With Restaurants Shuttered, Napa Farmer Sells Fresh Eggs Direct to Public
NAPA (KPIX 5) -- If you live in the Bay Area and are still scrambling around looking for eggs at your local market, then you may need to start thinking outside the carton and head to the North Bay.
There's a farm in Napa that says they have plenty of eggs.
In fact, they have too many eggs. Taramasso Ranch usually sells wholesale to North Bay restaurants and bed & breakfast hotels. All of those are now shut down.
Owner Joan Taramasso told KPIX that while the farm's usual customers are in limbo, she unfortunately can't just turn her chickens off.
"We have about 1,500 chickens that are laying eggs every day, whether we want them to or not. It's about a thousand eggs a day right now," said Taramasso.
Signing contracts with markets takes time and she has eggs now. So for the first time in nearly 70 years, Taramasso Farm is selling to the general public as fast as she can.
Luckily, word is getting out. Phil Pryce was at the farm Friday buying eggs for his family.
"I want to stay out of the grocery store, right? So, if I can come here and pick up a couple dozen eggs, I'm the happiest guy in the world," said Pryce. "And you can see from the people coming in, they feel the same way!"
The eggs are gathered twice a day, washed overnight and sold the following day. Taramasso said her little one-lane driveway is seeing far more traffic than it ever has before.
"Now I have 40 or 50 cars driving up the driveway to get those 40 or 50 dozen eggs. The traffic is kind of impressive," she said.
To be clear, the eggs are not free. But even with all the customers coming to buy them, Taramasso has a nearly endless supply of eggs. Anyone interested in taking a few dozen of her hands can find Taramasso Ranch on Facebook or their website.
