| TURKANA FARMS, LLC |
| Green E-Market Bulletin September 28, 2024 |
 A view clear to Canada? photo by Mark Scherzer |
| The Logic of the SituationHi all, Mark here.I don’t know if it’s the warped workings of my brain or a reflection of the train wreck of world affairs, but I seem plagued by a sense of helplessness lately. Forebodings of doom have kept me up at night and distracted me through the day.For several nights running, I’ve been awakened by vivid dreams. I wouldn’t call them nightmares, but the effect has been the same. Take last Sunday night, when a woman I didn’t know, baring her teeth, said “I used to live in Ohio,” alarming me and causing my sister, standing next to me, to scream. Once jolted awake by this innocuous statement that I found so menacing, my mind began, as it often will in the middle of the night, to catastrophize. At such moments I inventory every possible financial demand I will be unable to meet, every mistake I’ve made that will come back to haunt me, every person I’ve failed who I fear will abandon me. My frenzy of worry convinces me that cataclysm is imminent and inevitable.During the day, my attention is constantly diverted from my office work to the news: the U.S. elections, the war in the Middle East, and sometimes the intersection between the two. The plot line of reality seems as illogical as my dreams. How can it be, I wonder, that both some Jewish and some Arab-Americans perceive Kamala Harris, an unequivocal advocate of a two state solution with self-determination for both Israelis and Palestinians, as so indifferent to the fate of their peoples in the Middle East that they would consider abandoning their traditional Democratic voting habits? In crucial swing states like Michigan, with more than 100,000 Arab-American voters, and Pennsylvania, with close to 300,000 Jewish voters, margins of victory may be razor thin, and small defections in both groups can matter. How could either one knowingly help re-install in office a man whose indifference shades to prejudice, in this country as well as “over there”? Who both imposed the Muslim ban and finds “very fine people” among avowed anti-semites? This is a puzzlement, and also gives me anxiety. |
 The farm is my refuge Photo by Mark ScherzerThank God for the farm — not only a safe refuge from a mad world, but a place where I can confront potentially catastrophic circumstances with the calm assurance of feeling like I know how things work and why they happen. |
| The other morning Eric and I had a visitor who particularly wanted to see the north pasture — one of my favorite spots. I adore the sweeping and vast view from the top of the compost pile over that pasture, unobstructed virtually all the way up to the picturesque blue house and red barn of the Rider Farm in the distance. You see the kind of big sky you get on the prairies. It feels almost like you can see clear to Canada.We took our visitor briefly past the barn for a visit with the turkeys, who were hanging out there. They were their usual chatty selves, the males were fanning their feathers as they strutted about, and she was charmed. But as we walked north across the field, we turned our attention to other subjects, as she knew and related histories of the farms in the vicinity. We paid no mind to what the turkeys might be up to.We strolled all the way to the north end of the property, turned down the west hill, into the woods and as far as the wetlands before turning back, a ten or fifteen minute walk altogether. As we approached the barn, Eric commented on how quiet it seemed; the turkeys were no longer there.I didn’t think anything of it. They wander about a lot. But a couple of hours later, when Paul arrived with Eric’s dog, Lillie, and I went out to the garden to get some lettuce for lunch, the continuing, unusual silence was striking to me as well. I decided to investigate. The turkeys were not in their half of the barn. Nor on the sheep’s side. Not in the southeast pasture along Old Sawmill Road, where they’ve spent a lot of time lately chatting with the wild turkeys in woods across the street. Nor in any of the north pastures, the vegetable garden, the back or the front yard. In short, nowhere to be found.I reported back to the house. Eric, wide eyed with concern, said “How can you be so matter of fact? Aren’t you concerned that they’ve left? Let’s go out right now and search.” And even though I had been in a state of catastrophe- anticipation for days, even though my most valuable product, the turkeys, which account for the majority of the farm’s revenue, were AWOL, I said, “Lunch is practically ready, their instinct is to stick within a three mile radius, and they know where home and food is, so I’m pretty sure they’ll return. Let’s eat first and then go out looking.”I was only half able to convince Eric that this was not an emergency. We agreed that immediately after lunch we’d fan out and look — Eric along the wood line to the west, me up Old Saw Mill Road along the woods to the east, and Paul going out to check out Lasher Avenue on the south. Eric, however, wolfed down his sandwich and started out, while Paul and I finished our lunch at a more leisurely pace on the screened porch. Within five minutes of Eric’s departure, I could hear, from a considerable distance, the sound of the entire turkey chorus of gobbles responding to Eric’s calls into the west woods. They had disappeared into the brush that adjoins the pasture. Simply expressing their naturally inquisitive instincts, exploring their neighborhood.No catastrophe at all. Coping is so much easier when you understand the logic of the situation. |
 Turkeys emerge from the brush, photo by Mark Scherzer |
| WHAT’S AVAILABLE THIS WEEKIn the red meat department, frozen lamb:Butterflied legs of lamb $16/lb Rib or Loin chops (packs of 2) $14/lb Small racks of lamb $14/lb Riblets (breast of lamb) $8/lbOther cuts imminently arriving.In the not so red meat department, frozen heritage breed turkeys, raised on organic grain, see below, $12/lbEggs – Ask but availability will be spotty after a major predator attack on our older hens, with only a couple still around to lay. The new girls are doing fine, and should start producing in a few weeks, so be patient please.Veggies:Sorrel $2/bag Horseradish: $4/lb Mint $1 a bunch Spearmint $1 a bunch Tomatoes $3/lb – all varieties Oasis Turnips, large, $2/lb, small salad size, $2/bunch of six Zucchini or Tromboncino squash: $1.00/lb Tender lettuce, mix of buttercrunch, forrelenschluss, romaine, $2/bag – limited quantities Okra: $5/lb Jalapeno peppers $.50 cents each other peppers coming soon Baby beets |
| TIME TO RESERVE THIS YEAR’S TURKEYThis year we are raising Blue Slates and Bourbon Reds, heritage breeds preserved for their exceptional flavor. They grow at half the speed of broad breasted birds, which means they get old enough to develop a layer of fat, which increases flavor. Their shape allows them to fly, so they don’t lead the sedentary lives of the broad breasted varieties either. These have been fed on organic grain from Stone House Farm, supplemented by what they find in nature from roaming and grazing by day. They will be slaughtered the week before Thanksgiving and delivered fresh, at the farm or in NYC or at drop offs on the Taconic Parkway between.Like all heritage birds, they will range in size from 7 to about 16 or 17 lbs. $12/lb plus $5 fee for off-premises pickup.For those of you who can’t wait for Thanksgiving, we still have 6 birds from last year in the freezer, ranging from 12 to 15 lbs. Fed on organic feed, pastured all day once they got big enough to go out, sale price to clear space $8 lb. Great birds!TURKEY RESERVATION FORM 2024 TURKANA FARMS, LLC 110 Lasher Ave Germantown, NY 12526 farm@turkanafarms.com 917-544-6464 Name__________________________ e-mail__________________________________ Address________________________________________ Phone__________________ Please check here if you would like to receive email offerings in season:______________Number desired: ___________ Approx. weight ________ Pick up place: ___at the farm; ___Lower Manhattan___a point along the Taconic Parkway Please send a deposit of $40 per bird to hold your reservation to Turkana Farms, 110 Lasher Ave., Germantown, NY, 12526. Make check out to Turkana Farms, LLC.(Yes this luddite farm still uses checks). The balance due will be paid at the time of the pick up. |
 FARM PICKUPS:Email us your order at farm@turkanafarms.com, and let us know when you’d like to pick up your order. It will be put out for you on the side screened porch of the farmhouse (110 Lasher Ave., Germantown) in a bag. You can leave cash or a check in the now famous pineapple on the porch table. Because I’m now here full time, we’re abandoning regular pick-up times. Let us know when you want your order any day between 10 and 5, and unless there are unusual circumstances we’ll be able to ready it to your convenience. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to call or text at 917-544-6464 or email. |
 HEAR OUR SHOWIf you’d enjoy hearing these bulletins out loud instead of reading them, we broadcast them on Robin Hood Radio, the nation’s smallest NPR station. You can find it on FM 91.9, AM 1020, WBSL-FM 91.7 “The Voice of Berkshire School” or streaming on the web at www.robinhoodradio.com, where podcasts of past broadcasts are also available under the title AgriCulture in the “On Demand” section. FM 91.7 “The Voice of Berkshire School”can be heard from just south of Pittsfield to the CT border. You can hear the station on WHDD FM 91.9 from Ashley Falls, MA down through the Cornwalls and in NY from just south of Hillsdale down to Dover Plains. You can hear the station on AM1020 from Stockbridge, MA to Kent and from Poughkeepsie to Pawling to Kent, Goshen, Torrington, Norfolk, and Ashley. Recently added for those in the Route 22 corridor from Ancram down to Pawling is FM frequency 97.5 And of course you can listen in our own neighborhood of Southwestern Columbia and Northwestern Dutchess County, where it is being broadcast from Annandale on Hudson, 88.1 FM. |
 FOLLOW USThe bulletins may also now be found in written form on line as well, at the Germantown, NY, portal ofhttp://imby.com/germantown/userblogs/agriculture-turkana-farms/ |
| ©2024 Turkana Farms, LLC | 110 Lasher Avenue, Germantown, NY 12526 |
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