Taylor Shellfish....

Washington State is known for growing apples, and for their lumber exports but the oyster trade is the oldest in the state...it has always been a major export and Taylor Shellfish is one of the oldest family run business of all. They were once thought to be a coastal poor mans food, but in the mid 1800's that changed and they were much sought after in the inland areas...

Oysters are a very interesting species....they work like little filters and can filter 1.3 gallons of water per hour...they can be both sexes...as in our own tiny Olympia's...they are both male and female and can fertilize their self...once a year they spawn millions of larva, usually in June in our area....the larva swims around for a few weeks and then attaches itself to something, like a rock or another oyster, where it lives out its life and begins its own filtering system.....

Bill and Justin Taylor

One of the many problems in oyster farming is the quality of the water....in the area of Shelton where their business is, there is also a log mill, the pollution from the log mill almost completely took out the oyster business. The Taylor's switched their famous Olympia oysters for a hardier Kumomoto.... a Japanese oyster that could withstand the pollutants.......the Taylor's fought with the state and eventually won. The water was cleaned up with the help of the filtering oysters I might add, and they were able to bring back the Olympias to our area. Oysters will grow wherever there is fresh, clean salt water...it takes 1-3 years for most oysters to be ready for harvest and as much as 5 years....any fine restaurant you go to, all across the country, you will see the little Olympia's on the menu....

one of the many inlets where they farm

Oyster beds

There are many of these large trucks...can you even imagine just that truck alone filled with oysters?

They have mountains of oyster shells (wouldn't this make a great jigsaw puzzle?)

some ground fine...(my chickens would love this pile)

They have bags of oyster shells lined up here at the plant.. these they use again in their beds....

there are oyster shells in the cylinder up above there and they are going round and round and being sprayed with water and all the silt is washed off of them and the clean ones come out the chute where that guy is...they are clean as can be.....

here is the retail store where you can make your purchases...

check it out...they have clams...mussels...oysters in the shell...smoked salmon....

pints of oysters of every size.....

and a freezer full of everything else.....

I made my purchases and headed for home.....the nice lady puts them on ice for you....you can also have them shipped anywhere in the world.....

          you can pop then open and enjoy them raw.....or

cook unshucked in the shell...just place on a barbecue or in an oven or near a campfire...they will pop open when they are ready...have some garlic butter and lemon handy.....

It doesn't get any better! These tiny little Kumomoto's are delicious...

           You will want to drink this butter and oyster nectar....and maybe lick the shell...Life is Good!

If you are cooking these over a barbecue, as an appetizer with the garlic butter heating on the side, and feeding them to people as they come off, be prepared with dozens and dozens of them....I could eat easily a dozen....if someone says they don't like oysters...warning: don't encourage them to eat any!!!!! They will not stop and then there won't be as many for you.....

Cheers to Happy !!