Thanksgiving
is still months away, but our local farmers are raising heritage and
pastured birds for you and it's not too early to reserve
an Ark product for your holiday table. We
think of
turkeys as uniquely American, yet the birds that our
forefathers knew and cherished, the bird that has become the symbol of
sharing and thanks for the bounty of this land, has become virtually
extinct. Several small farms worked hard for the last seven years
to
bring these turkeys back to the tables of America, reintroducing them
to the commercial market.
Several members of Slow Food Dallas raise
heritage turkeys for sale, so you can buy a locally raised, pastured
heirloom breed turkey without the expense of shipping -- and support a
local farmer at the same time. Please contact our members
directly to
ask
questions or
to reserve and purchase a
turkey for your holiday meal. Experience the taste,
juiciness, texture and aroma of a real bird.
A tasty roast heirloom turkey
recipe
from
Heritage Foods USA.
Robert Hutchins'
heritage turkeys are
Bourbon
Reds.
They
hatch in May and should be between 10-16 lbs. by
Thanksgiving. His conventional turkeys are Broad Breasted
Whites. They hatch in July and should be
between 12 - 20 lbs. by Thanksgiving. All the turkeys have been
on green pastures continuously since the age of two weeks. They
are aggressive foragers and love to fly. They've even flown over their
predator protection fence -- a challenge to raise in the free ranging
way.
Contact
Rehoboth Ranch for availability, pricing and pick-up options.
Rehoboth Ranch
Grass Fed Beef, Lamb, Poultry, Pork, and Grade A Raw Goat Milk
Robert and Nancy Hutchins Family
2238 County Road 1081
Greenville, TX 75401
To order: 903.450.8145 email
hutchins[at]rehobothranch[dot]com
Web site
www.rehobothranch.com
Don and Samantha Rebstock at
Rhineland Farm raise
pastured heritage
Bourbon
Red turkeys as
well as other varieties on their farm in Glen Rose, Texas.
Contact
the farm for availability, pricing and pick-up options.
Samantha Rebstock
c/o
Rhineland Farm
3157 CR 411, Glen Rose 76043
254-897-4517
254-386-5866
How
to Raise Heritage Turkeys on Pasture – A new manual from ALBC
Interested in starting a heritage turkey project with your convivium?
Our RAFT partner, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) has
developed a manual for how to raise heritage turkeys. This 13 chapter
manual can be downloaded for free from the ALBC website <http://www.albc-usa.org/downloads.html>
and includes everything from choosing a variety and obtaining
poults,
to promotion and tastings. ALBC will be conducting several multi-day
Heritage turkey production clinics this year. To learn more about the
clinics or to be place on the interest list, contact Jeanette Beranger
at ALBC - 919-542-5704 or jberanger@albc-usa.org.
Since 2006, the Russian River convivium’s Heritage Turkey Project has
been working with local 4-H and Future Farmers of America members to
reintroduce Heritage turkeys to the market. There is now an official
4-H heritage breeds club in Sonoma County. Slow Food Russian River is
happy to mentor other Slow Food convivia interested in starting similar
projects. To learn more about SF Russian River’s turkey project and how
to start something similar in your area, contact Randi Seidner at
randi@sonic.net or Jim Reichardt at Scpducks@aol.com. For more
information about the project, visit: http://www.slowfoodrr.org/localprojects.html#HTP.
