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 five years
to
bring these turkeys back to the tables of America, reintroducing them
to the commercial market.
Three 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.
Duane Dawson raises
Bourbon
Red, Royal Palm, Rio Grande, Black Spanish, and Blue Slate turkeys
on
his farm in Cleburne, Texas. Duane has been raising heritage
breed turkeys for eleven years.
This year, Duane does not have any turkeys for sale.
Contact: phone 817.558.3697 or email
Duane
Dawson
Margaret and Bob Drake raise
pastured heritage
Bourbon
Red turkeys as
well as other varieties on their farm in Glen Rose, Texas.
Cost:
call for $
tbd per lb and
delivery (fresh or frozen birds) Approximate
dressed weight of turkeys: 8-20 lb
You can pick up at the farm, or they will ship a chilled bird for
$30.00.
Drake's Heritage Turkeys
PO Box 1338
Glen Rose, TX 76043
To order: phone 254.897.4974 or email
mdrake[at]windstream[dot]net
Robert Hutchins'
heritage turkeys are
Bourbon
Reds.
They
were hatched in May of this year and should be between 10-16 lbs. by
Thanksgiving. His conventional turkeys are Broad Breasted
Whites. They were hatched in July of this year 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. Rehoboth Ranch is providing heritage Bourbon Red turkeys
for the Thanksgiving brunch at the Worthington Renaissance Hotel in Ft.
Worth for Chef James Morris. In past years they have provided
free range
Broad Breasted White turkeys for the Mansion at Turtle Creek.
Rehoboth
Turkeys Heritage Bourbon Reds cost: $
tbd
per lb (weight 10-16
lbs)
Broad Breasted Whites cost: $
tbd per
lb (weight 12-20 lbs)
A $15 securing fee at order time is deducted from the final sales
price. When ordering, specify any size preferences, larger or
smaller.
Fresh turkeys available on processing days the two weeks before
Thanksgiving. Frozen turkeys available the week before
Thanksgiving. Robert has drop off points at the Dallas, Coppell,
and McKinney Farmers Markets the Saturday before Thanksgiving.
Contact him for 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
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.
