MEAT THE MARYS: W&M ALUMNI MAGAZINE ARTICLE

“The roosters are crowing and Mary, Mary, Mary, Mary and Mary are starting their day on their family’s ranch. Husband and father Brian “Heff” Heffernan is already out in the fields. Mary Simonson Heffernan ’00 gathers her four daughters, all named Mary (named according to Catholic tradition, and who go by nicknames), and they head out to begin the morning’s chores. Work on an 1,800-acre ranch is never done.

And yet, it’s rewarding, Heffernan says. “Good things take time, but it’s worth it.”

Heffernan, her husband and her daughters (now ages 10, 8, 6 and 5) moved out to Fort Jones, Calif., three years ago to run Five Marys Farms full time. They raise Black Angus cattle, as well as Navajo-Churro sheep, Gloucester Old Spot pigs, Red Bourbon turkeys and a wide variety of laying hens.

The family packs their meat products by hand and sells them through their website all over the country through the mail. Many of their meats are dry-aged and all are antibiotic and hormone-free.

Prior to becoming full-time farmers, Heffernan and her husband, an attorney, ran two family-friendly restaurants in Silicon Valley focused on providing healthy, organic food. They found, however, that they couldn’t source the meats they wanted from local small farms in the quantities they needed.

“So we naively decided we should do it ourselves,” Heffernan says. “We bought this ranch and were driving six hours each way with our four kids in the car — we realized we had to do this full time.”

They also realized they wanted to live the rural lifestyle and raise their daughters in that environment. Heff sold his law practice and their lives at Five Marys Farms began……”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ON PAGE 54-57