Green Daisy's Sunshine Chicken ala Hainanese Chicken

This post started it.  Daisy Langenegger of Green Daisy Organic Restaurant saw the recipe and just took the pointers and guide.  Daisy always uses the best and freshest ingredients that is available to her so following a recipe to the "T" is hardly done.

In one of the Philippines for Natural Farming Inc's working group's meeting, Daisy served her version of ala Hainanese Chicken.

It was really good!

Accompanying condiments and Chicken Rice

Join Us In Facebook

Since you may be busy in your own FB accounts, you may want to take a break and join us there.

Sunshine Chicken has a page :)....no, its not part of FarmVille.

Naked Necks, TJ Of Baliuag Bulacan

I asked TJ 2weeks ago how his Sunshine naked necks were doing. "Maganda, kasi pangit sila" Brought a smile to my lips. Can't blame the description, because true, the naked necks are not the cutest chickens to see. As bald, day old chicks, maybe....but as adults...well look at it this way , they seem easier to slaughter :)

Louis of SASSO of France says that it is sturdier and will do better under our Philippine conditions. The skin of this strain is thin, and the trained tounges will know that it is better.

We have alloted our Naked Necks to our growers, who have seen the benefits over our regular full feathered ones. Sometimes we have some left and our Solraya stores carry it on retail.

Today, Zac Sarian revisits Baliuag, Bulacan. He had featured TJ several times in the past in the Agriculture Magazine of April2008, Manila Bulletin, Bannawag and Panorama. Time to listen to what TJ has to say. He has good comparisons as before he loaded with the naked necks, he was just through harvesting his full feathered ones. Also, he fostered some 300 chicks for a friend taken from another stock. So he was able to compare three batches.

Look at TJ's Feb22 batch of the new line of Sunshines. They were just supplemented with unmedicated feeds, left free to range on living grass...no antibiotics nor hormones. Not even vitamins nor probiotics.


TJ got a lot of interest going for the naked necks. Yes, true, the strain is sturdier...BUT then, TJ has always proven to do well with his wards.

Today at 6weeks...he is thinking about loading the same bald ones soon.

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100%=1

The previous posts may seem negligible to some, but it is the small steps that mean a lot to us...it got us to our present location and will navigate us to our destination. Hmmm...seems I am relying on my GPS too much? weheehheeh

Where we are now...merits thanking everyone and everything in our midst. Everyone means customers, growers, friends and media partners. Some media partners have transcended and became friends :)

Blessings come mostly masked as hurdles. But we work hard and strive too, and together with support from everyone around, we get to chirp at the end of the day.

Thank you for 2008. We will be working harder for 2009.

Think Simple

The most asked when we displayed these Sunshine Chicks during Agrilink 2008, "What are those things for their water, mineral blocks?"

No sir/mam, they are stones, nothing more. Plays an important role though. In that picture, they actually need more stones for their waterer.

When day old chicks get to you, they are thirsty. They will rush to get their drink. In the process they get too excited and almost bury their heads in the water. We don't want that to happen, as they will get wet and will feel cold. When they chill, they will bunch up amongst one another to get the heat they need. They will end up pushing against one another and trampling on some chicks :(

Just this morning, on the way to work, I was telling Doc Rey about the question if the stones were mineral blocks or vitamins :) He shouldn't take it for granted that small matters need not be explained. What is natural for a veterinarian/farmer will be greek to a budding farmer.

Think simple, think practical. That was all our forefathers needed to do to survive and eat.

FREE SEMINAR Raising Sunshine Chicken

When: July 6,2008, 9am
Where: AANI Herbal Garden and Livelihood Center, Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City

If you want to learn about the benefits of eating free range, grass fed chickens and how to raise them for backyard and commercial benefits, come and join us for the FREE SEMINAR.

See you :)

Where Did The Banana Tree Go?

Can you spot the difference?

We never missed a weekend at AANI Circle, so feeding the Sunshines isn't an issue. Adding to that, the fact that they are surrounded by neighbors who toss them leftovers, discarded veggies etc.

Today, my Banana is gone?????

They might have had it for Buena Noche :)

Solraya & SASSO Team Wishes All: Merry Christmas

2007 went fast because we were very busy. Thank you to all our commercial growers, government accounts, backyard raisers, weekend farmers and mostly to the end users of Sunshine Chickens, who patronized both the commercial and backyard growers.

2008 starts us off with the scheduled arrival of our Parent Stocks from SASSO, the established genetic company in the free range colored chicken industry. We have increased our number of Parent Stocks to cope up with the demand. Strategic planning by our able team is never ending. We don't sit on where we are now, thanks to you..but we will always look for ways how to offer you better service. The product is there already. What we work on improving is for all of us to grow together.

Merry Christmas...enjoy your Sunshines for the Noche Buena.

SASSolraya tayo!

You grow, we grow....Let's GROW: Solraya and SASSO team

Durian, Joe and Sandy

Yesterday, time allowed me to go to AANI in the morning. A pleasant and inviting scent was in the parking area. It was Durian! People were walking with treasure balls in hand.

I missed the Durian Festival held Saturday???? Good, because it was successful, they decided to coordinate with the fruit growers in Mindanao to extend the affair and make it a Mindanao fruits event.

A nice chat I had with Joe Spooner. We had emailed a couple of times before. He was just inquiring. I think he was just out looking for a market for his organic vegetables and didn't think he will see Sunshine in AANI :)

As we were driving back to Isabela, I got a call from Sandy who lived near the Circle. Vibes told me to drive back to meet her.

I am glad I did :)

Here is this couple, Sandy and Richard, lives in the city and wants to raise for table consumption. They started with the idea when their kids went back from a children's party with chicks as giveaway. The manok eventually gave them table eggs. Then they were introduced to the free ranged chicken via a restaurant in Bataan and owner directed them to us.

One of the few meetings where I don't have to say "We don't sex the chickens because they are not breeders...they are raised for meat. Same as the white chicks you see. When you buy nor see them, you think FOOD".

Sometimes it isn't a SALE that is important. It is realizing that your message is getting to people who count.

Aloe Vera

One of our growers in Davao, uses Aloe Vera extracts as growth promotant.

Read this link on Aloe Vera as a Poultry Growth Enhancer

Jojo was supposed to have harvested last week. I wonder how he did.

Sunshine Pics Made Me Smile

I didn't realize my last post was Monday yet. Must have been a hectic week. What did I get done? Buried in a lot of paperwork, I was able to squeeze these as respite.

1) Picked SOME cute things to decorate the indoor booth at Agrilink, but did a LOT of eating at the mall

2) Visited the Poultry Show at Megamall (same day as #1), and decided to peep at the Nike Sale next door.

3) Checked on the rooftop work.

4) Coordinated seminar schedules.

5) Asked Mitos to pick up uniform's buttons for me.

6) Couple of more errands.

7) Makati Supermarket ( I love groceries)

8) Planning how to fix booth at AANI.

Then I got a text to check my mail...pleasant to see Roxas City's 35days and 14dayolds

A Hobby Farmer in Guimba

Yesterday's side trip took us to Guimba, Nueva Ecija.

No exact address, just a specific Barangay was given. It was OK, thinking that I can call when I got to the Barangay. For some reason, no cellphone signal!

The talent of a salesman is put to work :)

We were greeted at the driveway by an unused dressing machine. Hobby Farmer used to grow the white broilers for his lechon manok business. He found it taxing and better to just get the dressed chickens.

Now he says the caring for the Sunshine Chickens brought a family activity for them, and he doesn't need to spend as much time caring for the Sunshines as the white broilers.

This time, he hopes he will have use for his dressing machine again in about one month.

Roxas City's 2nd batch, now at 7days

It is very important that the grower coordinates for technical support so they are able to cure problems before they occur.

We are happy how Roxas City took care of 1st batch from scratch knowledge. Three weeks later, a 2nd batch was ordered. See now how they are at 7days :)

To see our grower's complete pictures for the two batches, click on the photo gallery. The 1st batch are not camera shy...they simply love the fallen mango fruits more.

Moises' Sunshine in Roxas City

The original telephone call was for an inquiry about dressed chickens. Since they were based in Roxas City, I referred a grower in Bacolod. I think they needed more that what the grower in Bacolod was prepared to raise, so they wanted to see if they can practice raising with an initial order of 100 heads.

That was the Aug11 hatch. They were real beginners, excitedly informing me that they vaccinated the day old chicks w/ B1B1 a couple of hours after it deplaned :( Well no major problem, but I felt that the Sunshines may have been threatened.

September01 hatch had them reordering 200 heads. Future bookings have been made to make sure they have the Christmas season supply :)

I am glad that after the texting and guiding, they seem to have learned a lot in 21days.

I like the movable posts for the brooder pens/ranging area...see the concrete foundations and steel posts? Easy to wheel around and transfer pens.


They are marketing the dressed chickens to barbecue stalls :)

For those who have tried the Sunshines as inihaw....am sure you know why his marketing idea is feasible.

Tuguegarao's Franz

Franz got about 30 chicks from the hatch dated 11 August. He knows he wasn't diligent in feeding them and still making changes to his new lifestyle with Sunshine in his life :)

FREE SEMINARS - Updated Seminar List

1) AGRILINK 2007, Oct 4-6, World Trade Center:
October 05 2007, Friday, 2:30-4:00pm, Seminar Room #1
October 06 2007, Saturday, 10:30am-12:00noon, open Seminar Area

2) Planning on setting up in Angeles, Pampanga in October.

3) Will be in the Kalibo/Roxas City area in February.

If you want a seminar in your area, coordinate with us. Gather a group of interested individuals/organizations and we will go to the area. Let us discuss how we can go about it.

Masarap nga talaga

TJ had been getting texts that the chickens he delivered last Sunday were really good.

Jop, the other half of Krukukuk Farm was also texting me how to cook it "inihaw".

Last Sunday, I bought four dressed chickens from Krukukuk Farm. Two of which I gave my mom and the other two we had for dinner, cooked two ways :)

The first: Tinola. I had simply boiled in low fire with three stalks of tanglad (lemongrass) that we had pots of in the driveway, some ginger and salt to season. Just before we turned off the heat, we added a bunch of sili leaves. Sarap, the meat was firm but tender, you know no liquid seasonings, just real chicken taste.

The second was an experiment: Never did inihaw before, but since we had sure Tinola already, experimenting was allowable. We rubbed it with rock salt and freshly ground black pepper. Set it on hot coals (not fire). Juiciest inihaw chicken I had ever tasted. And the taste...simple and good.

I wanted to take pictures....but I opted not to spoil my momentum in eating for that first try :)

The weekend is over?

Do you sometimes have a million errands to do over the weekend, then realize you are waiting for Sunday dinner, Farmer TJ's Chicken...w/c will be another topic :). The weekend is over, you did everything on the list and say "that was it? tiresome, fruitful and enjoyable!

Saturday morning had me doing the mundane errands of picking up our sando bags from my favorite plastic packaging company in Pasig. After lunch, trip to hatchery to check on final count of chicks. Preparing invoices, tallying orders and packing the deliveries kept us busy Saturday night. Alarm sounded at 12midnight for deliveries to three airline cargo offices.

Slept at 4:30am. Alarm woke me up at 6:30am. Was at AANI by 10am. Grabbed a quick shawarma before the seminar during the Farmers-Traders Expo 2007. It was a fruitful afternoon of sharing and storytelling on raising Sunshine Chicken. Met interesting people.

Then now I think how the weekend can be over? And that no pics? It totally skipped me as the afternoon was fast paced.

Till the next seminar at Agrilink :)

A lady who attended the seminar said she can give us accomodations in Camiguin when we teach her to raise Sunshines in her farm....that looks like another pleasure w/ pleasure.

IDs

We are changing uniforms for all our staff, growers who assist us for seminars and for ourselves.

The uniforms may differ but the unifying factors will be these patches :)

No more guessing game when you see us.

The pack of cigarettes was photographed just to show sizing. Patches are no doubt highly visible.

An Upcoming Seminar, A Favorite Business Forum & A Gardening Thread

These three elements that kept me busy and entertained yesterday made me think of what I can have inside my AANI booth after the seminar on September 02.

Last seminar left me hungry as men don't really eat and it was hard to order as it interrupts conversation. Mika, TJ's princess, am sure also wanted nice sweets while listening to adults talk chicken, rare fruit trees and bolahan.

My sweet tooth, Mika's image, wanting to spruce up a rather drab looking booth while in the process of fixing it (we got the next door space too so just in time to plan the new design) led me to order these plants :)