Last week, the Accidental Locavore was on the bus going to an appointment, doing the usual stuff, Blackberry, and the book I’ve been carrying around. The woman sitting next to me seemed to have a lot of eggs with her and not your usual eggs either. While most were brown, a few were a light tint of green-blue. Think Martha Stewart. As she got ready to get off the bus, I made a comment about all the eggs. “Oh, I’m a farmer and I sell them.” She has a farm in the Catskills and she brings her eggs down to sell, not at the Greenmarket, but at a music store in midtown. “I’m at Frank’s Music on 54th Street, come and see me” as she got off the bus.
On my way home after the appointment, I went over to 54th Street, looking for Frank’s Music, thinking that a good New York story like this was too good to pass up.
Upstairs on the 10th floor is a treasure trove of sheet music, and behind the counter, the farmer from the bus. She looked at me as though she couldn’t place me. “I met you on the bus, I came for some eggs.” I told her about this blog, and how I thought this would be a great subject since it’s definitely accidental , and local.
She turns out to be Heidi Rogers, and has owned Frank Music Company since 1978. Along with endless aisles of sheet music, there are pictures of her chickens and eggs, and the farm they frolic on. We talked for a while about local and fresh, and the challenge that farmers face, and I bought a dozen lovely looking eggs in a plastic egg box, that Heidi was quick to explain was reused/recycled. We’ve been in the habit of recycling egg cartons, since our butchers upstate use them for their duck or pheasant eggs.
The big question: does an $8/dozen egg (feed costs) taste better than it’s supermarket cousins? It certainly looks better with a huge orange yolk, and even from the non-egg lover (me), it tasted creamier, and was a beautiful color when scrambled or made into a perfect omelet by my husband (pictured above, with local bacon). But how many eggs have you eaten that come with such an interesting story?
On Heidi’s side of the Hudson, property values have skyrocketed with the discovery of natural gas. She’s worried about the future of farms and would like everyone to sign the petition banning drilling for natural gas in New York. It’s on the Frank Music Company site, or on the site Catskill Citizens for Safe Energy.
Hi Frances,
Thank you! I’ll try to get it to Heidi, but the last email (and phone) I had for her was at the music store.
Dear Anne, If you can get my message to Heidi that would be lovely. Excellent article, by the way.
Note to Heidi — > We went to Music and Art and sometimes took the subway home together after school, do you remember? I want to say hello to you these many years later. Life’s been good. I love it that you have chickens and are still politically strong.
You may find me on Facebook or email me if you like.
Best regards!
Anne what a lovely story…wow! Thanks for sharing!