((PKG)) OYSTER FARMING
((Banner: The World is Their Oyster))
((Reporter: Aaron Fedor))
((Camera: Aaron Fedor, Scott Stevens))
((Writer/Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Director of Photography: Scott Stevens))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Map: Barnstable, Massachusetts))
((Main characters: 2 male))
((Sub characters: 1 female; 1 male))
((NATS))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
When we were kids, our dad would take us to work with him and it
was hard work. I basically spent my whole life saying I'd do
anything but this, working, you know, on the oyster farm. I
worked in HR for a while. I was a corporate trainer. And I just
didn't really find it very fulfilling. So, sometimes what you're
looking for is under your nose the whole time.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Hi. I'm Aaron Hemmila and I work at Barnstable Sea Farms.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
I'm Jared Hemmila. I'm the general manager of Barnstable Sea
Farms and I coordinate basically what we're going to be doing for
the day, whether it's harvesting or doing maintenance work. And I
do a lot of the deliveries myself.
So, after college, I was working at a bank for a couple of years.
((Courtesy: Jared Hemmila))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Then I went to Indonesia and I was teaching English for several
years. I met my wife there. And my dad was thinking about
selling the business and
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
I thought it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. So, I came
over and basically took over and I've been doing it for, I think,
seven or so years now. And it's great. I love it.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
What I love about farming oysters is that every day is different,
you know. We work both sides of the Cape. We're on the north
side and the south side. You know, sometimes we're diving up
oysters or raking up oysters or using our drag to dredge up
oysters. But every day is different, and we get to work outside
and we have flexible schedules and we get to work with our
family. So altogether, it's a home run.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
So, working with your brother, it can be trying sometimes but we
have a great relationship and he's always making me think a little
harder and being more careful. And he takes care of a lot of the
paperwork and I do a lot of more of the physical stuff. So, I think
we work great as a team.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
So, we partner with the Audubon Society and we do about a
dozen tours a year in the summer on our smaller site and we
don't really make a whole lot of money doing them but it's more of
an outreach program and a lot of people are really interested in it.
((NATS))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
And you can see what I was talking about with the sand buildup.
You get the sand that's building up and that's what's creating this
black mud in here.
((NATS))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah, super sharp. So, be careful.
((Speaker 3))
Okay.
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
So, yeah. These are about a year and a half, beautiful looking
oyster right there.
((Speaker 3))
Yes, they are.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah. All oysters will taste a little bit different depending on, you
know, growing conditions and what they're growing on. If they're
growing in cages or bags or on the bottom. And it would also
affect their shell. Shells on these oysters because it's so dynamic
here, they're always getting tumbled and moved around by the
water current, so, the oyster shell is a bit thicker here. And so, it
makes for a nice pretty oyster, but it's also makes for a good
oyster. Would you like to try one?
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Once COVID came along, we lost all our sales for at least a
month, maybe about two months, we had basically zero sales.
Sales are starting to come back but, you know, this was supposed
to be our banner year. And we got a lot of oysters and, you know,
hopefully you guys like big oysters, because they're still there.
They're still growing.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
But I like going out on the boat.
((Courtesy: Jared Hemmila))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
I like, you know, just being outside. Sometimes in February,
when we're dragging and we have to cut through ice, that's fun.
You know, there was this one year where it was like about a foot
[30 cm] thick and Scott is just hammering away at this chunk of
ice just to try and free the boat. And it was fun, you know, just
being able to, you know, go out there and try different things just
to try and stay afloat.
((NATS))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Jared's pulling up one of these bags of seed. We keep it on these
lines to keep them out of the mud. So, we'll crack this open and
take a look at it.
((NATS))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah, so that one's grown quite a bit.
Do you want me topping these off?
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Sure. Probably good.
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Okay.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
I think that's fine.
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
What have we got? Seven, 14, 19. Some of them are like half
full, but…..
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
That'll give us the…..
I think we'll be all right. See that's probably about, what would
you say? Like 20 bags? So, about 2,000 oysters, maybe. 2,000
saleable oysters.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah. There's you know about 250, 300 oysters per box. What
have we got here? 20 boxes. So, 250 times 20. So, it's, you
know, 500, 5,000.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Okay. About 5,000 oysters. Not all are saleable. So, we'll go
through them.
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah.
((NATS))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah. So, what I'm doing, I'm knocking all the barnacles off,
sorting through and finding all the good oysters. A lot of these are
just either too small or too ugly to sell. My favorite way to eat an
oyster raw, I like with a little mignonette on it, vinegar, shallots,
black pepper. Barnstable oysters, I know are real briny and
depending on the time of year, they can be real sweet and they
have a good, good crunch to them.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Scott Stevens, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
There is a saying that you should only eat oysters in months that
end in “er” [cooler months]. You might enjoy an oyster more in a
month that ends in “er”, but I think they're actually, you know,
they're perfectly good to eat every month, every week, every day.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
What's for lunch? Oysters.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Banner: The World is Their Oyster))
((Reporter: Aaron Fedor))
((Camera: Aaron Fedor, Scott Stevens))
((Writer/Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Director of Photography: Scott Stevens))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Map: Barnstable, Massachusetts))
((Main characters: 2 male))
((Sub characters: 1 female; 1 male))
((NATS))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
When we were kids, our dad would take us to work with him and it
was hard work. I basically spent my whole life saying I'd do
anything but this, working, you know, on the oyster farm. I
worked in HR for a while. I was a corporate trainer. And I just
didn't really find it very fulfilling. So, sometimes what you're
looking for is under your nose the whole time.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Hi. I'm Aaron Hemmila and I work at Barnstable Sea Farms.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
I'm Jared Hemmila. I'm the general manager of Barnstable Sea
Farms and I coordinate basically what we're going to be doing for
the day, whether it's harvesting or doing maintenance work. And I
do a lot of the deliveries myself.
So, after college, I was working at a bank for a couple of years.
((Courtesy: Jared Hemmila))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Then I went to Indonesia and I was teaching English for several
years. I met my wife there. And my dad was thinking about
selling the business and
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
I thought it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. So, I came
over and basically took over and I've been doing it for, I think,
seven or so years now. And it's great. I love it.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
What I love about farming oysters is that every day is different,
you know. We work both sides of the Cape. We're on the north
side and the south side. You know, sometimes we're diving up
oysters or raking up oysters or using our drag to dredge up
oysters. But every day is different, and we get to work outside
and we have flexible schedules and we get to work with our
family. So altogether, it's a home run.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
So, working with your brother, it can be trying sometimes but we
have a great relationship and he's always making me think a little
harder and being more careful. And he takes care of a lot of the
paperwork and I do a lot of more of the physical stuff. So, I think
we work great as a team.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
So, we partner with the Audubon Society and we do about a
dozen tours a year in the summer on our smaller site and we
don't really make a whole lot of money doing them but it's more of
an outreach program and a lot of people are really interested in it.
((NATS))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
And you can see what I was talking about with the sand buildup.
You get the sand that's building up and that's what's creating this
black mud in here.
((NATS))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah, super sharp. So, be careful.
((Speaker 3))
Okay.
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
So, yeah. These are about a year and a half, beautiful looking
oyster right there.
((Speaker 3))
Yes, they are.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah. All oysters will taste a little bit different depending on, you
know, growing conditions and what they're growing on. If they're
growing in cages or bags or on the bottom. And it would also
affect their shell. Shells on these oysters because it's so dynamic
here, they're always getting tumbled and moved around by the
water current, so, the oyster shell is a bit thicker here. And so, it
makes for a nice pretty oyster, but it's also makes for a good
oyster. Would you like to try one?
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Once COVID came along, we lost all our sales for at least a
month, maybe about two months, we had basically zero sales.
Sales are starting to come back but, you know, this was supposed
to be our banner year. And we got a lot of oysters and, you know,
hopefully you guys like big oysters, because they're still there.
They're still growing.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
But I like going out on the boat.
((Courtesy: Jared Hemmila))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
I like, you know, just being outside. Sometimes in February,
when we're dragging and we have to cut through ice, that's fun.
You know, there was this one year where it was like about a foot
[30 cm] thick and Scott is just hammering away at this chunk of
ice just to try and free the boat. And it was fun, you know, just
being able to, you know, go out there and try different things just
to try and stay afloat.
((NATS))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Jared's pulling up one of these bags of seed. We keep it on these
lines to keep them out of the mud. So, we'll crack this open and
take a look at it.
((NATS))
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah, so that one's grown quite a bit.
Do you want me topping these off?
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Sure. Probably good.
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Okay.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
I think that's fine.
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
What have we got? Seven, 14, 19. Some of them are like half
full, but…..
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
That'll give us the…..
I think we'll be all right. See that's probably about, what would
you say? Like 20 bags? So, about 2,000 oysters, maybe. 2,000
saleable oysters.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah. There's you know about 250, 300 oysters per box. What
have we got here? 20 boxes. So, 250 times 20. So, it's, you
know, 500, 5,000.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Okay. About 5,000 oysters. Not all are saleable. So, we'll go
through them.
((Aaron Hemmila, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah.
((NATS))
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
Yeah. So, what I'm doing, I'm knocking all the barnacles off,
sorting through and finding all the good oysters. A lot of these are
just either too small or too ugly to sell. My favorite way to eat an
oyster raw, I like with a little mignonette on it, vinegar, shallots,
black pepper. Barnstable oysters, I know are real briny and
depending on the time of year, they can be real sweet and they
have a good, good crunch to them.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Scott Stevens, Oyster Farmer, Barnstable Sea Farms))
There is a saying that you should only eat oysters in months that
end in “er” [cooler months]. You might enjoy an oyster more in a
month that ends in “er”, but I think they're actually, you know,
they're perfectly good to eat every month, every week, every day.
((Jared Hemmila, General Manager, Barnstable Sea Farms))
What's for lunch? Oysters.
((NATS/MUSIC))
