 TURKANA FARMS, LLCGreen E-Market Bulletin March 3, 2024 Eric soaks up apricity Photo by Mark ScherzerApricityHi all, Mark here.Feeling the warm winter sun on my face, working my muscles in a steady rhythm, I was able to fully internalize the new vocabulary word my sister, Jolie, taught me last week: apricity. Apricity is the warmth of the winter sun.Farm critters appreciate apricity. You can see it in the dirt baths the chickens start taking whenever the sun warms the ground in their front yard. As for the sheep, they gather in winter against the east façade of the barn to catch early rays of morning winter sun, and shift to basking in the open south door of the barn as the sun traverses its daily arc. The burgeoning kindergarten of young lambs, within a few days of their births, skip and gambol in that sun, reminding me of the verse in the Passover Haggadah: “The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.”Like us, it is in winter that the livestock appreciate the sun’s rays most. Once the sun becomes a punishing discomfort, they seek escape from those same rays of light.I was enjoying apricity from the same sun that shone on the animals last week, but from quite a different angle — at an altitude 9,000 to 12,000 feet higher than the farm, and at a point 1800 miles to the southwest. The muscles I was working were not the usual shoulder, upper back and arm muscles that throb at the end of day of garden prep or tree pruning. They were instead the muscles controlling my knees and thighs, so little challenged most of the year, but put to the test as I renewed my youthful passion for skiing. Renewing an old bond Photo by Zachary RalstonWhile skiing always represents a sort of return to my youth, deciding this year to go to New Mexico made it an especially poignant sort of return. There, I skied with not only Eric but also, for the first time in 45 years, with my sister, who is spending the winter in Santa Fe. I was also able to rekindle a bond, after 55 years, with my high school French teacher, Karen, who fortuitously lives nearby.It was Karen, as a newly minted fresh-out-of-college teacher, who gave me a sense of comfort with the French language and of the richness of the culture associated with it, even to the point of using French pop songs as a teaching tool. I have been feeling a debt of gratitude to her for solidifying my bond with Eric by enabling me to sing along in the same lyrics he knows and loves. It gave me enormous pleasure to introduce the two of them, since he has brought me full circle to a new appreciation of a second Francophone culture.I think dedicated teachers generally understand the value of their work. Nevertheless, I hope Karen derived from satisfaction from seeing the enduring impact of efforts she made over half a century ago.You might think 1800 miles and 10,000 feet of altitude would separate me from the life of the farm. I left the farm in the by now capable hands of intrepid Steve, who had volunteered for the farm-sitting gig in the expectation that another Doodle crisis (a lamb rejected by its mother) would be unlikely, and in the hope that births by Sophie and Mado in the days immediately ahead of my departure would mark the end of lambing season.But from the moment I arrived at the LaGuardia Airport departure gate last Saturday morning to the moment of my return, a string of videos and text messages told a different story. The lambalanche rolled downhill at gathering speed: New lamb Saturday, twins Sunday, new lamb Thursday, twins again Friday. Two vet visits for Mado’s lamb who acquired a slight infection, detected by Steve, and two incursions by a possum into the chicken coop, killing a rooster and a hen and requiring security reinforcements, all kept Steve very busy.Yet after all these challenges I was cheered to receive this message from Steve: “Watching this one almost die for a couple of days makes me really appreciate how happy he is now. All of a sudden, he’s just happy to be alive.”I was able, despite farm preoccupations, to keep focused on the ski trip which was the purpose of the journey. Jolie’s husband, Doug, wryly commented that he gave up skiing because he couldn’t see the point in “spending money simply to try not to fall down.” As I, at my usual leisurely pace, tried to follow Eric’s elegant undulations down mostly deserted slopes of pristine fresh white snow, I had to ask myself “Is that why I’m skiing?” And for that matter, “Is that why I’m farming?” Just to prove that this old man can do things, without falling down?I realized immediately that while meeting the challenge is a component of these activities, it’s not the major motivator for me. Look at Steve. He has to meet crises whenever he is here. But I think his willingness to return is less about proving his farming capabilities, and far more about his affection for the animals in the full enjoyment of their lives. He takes joy in their joy.For me, too, it’s really about the pleasure. I tax my muscles, be they legs on the slopes or arms on the farm, for the pleasure of the movement. I am content actively soaking in the winter sun under an open sky. I look forward to being back and sharing, with my flocks, some apricity. Mark drawn back to sheep and sun at the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture , photo by Eric RouleauWHAT’S AVAILABLE THIS WEEKIn the red meat department, frozen lamb:Butterflied legs of lamb $16/lbRib or Loin chops (packs of 2) $14/lb Small racks of lamb $14/lb Riblets (breast of lamb) $8/lb Lamb shanks (packs of 2) $12/lbI am about to schedule lambs to go to market, so you can also order a whole or half lamb, cut to your specifications, for $7/lb hanging weight.In the not so red meat department, frozen heritage breed turkeys, raised on organic grain, see below, $12/lbIn the yellow and white palette: Eggs: $6/dozen, plentiful  WHAT ELSE IS AVAILABLE THIS WEEK –AN 1878 SQUARE GRAND PIANO FREEThat’s right folks, I have received a Department of Environmental Conservation permit to transfer this antique piano, with its ivory keys. It has a venerable history and I want to find it a good home, and my permit expires July 26. You’d just need to come get it. Please email me at markscherzer@gmail.com or call at 917-544-6464 if you’d like to make it yours.HOW ABOUT A TURKEY?HERITAGE BREED TURKEYS: This year we raised Holland Whites, Chocolates and Blue Slates. We still have about 6 birds ranging from 11 to 15 lbs. They were delicious for Thanksgiving. Fed on organic feed, pastured all day once they got big enough to go out, $12 lb  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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