Sisters of Anarchy Ice Cream
Bob Clark and Becky Castle confessed they had a problem. A serious one. “We were living out West and eating ice cream every day.” So they vowed to eat only what they made. That turned into a batch almost every night, thanks to a White Mountain hand-crank ice cream machine.
Their ice cream obsession morphed into a business 23 years later. Becky and Bob now run Sisters of Anarchy Ice Cream and Fisher Brothers Farm, with several employees and their three daughters— Lily, 14, Sunshine, 12, Maggie, 11—the original Sisters of Anarchy. Becky and Bob, both Middlebury College graduates, moved back to Vermont from Southern California in 2011. Bob was teaching film at Champlain College and Becky was running her consulting firm that fundraises for global health projects.
“We knew we wanted to farm and do value-added but kept our mind open to all options,” Becky says. In 2013, the couple bought a 75-acre lot, which was fallow but had been dairy many years before, in Shelburne and spent the next two years working on the soil health and developing the infrastructure. “We had nothing,” Bob says. “No driveway, no utilities, no buildings. It was daunting but we got to create the farm exactly how we wanted.” Becky adds, “Fortunately, Bob has an engineering mind.”
“We came in with no preconceived notions,” Bob continues.
“Becky and I were smart enough to find people who knew what they’re talking about, then we shut up and listened to their advice. Local farmers in the area were extremely helpful and gracious.” By 2015, a fruit farm was born, planted with blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, aronia, elderberry, and wine grapes. Gooseberries came later.
Bob pauses as we walk among the beautifully spaced and carefully trellised rows. “Even if you grasp it intellectually, you don’t know what it’s like to plant, prune and harvest that much fruit until you actually do it. We had one tractor and no money to hire people. We dragged our kids out to help us weed and move rocks.”
12 acres are under cultivation now, with more fruits added each year. Champlain Valley Apiaries keeps about 60 hives up on the hillside. “Their bees are happy, our plants are pollinated, and we have a great source for honey,” Becky says.
The majority of the fruit now goes into the premium ice cream, made with a dairy base from Kingdom Creamery in Hardwick.
“They’re amazing and deliver directly into our freezer,” says Sophie Giovannetti, the primary ice cream maker. Sophie connected to the farm through the Next Generation internship program at UVM, which promotes value-added agriculture in Vermont. She came on board full time in 2018 after she earned her degree in nutrition and food science. “I’m a walking conundrum: I studied how to eat healthy and now I’m making ice cream! But I love that I can actually use the information I studied in college. I shut the door to the production room, turn music on and fi ddle around till I get what we want. It’s like having an Easy-Bake Oven as a kid, just messing around and seeing what happens.”
The trio laughs when they recount the summers of 2016 and 2017.
“We made all the ice cream using four White Mountain machines,” Bob says, shaking his head at the memory. “It took 20 minutes to make each batch. We would outpace our ice maker and have to run to the convenience store for more ice and to the hardware store for rock salt in the middle of summer. It was nuts! The machines could only make six quarts at a time so we had stacks of backup canisters ready to go for the next batch. We blew through motors as they overheated from constant use. It took a really, really long day of production to make 30 gallons. Now with our batch freezer, we can make that amount in a fraction of the time. I look back at that summer and think, how did we survive?”
Bob lists the primary team players. “Sophie focuses on ice cream production, recipe development, food safety and staff management for events in summer. And she’s become an expert trailer backer-upper. Ed Myers manages the farm and does the occasional event to stay in touch with our customer base. Becky oversees social media, marketing and community outreach. And I engineer the planting and production. And big picture thinking.”
For example, Bob and his friend Mimi created a theme song with a funky beat for radio advertising. The Sisters of Anarchy recorded it in a professional studio. It’s hard to believe these are young kids when you hear their vocal chops, but their giggles at the end reassure you they’re just girls having fun. Bob generates new commercials each month that highlight the events where the crew will set up their ice cream truck.
“Our kids will harvest and pitch in with some of the farmers’ markets and events,” Bob says. “We’re completely open book with them. We talk with them about profit margins, gross enterprise value, payroll. Th ey’re up to their necks in the marketing, and they’re learning that getting dirty and sweaty isn’t going to kill them, that manure is a useful substance.”
I Want Candy, I Really Like Your Peaches, Raspberry Beret, Purple Haze, Black Velvet, 9 to 5, Crystal Blue Persuasion. Think Bob and Becky grew up in the ’70s and ’80s? “Eating ice cream should be a fun experience,” Becky off ers, “so we try to add some humor along with delicious fl avor.”
The 20-plus flavors are intensely concentrated but not cloying. 9 to 5 tastes like frozen rich iced coffee with undertones of fudge. Purple Haze is a luscious amalgam of summer-ripe berries, creamy and subtle. And Chocolate Anarchy? Dense ganache, a velvety flourless chocolate cake.
Brainstorming takes place over beer and Chinese takeout. Sophie says, “We think of something, we try it; if we like it, we make it!” Bob nods. “We develop recipes that let our fruit shine,” Bob says. “If we’re making raspberry ice cream, we want it to be raspberry ice cream, not raspberry with peanuts and chocolate and whipped cream and marshmallows. With very few exceptions, we keep it to one or two additional ingredients.” Production has increased tenfold in three years and the target for 2019 is 8,000 gallons. And best of all? “Our ice cream will be available by mail,” Becky reports. “Order from our website and we’ll ship it right to your door!” Becky’s favorite aspect is doing events. “We do Foodaroo in Middlebury, SoBu Food Nights, Thursday night Tunes, Trucks, and Taps in Essex, Vermont Cheese Makers Festival, Burlington Farmers’ Market. We sell at Sand Bar State Park on weekends. I love talking with our customers because ice cream is so simple and immediate.” Anarchy never tasted so sweet.
Sisters of Anarchy Ice Cream | @sisters_of_anarchy_ice_cream
Fisher Brothers Farm | @fisherbrothersfarmvermont
Champlain Valley Apiaries | @champlainvalleyapiaries
Kingdom Creamery
Burlington Farmers’ Market | @bfmvermon
