| TURKANA FARMS, LLC |
| Green E-Market Bulletin July 10, 2024 |
 The apricots’ one day season, Photo by Mark Scherzer |
| To Everything There is a SeasonHi all, Mark here.Sorry for the late bulletin. Blame it on the after-effects, which always hit me for a couple of days, of my latest COVID innoculation.Chatting with my friend George yesterday evening, he expressed some regret that summer’s end would soon be upon us. I found it a tad early to express such a sentiment on July 9, but I he explained that from his perspective July 4 was the last holiday of summer. From then, George said, “it’s all downhill.” The next holiday, Labor Day, with all its associations of back to school and the advent of fall, is simply the formal closing of the book. Sure, the days are still long now, but we’re losing a few seconds of daylight each day, a process that will soon accelerate.In contrast to George, I don’t think of summer as just one entity. I find it far more congenial to conceive it as a series of seasons, starting in late spring and going to the first hard frost, each defined by the fruits or vegetables you can harvest and eat from the garden at that time. Rhubarb season was gradually overtaken by asparagus season, which for weeks mandated daily harvesting and figuring out innovative ways to enjoy the spears. Asparagus season closed when I stared letting the stalks go to seed, where they now form a lovely lacey circle in the garden. From asparagus we transferred to cool-weather-loving spinach and fava beans, but with the advent of intense summer heat these plants have been pulled and their beds replanted with peppers and turnips. Spinach is one of those edibles that will get a second season, with another planting in August.How can summer be on the wane when tomatoes and corn on the cob, perhaps the two food items most defining high summer season, are not yet in full local production? And make no mistake, it is local production that defines the tomato/corn season. Sure it’s possible to buy tomatoes in the supermarket year round, whether from Canadian greenhouses or Florida fields. But it’s tomatoes vine ripened nearby and picked at the right moment that have the rich flavor we rhapsodize about the rest of the year.Many fruits and berries ripen in a short window, a season that can be just a couple of weeks or less. I was just getting used to the idea of going around the corner to a strawberry stand on Hog Trough Road when they put up their sign saying thanks for a great season and closed up shop. For my produce, paying attention to exactly where things are in the ripening process is essential.Two weeks ago, my gooseberry bushes were laden with pale green orbs that were hard as pebbles. Then, suddenly, hints of pink began to appear, and the occasional dark purple berry stood out as you walked by, signaling that some were moving from tart to sweet. I’ve been selling to restaurants the tarter ones that chefs seem to prefer, and reserving to myself, for pie, the darker sweeter ones whose musty flavor defines mid-July for me. It’s all about knowing when the time is right, and seizing that moment. If you push past the peak, you end up with moldy or shriveled dry gooseberries that don’t meet anyone’s standards. For those of you craving gooseberries, this coming weekend should be viewed as your deadline, as our luscious Illini blackberries begin to take center stage.Zucchini need similar close observation. They can have a very long season. It helps to pick them as they are produced so the plants don’t put their energy into producing seed. Catch the fruit at 5 to 8 inches, and they’re perfect. Let them go a few days longer, as the seeds grow at the expense of the flesh, they get less delectable. Left to grow for another week, that enormous hardening baseball bat of a squash is going to be difficult to give away. For each summer edible, there is a moment.Last week, we even had a fruit season that lasted just one day. For the first time, one of our apricot trees produced in profusion, on high branches we were not used to observing. As a couple of ripe apricots started falling to the ground, Eric took a careful look and decided it was time to seize the opportunity. Using a hoe to pull branches toward him from the top of the ladder, he harvested a mass of perfectly ripe apricots we are still working on. After he made half a dozen jars of jam, after eating bunches at breakfast, lunch and snacks, after tossing the bruised or partially rotted ones to the chickens, and after giving some away, we still have a massive basin full in which my intended pie will make only a slight dent.With close attention, following the principle that there is a right time for everything, we can appreciate each of summer’s seasons as an evolving joy. But I think, based on the zeitgeist, I can understand why George is having trouble seeing things that way.It would be great if come fall he arrived at his local farm stand to be able to choose from among products whose time has come: plump sweet raspberries, crisp collard greens, shiny jalapenos and luscious Asian pears. But he may fear that those dictating his options this year will instead force him to choose between a gargantuan, grotesque, harsh squash that’s been allowed to grow rampant and a shriveled, feeble gooseberry that, while once an exemplar of its kind, can no longer fill the bill. I’d be so much more optimistic if the gooseberry took itself off the market. |
 Elderflower, another short season ending 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/lbIn the yellow and white palette: Eggs: $6/dozen, plentifulVeggies: Sorrel $2/bag Horseradish: $4/lb Mint $1 a bunch Spearmint $1 a bunchPurslane: $10 / 1 lb. bag – luscious large leaves for Turkish semiz otu salad, price based on the pain to pickBerries etc.:Apricots: $8/quart Gooseberries – let us know if you want riper/sweeter or greener/tarter. $8/pint Blackberries, luscious, just getting started, ample supply, $6/pint |
| 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. |
 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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