 TURKANA FARMS, LLCGreen E-Market Bulletin June 10, 2024 Sophie, font of wisdom, Photo by Mark ScherzerNo Kumbaya for SophieHi all, Mark here.Thanks to farming, I’ve largely abandoned the illusion that human society is somehow separate from the natural world. I’m comfortable acknowledging that I am not “managing” nature but instead I am just another cog in a “larger ecosystem… built upon predation and death,” as observed in an acute missive to the New Yorker about animal welfare. The entire world is just an energy exchange where pretty much every creature eats others and is eventually also eaten.That letter to the editor echoed my deeply held suspicion: We are all simultaneously both victim and victimizer. It described (but did not endorse) an extreme animal rights position in which humans are morally obliged to alleviate the suffering not just of the domesticated animals in our charge but also that of uncultivated wild creatures, including small “prey species” like fish, rodents, and insects. These are said to experience “lives of pure anguish,” and the advocates insist we should step in and do something about that! One suggestion: “air-dropping vegan meat substitutes to predators like lions.” Gypsy moth caterpillar under apple leaf Photo by Mark ScherzerAfter reading this not-so-modest proposal over coffee, I went out for my morning chores. En route to the barn, I passed a young apple tree which did not look so good. Almost overnight, it seemed, large chunks of its leaves had been chewed up; gypsy moth caterpillars still clung to the underside of its leaves. Immediately, I went methodically from branch to branch seeking out and squashing the caterpillars between the leaves. I squished and squished and squished without mercy. An observer would think I was taking a perverse pleasure in it all, and maybe I was. Queue the Psycho shower scene music.After about the twelfth victim, the process was more automatic and my mind naturally drifted back to reflect on my earlier reading. Was the gypsy moth my prey? Or was I a tree savior, ridding it of its predatory moths? What about those pesky deer flies buzzing about my head and biting my arm as I worked on the tree? I succeeded at smashing every fourth or fifth one. Did that make me its predator or was I prey?I wondered as I walked on to the barn whether it’s true that the primary experience of small wild animals and insects is pure unending horror? To my observation, the dozens of rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks scampering around the idyllic landscape here, munching on the still unripe peaches, tender vegetable seedlings, and blooming tulips they encounter, are pretty carefree. The insects similarly graze on flowers, animals, poop piles and me, with relatively little regard to the birds that surely eat some of them. No doubt, they all have moments when they have to evade predators, as humans do, but that hardly seems the primary theme of their days. Look closely: There’s also joy and happiness! Less angst than in most of the humans I know. And yes, there will be despair and fear in their final moments, but can’t the same be said for us all?While putting out the sheep’s favorite grain treats, I wondered how we’d even tempt a lion to nibble on an airdropped quinoa burger. A live gazelle is surely more guaranteed to be fresh and something he can sink his teeth into. Would we have to trick him with gazelle- shaped vegan patties?And if we managed to prevent all the rabbits from being eaten by coyotes, wouldn’t the now vast bunny army lay waste to all our cultivated fields? Be careful what you wish for, vegans! If animals stopped eating other animals in this cruelty-free world, wouldn’t balances of nature built up over millennia, already challenged by climate change, be thrown into utter chaos?I felt something nuzzle my backside. Sophie, my cleverest ewe, looked into my eyes and seemed to read my mind. “Why must you mock something that you already know is absurd?” she asked me as I was just about to take my sarcastic rant to the next level, an imaginary reconciliation of all the former hunters and prey.”Please don’t make some boorish joke about all those animals taking on the sensibilities of liberal college arts majors! Perhaps they’ll sing Kumbaya? Around various campfires on the savannah where they formerly ripped one another apart?” Sophie complained between her nibbles of grain, clearly annoyed at my sneering superiority. “I really can’t bear such pedantry. Far more cruel than your squishing caterpillars, Mark.””Also, must you use a clichéd image like singing Kumbaya? Couldn’t we be listening to Lana del Rey?” Sophie sighed, exasperated, before wandering off to look for her baby.With that, she shamed me out of my tiresome glee, but I still focused back on the one ironic truth that animal rights activists like least: the animals that are most secure, freest from hunger and from fear of predation, are, along with pets, domesticated livestock like Sophie.Yesterday, my friends David and Susan called me to come catch a rooster who has been foraging food on their lawn and spending nights on their porch. He is the last survivor of a group of four, which they suspect were hatched by a neighbor and then released because they had hoped for laying hens, not roosters. Fearful he would be the next to be pounced upon by a local possums or weasels, David and Susan thought he’d be safer here. And he will be, if I resolve the recurring hawk incursions.At least as safe as me, judging from the news I read in the paper every day. Were I to measure my moments of joy and fear and elation and worry against my wild and domesticated animals, against the rabbits and Doodle and the new rooster, I suspect I’d win the angst sweepstakes. Though I’m undoubtedly happier having all of them around, and suspect the feeling may be mutual. “Unless you feed us some tasteless vegan quinoa burger,” Sophie warned. Rooster joins the hens Photo by Mark ScherzerWHAT’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/lbLambs went to market April 9, so we will soon have a big supply of many other cuts.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, plentifulVeggies: Rhubarb, $5/lb Sorrel $2/bag Horseradish: $4/lb Mint $1 a bunch Spearmint $1 a bunchHOW ABOUT A TURKEY?HERITAGE BREED TURKEYS: This year we raised Holland Whites, Chocolates and Blue Slates. We still have about 6 birds ranging from 12 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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