributed to Claudia Ghandi

Pampered Chef for American Cancer Society


I'm hosting a Pampered Chef party on May 30th and will have up to 25% (based on total sales) donated to the American Cancer Society for breast cancer education. And the very cool part is, you don't even have to attend the party! You can order online & still have it count towards my party total. Interested? Let me know & I'll send you evite (let me know the right email for you ... or your friends that might be interested) that explains it all!

Has anyone heard how George is doing lately?