Front Burner: talking local turkeys
Photo courtesy leewrightonflickr/flickr
When I start hearing about Thanksgiving and Christmas before summer has taken her last curtain call, I get just as annoyed as the next gal. But today I want to talk about Thanksgiving turkeys, and if you’ll hear me out I promise it will make sense that I’m writing this column now instead of two months from now.
Every year about mid-November, I am contacted by readers who want to know how and where they can buy a locally raised turkey. I always have to tell them that local birds are a great idea, but they’ve waited too long.
A number of farmers in Southwest Virginia raise turkeys and butcher them just in time for the holidays, but those birds usually are spoken for long in advance – sometimes a year in advance! So when it comes to this topic, procrastination is not an option.
I spent some time last week calling farmers to get an idea of how many turkeys still are available for order. While a good many have been put on reserve (for example, 200 of the 300 birds at Bright Farm in Floyd County already have been ordered), there still are several hundred up for grabs within reasonable driving distance of Roanoke.
To continue reading this column, click here.
To see a list of places you can buy a local turkey, click “Read more.”
Turkey for you, turkey for me
The following farms still have a limited number of turkeys available for order on a first-come, first-served basis. It is best if the customer talks directly to the farmer about the specifics of the turkey breed, how their birds are raised and the pickup or delivery options.
Finding every turkey farmer in Southwest Virginia is a difficult task, so if you know of local turkey sources that are not on this list, please email me at lindsey.nair@roanoke.com or call me at 981-3343 and I’ll try to spread the word.
* Tender Grass Farms: This is a cooperative of several Southwest Virginia livestock farms. Some of their birds this year will be sold at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op, Tinnell’s Finer Foods in Roanoke and the Roanoke City Farmers Market. Others will be sold at Eats Natural Foods in Blacksburg, while the rest will be available for sale online at tendergrassfarm.com, by calling 800-929-1785, or by emailing info@tendergrassfarm.com. If ordered direct from Tender Grass Farms, the birds can be shipped to your doorstep on dry ice or picked up in Floyd. If you want to pick up a bird on the Roanoke City Farmers Market, you must order it online at http://tinyurl.com/c7gqu59 and put down a $25 deposit.
* Eco-Friendly Foods: This Moneta farm has heritage breed turkeys for sale this year. For more details or to order birds, email letsmeat@ecofriendly.com or call 540-297-9582.
* Bramble Hollow Farm: This Moneta farm is selling heritage breed birds this year. For more information or to order, email bramblehollowfarm@hughes.net or call 540-947-0337.
n Bright Farm: Turkeys can be ordered directly through the Floyd County farm or through Good Food-Good People (see below). To order from the farm, call 540-745-5790.
* Weathertop Farm: The turkeys raised on this Check farm can be ordered directly from the farm or through Good Food-Good People (see below). To order from the farm, one may fill out an order form at http://www.weathertopfarm.com, email info@weathertopfarm.com or call 540-651-2010.
* Good Food-Good People: This cooperative of local farmers, based in Floyd, offers turkeys for sale by pre-order. To order, email gfgpalacarte@swva.net. If any turkeys are left over after the pre-sale period, Good Food-Good People will have them for sale at various farmers markets and other locations. For more details about those locations, email the pre-order address.
* Forever Young Farm: This Rocky Mount farm still has a few turkeys available. To inquire or to order, email foreveryoungfarm@aol.com.
* Four Corners Farm: Located in Franklin County. Email info@fourcornersfarm.com or call 540-334-1044.
August 29, 2012 - 10:02 AM
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Last year we got our turkey from Sweet Providence because I waited too long and Bright Farm’s were sold out. We had gotten a turkey there the year before. They were both fantastic birds that everyone enjoyed, and they made great turkey broth afterwards.
Kristen, I loved stopping by Sweet Providence Farm for fresh (frozen) meats and fresh baked pies and pretzels. Unfortunately they have closed! I spoke with the owner of Pine Tavern Lodge and she had no idea it had closed. This was over FloydFest weekend. John Paul Houston apparently took a board position with the Bank of Floyd after all the turnoil that went through last year, but no one seemed to know the story behind the farm store closing. Tell-tale sign was no chickens running around on both sides of 221!
ScottA I hadn’t heard that…how upsetting! We loved that place…disappointing.
Kristen and Scott -
David Maren here, John Paul Houston’s son-in-law, General Manager of Sweet Providence Farm, and also General Manager of Tender Grass Farm.
Long story short, after five years of running Sweet Providence Farm Market and Bakery we have come to understand more and more of the challenges of profitably operating a “geographically challenged” business here in such a beautiful yet so very rural area with such a low total population of potential customers. In order to creatively overcome this ‘geographic disadvantage’ that so many small-time grass-fed family farmers face, we have decided to focus on utilizing the internet to reach customers that otherwise would not be able to access our products. We feel that our pasture-raised meats are by far our strongest line of products so we have now shifted over to just selling our specialty meats via http://www.TenderGrassFarm.com. This way people in Floyd, Blacksburg, Roanoke, DC, (or even the California) can conveniently buy our meats and support our farm as well as the other farms that have partnered with us to raise grass fed meats to online. So our farm store in currently a frozen meat packing and shipping house – loaded to the ceiling with boxes, freezers, coolers, and dry ice!
So this year Sweet Providence Farm turkeys are still available – exclusively though http://www.TenderGrassFarm.com. We offer both farm pick-up and free shipping coast to coast for our turkeys.
We hope you all are well!
At your service,
–
David Maren, General Manager
http://www.TenderGrassFarm.com
http://www.SweetProvidenceFarm.com
Thanks for explaining, David. I think it’s great to have a collaborative effort underway for selling locally produced meat.
Readers, I’m going to talk to David soon and get some more details, which I’ll report.
Thank you, David! May I say we enjoyed our bird last year so much, and the people in your store were always so nice and friendly.
I know David needs no advice, but I’ll offer this perspective. I think this type of business is ideally suited to use of today’s technology to produce ‘old school’ poultry. Selling exclusively at farmers’ markets and the internet, along with any niche deals with local grocers, would seem the best avenue to success.
Facebook, Twitter, other ‘social media’ are the inexpensive way to go in advertising these days. A ‘brick & mortar’ store requires a lot of capital and manpower, often for limited results.
Best of luck to Sweet Providence in their future, people really should give them a try!
I know many people are reluctant to try ‘different’ foods, and are especially reluctant to experiment with side dishes on Thanksgiving, much less with the entree. I mean, most families don’t want to try a different kind of stuffing, much less a different kind of turkey.
Let me say this as a way of coaxing people into trying a ‘heritage bird’. Here’s the deal – a lot of pasture fed, or organically raised, turkeys are indeed not like the huge Butterball breasted turkeys that seem to be about 75% white meat. That does NOT mean they aren’t good.
Heritage birds are just as tender, moist, flavorful as the Butterball clone turkeys. They’re just a little different. It’s like the difference in a ribeye steak and a sirloin steak. That’s all.
So here’s what you can do, to ease your anxiety about possibly ‘messing up’ Thanksgiving. Go to the web site, or to the local grocers or the farmers’ market. Buy one of their turkeys BEFORE late November. Buy one now, and ask the folks about how to best cook the bird. There’s not much difference, but the conversation helps educate you about the whole deal. In fact, cook one of these turkeys in September, another a little different way in October, and by November, you’ll be ready to rock & roll on Thanksgiving.
Is Sweet Providence Farm the one that also has a Christmas tree farm & sets up shop w/their kids at Tanglewood every year?
Thanks for the update David! We’ll miss the baked goods! I always bought a pie to deliver to my parents in NC when I visited them. They could not get over the height of them! My son, now in college, still talks about the pretzels and cookies that will always be a childhood memory for him. Will you still be selling trees and wreaths at Tanglewood this hoiday season?
Looks like Scott just answered your question, Tass.
If you buy a local turkey, the handling and cooking experience is not going to be a whole lot different than when you buy a grocery store bird. Everything is trimmed up and clean just as it is for the grocery store. Except if you get a fresh local turkey, you don’t have to wait for it to thaw out!
We’ve found the local birds to be entirely superior to the Butterball varieties. Grocery store turkey tastes cottony and flavorless. The farm turkeys have great rich flavor, even the white meat, and when you boil the carcass afterwards the broth is dark and delicious. There’s no competition.
They’re more expensive, yes, but there’s a reason most people say that the best part of Thanksgiving is the sides….it’s because the turkey is not good. Get one of these birds and the main dish will be as popular as the dressing and sweet potato casseroles.
I certainly didn’t mean to imply that cooking a heritage bird was vastly different than a Butterball-ish version. After reading my post, I can understand the mild concern.
What I meant was that when cooking a turkey that is not so disproportionately skewed towards a huge breast, but is instead proportional, the cooking times might mean a difference of a couple of minutes per pound or so.
In deep frying, instead of 4 minutes per pound, you could go three minutes per pound. In baking, instead of 20 minutes per pound, you could go 18 minutes per pound. The times mentioned are just wild estimates and an attempt to clarify my single comment in a lengthy post.
Hope I didn’t freak anybody. As Lindsey says, the difference is extremely similar. To me, the example I gave is like cooking in a different oven, sometimes a change of a few degrees needs to be made to equalize the process.
Crooked Road, my last comment was meant to support what you said about people not being intimidated by cooking a local bird. I probably could’ve made that clearer.
Lindsey, you were fine, I just decided to re-post, because even after my first post, I worried I was hurting the cause more than helping it. My original intent was as much about getting people to talk to those selling them their food as anything.
Let me try again – Folks, back in the good old days, we all knew our grocer, and even our butcher. Yes, you could actually talk to the person who prepped your animal protein back then.
I would STRONGLY encourage you to try one of these birds before Thanksgiving – just make turkey casserole or sandwiches with it, if you wish.
I would also strongly encourage you to get to know the folks providing you your animal protein, by talking to them. Heck, act dumb & ask questions, or act smart & ask questions. Just talk to them, and you’ll feel SO much better about where you buy your food, it’s amazing.
Life’s not always about factory production lines, even in food. These birds are worth the effort.
Tass -
Sorry to be so slow on answering but, yes! Sweet Providence Farm will be offering the fresh, local, real Christmas trees and wreaths that they’ve grown to be famous for once again this year at Tanglewood.
See you there!
-David Maren
http://www.TenderGrassFarm.com
http://www.SweetProvidenceFarm.com/
http://www.RoanokeChristmasTrees.com/