Chicken Run
Local poultry hides in plain sight in Newcastle
By Gabrielle Myers
December 2024
Despite its deep farm-to-fork roots, Sacramento is not an easy place to find locally raised and processed poultry.
When scanning the meat section at area stores, local poultry seems almost invisible.
There are large California operators—Mary’s Chicken and Diestel Ranch—but few local producers. Searching for local birds, I found Sinclair Family Farm in Newcastle.
Situated in the Sierra foothills, Sinclair boasts a range of humanly treated meat products. Karin Sinclair told me her farm provides much more than poultry. She raises and sells meat from cows, sheep, pigs, rabbits, ducks and goats, plus chickens and turkeys.
The ranch was once a pear orchard. Our tour found cattle resting under a grove of oak trees. I noticed Sinclair’s love and respect for her animals as we walked through grass fields and side-stepped blackberry bushes.
The caring attitude became clear when Sinclair told me her oldest cow was 16.
Sinclair works two plots with her Sinclair Family Farm and Carson Valley Meats companies. She raises animals on the 130-acre Newcastle property and another 60 acres in Gardnerville, Nevada. Rotating animals through both pastures produces well-fed, healthy animals year-round.
She kept the Newcastle farm’s 20 varieties of oak trees to drop acorns that animals devour to produce marbled fat.
At Gardnerville, Sinclair cultivates two hay pastures for cattle. The animals eat grasses grown in Gardnerville or Newcastle, supplemented by local alfalfa and hay.
Raised in Placerville, Sinclair became interested in agriculture as a youngster. She passed those passions onto her children. Her daughter received a sheep for her ninth birthday. Her son got a cow when he turned 9.
Sinclair Family Farm began in 1998. Karin assumed control after her divorce. Now her son, mother and “significant other” Mike Holcomb live on the ranch and handle operations.
Sinclair’s involvement in local ranching and the farm-to-fork mission is impressive. She’s a 4-H club leader and founding member of Placer Grown farmers market.
She wants to win approval for a local slaughtering facility. Resistance from neighbors and complex regulatory hurdles slow the progress.
When it comes to local meat, she says, “Most people have lost connection to the who, what, when, where and why.”
Sinclair notes while people want local and humanly raised meat, they prefer to not see or contact the realities of meat processing.
Other challenges involve water. Sinclair Family Farm is converting irrigation into leak-free underground pipes. Unused water is recycled to a pond where bass, perch and bluegill swim.
Sinclair’s meats and local honey, jams, jellies, pickled and preserved vegetables, breads, locally roasted coffee and beer can be ordered from the Carson Valley Meats website and picked up at the farm in Newcastle or locations around Sacramento.
Novice or more adventurous chefs can enjoy a diverse range of cuts, including beef head, tongue, liver and heart, along with traditional cuts.
We roasted a Sinclair whole chicken with fresh rosemary and sage, sea salt, pepper and olive oil. Each bite reflected the legacy of grass fields, soil filled with healthy microbes and the clean air of the foothills.
For information, visit sinclairfamilyfarm.net or carsonvalleymeats.com.
Gabrielle Myers can be reached at gabriellemyers11@gmail.com. Her latest book of poetry, “Break Self: Feed,” is available for $20.99 from fishinglinepress.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
