| TURKANA FARMS, LLC |
| Green E-Market Bulletin July 30, 2024 |
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| Summer’s Turning PointHi all, Mark here.I’m certainly not the only person who’s been dwelling on life transitions lately. During several weeks of psychological tumult the entire country, if not the world, was focused on the ability of one man to accept that the time had come for him to surrender control and let a younger generation steer the ship of state. Change, no matter how necessary, is not easy.While focused mentally on the drama of Joe Biden’s transition, I’ve been preoccupied here on the farm with transitions of our own. In the 10th week of their lives, the turkeys suddenly grew up, or at least hit adolescence. They graduated from super high protein starter feed to slightly less high protein grower feed. The same day the feed changed, I released them from barn confinement to the risks and joys of the larger world.In the second week of their lives, this year’s cohort of baby chicks were also ready to graduate, in their case from the steady 90 degrees of a heat lamp to the lower intensity warmth of a “mother plate” under which they can huddle for warmth as needed until they are fully feathered out.You might think of these transitions as a simple matter. Just slide open the doors of the turkey room one morning, or switch off a light and switch on a mother board for the chicks. Would that that were so.I wasn’t quite sure the turkeys were big enough to avoid attacks by the hawk who has made the peak of the barn roof its aerie lately, raucously shrieking from there as it surveys the surrounding fields for prey. That meant I spent a full morning erecting temporary barriers to keep them closely confined to an area near the barn, where they could run to safety if threatened, before I released them.To my relief, that strategy worked. After cautiously venturing out they largely stayed under the apple tree just outside the barn and when the hawk vocalized nearby for the first couple of days they ran back into their room and huddled in the corner. Instincts prevailed. After a few days, though, it became clear that the turkeys were not threatened. They gained the confidence to roam more widely and I gained the confidence to let them do so. Now from the garden I can hear the happy chorus of cooing clucks as they graze new ground.The chickens were even more complicated. I was a bit taken aback a few weeks ago when 43 of them arrived by mail. I normally order 20 a year, and thought I had done so this year. But apparently I had clicked “add to cart” twice on the hatchery website without realizing it, and the hatchery, as it often does, threw in a few extra chicks.I had put all 43 into the brooder box I had prepared for 20. They were tiny enough on arrival to fit comfortably, but they quickly double in size. I could have divided them into a second brooder box, but decided that that solution would only last a couple of weeks as well and it would be wiser to configure a larger area where they could grow until their time of release. A sort of indoor pen was required. Where is macho Matt when you need him? (Off hiking in the Alps, it turns out).I’m a lousy carpenter and even worse architect. I decided my best bet was to adapt components of the outside chicken tractors in which we used to raise meat chickens on pasture. But on examination, I realized they were too large, too securely built, and too overgrown with vines to be easily deconstructed and reconfigured. |
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| Each of these projects of course diverted me from my main race against time, the vegetable garden. I’m pretty satisfied with where I’ve gotten the garden this year. It does not look like the one I fantasized, but it is reasonably orderly and critter-proofed. In the last week I’ve harvested the first tomatoes, cucumbers, and okra. My efforts to encourage purslane proliferation have paid off, and I’ve found a ready restaurant market for the weed.Yet the garden, too, is at a transition point. The end of July marks a kind of midway point in the summer, when it is time to start planting the collard greens, escarole, spinach and other staples of the fall. Yet I am constantly running out of time. Every chicken pen constructed is several garden beds not prepared. Every hour spent picking the massive blackberry harvest is a packet of seeds not planted. Every pound of purslane painstakingly bagged is a couple of wheelbarrows less of compost hauled to the tomato plants.Thank God Eric loves picking and processing fruits and mowing lawns on his weekends, or I’d be sunk.Sometimes I wonder if I am feeling time pressured because I am just slower and less energetic than I used to be. Or would this juggling daunt a younger man too? Will I be any less stubborn than President Joe when the reality of my limitations becomes undeniable? He had a whole country chiming in to tell him when his transition time had come. The farm is my “Hymne à l’amour”; who will dare to tell me? I’m counting on Eric. |
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| 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/lbIn the yellow and white palette: Eggs: $6/dozen, plentifulVeggies: cucumbers, 50 cents each Sorrel $2/bag Horseradish: $4/lb Mint $1 a bunch Spearmint $1 a bunch Tomatoes and okra coming in abundance soonPurslane: $10 / 1 lb. bag – luscious large leaves for Turkish semiz otu salad, price based on the pain to pickBerries etc.:Blackberries, luscious, now in the prime of the season $8/pintPeaches coming soon |
| RESERVE THIS YEAR’S TURKEYBecause you asked for it. A turkey regular reminded me that it’s past time to ask you to reserve your heritage breed turkey for this year’s Thanksgiving. Reservation form below.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, $12 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:______________HERITAGE BREED TURKEYS: This year we are raising Bourbon Reds and Blue Slates, which will range from 7 to 18 lbs. Fed on organic feed, pastured all day once they get big enough to go out, protected on perching bars all night. We are hoping to slaughter the Sunday or Monday before Thanksgiving and deliver fresh, not frozen, in Lower Manhattan, at points along the Taconic Parkway, or at the farm. $12 lb plus $5 off premises pick up fee. Can’t guarantee the fresh slaughtered part this year, but we’ve got a lead on someone who will do it. Otherwise frozen. Note: These sell out early.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. |
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| ©2024 Turkana Farms, LLC | 110 Lasher Avenue, Germantown, NY 12526 |