Sexton Ranches - Celebrating One of Our Partners - Foley Station

Merlyn Baker of Foley Station

Our family with Merlyn at last October's Harvest Dinner

A beautiful 'beet' salad! 

Our Chicken

Our lamb, at the July 2009 dinner

We got some sad news about three weeks ago.  One of our partners, Foley Station, will be closing it's doors - and we are not sure what the future holds for Merlyn and his staff.  He has mentioned trying to stay local, if the right building becomes available, and he is also being tempted by friends in Portland to 'come back'.

Our entire family is saddened by this news.  We all LOVE the special dinner's we have had at Foley's!  It's a major outing for us to dine out... our chores don't normally get done until 7pm, so a lot of pre-planning has to get done for us to get chores done, everyone cleaned up, and out the door to travel 30 or so miles to one of our favorite restaurants.  It doesn't happen as often as we would like. 

Foley Station is the restaurant that hosts the harvest dinners that generate dollars for the La Grande Farmers Market, and Merlyn also purchases our products on a regular basis.

Merlyn is also a very regular shopper at the La Grande Farmers Market. He does a LOT for the vendors, and he has been so patient with how we rookies do business! 

Restaurants, for the most part, enjoy buying from one distributor, having reasonable pricing, and having reliable year 'round supply.

Not so when they purchase locally.

Nope.  They get to 'deal' with the frustrations of a not so reliable supply, costs that reflect what it costs to actually raise our animals, with the true costs of trying to make a living, and they funky inconsistency of 'processed' cuts! 

Merlyn has trained us.  He has trained us to be more knowledgeable about the menu needs of a restaurant, when it's a good time to deliver product, and how hard it is, to try and make a living working with high-end fresh products in a rural community. 

Merlyn, we are going to miss you, your restaurant, your meals, and your wonderful friendship and support of local agricultural families like ours.

Thank you so much for all you have done for our community!