At Standing Stone, we love showcasing our coworkers with hidden talents (and not-so-hidden ones, too). This week we want readers to know about server, bartender, photographer and resident chicken expert extraordinaire, Melza Quinn, and share an update on the expansion of our chicken flock.

Melza has been with Standing Stone Brewing Co. since the summer of 2009, when she began serving and hosting. She had just moved to Ashland after a cross country road trip from Florida. She says she was searching for a community where people know their farms and have a passion for food, and she found it here. Lucky for us!

Melza has a passion for working and living locally, which is why she is such an important piece of our Standing Stone puzzle. A weekly patron of the Tuesday Farmer’s Market, Melza knows many of our local farmers by name and makes a priority to visit and learn as much as she can about Southern Oregon and our available year-round bounty. She recently visited Thompson Creek Organics in the Applegate valley and came back raving about how beautiful the orchards were and how accommodating owner, Blaire Smith, was with his tour of the orchards and cellar.

Melza’s latest passion at Standing Stone is chickens. Currently, our flock  has 45 egg-laying chickens, providing all of our restaurant’s eggs and ensuring they are all free-range and hormone and antibiotic free. Melza is researching the best breeds for egg production,optimal housing methods and how to start producing our own chickens for meat so that all the chicken we serve will remain the freshest and most healthful option for our guests. The future of our chicken operation will be the fruits of her labor!

You can also get a glimpse of Melza’s photographic and artistic talents, and our chickens and cows, in our front window, where the brewing tanks live. She recently put up a window display to showcase up-close-and-personal pics of our cows and chickens, and is working up another one to catch your eye and show off our local farming friends.