WE ARE SOLD OUT FOR THANKSGIVING 2023

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In 2023, you can make your holiday gathering even more memorable with a heritage turkey, raised humanely and totally free range! Our heritage breed turkeys (about half are Bourbon Reds, half are Narragansett or Narragansett/Bronze hybrids) spend their cool fall days nibbling on fallen our organic pears, apples, acorns, and grasses; when that's not enough, they also get to eat our custom mixed reduced-corn, reduced-soy feed feed. The result is an incredibly flavorful meat, with a higher ratio of dark to light meat, and a firmer texture thanks to an active lifestyle over 7 months (versus indoor confinement for four months for the average supermarket turkey).

 

We are offering our heritage turkeys for prices starting at $8.50 lb -- a great price for these kinds of birds! But this year, we are changing our process. Getting all of our turkeys into cages and onto a trailer in the dead of night to drive them over an hour has been a stressful experience, for them and us. We have been steadily improving our on-farm processing space and our skills, so this year, our turkey will be processed right at home, by your farmer, to order. Since we have limited capacity, we are planning to 

process most turkeys between early October and early November; turkeys processed at this time will be frozen (unless otherwise requested) and available for pickup before the holidays. Heritage turkey, processed and picked up before November 15th, will cost $8.50/lb.

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But what if you want a fresh bird? What if you don't want a frozen turkey in my freezer for a month? We've got you covered -- for an extra fee, you can leave your frozen bird in our freezer to pick up during the week before Thanksgiving if you don't have space to store it at home. For an additional charge, you can have your turkey processed within one week of Thanksgiving! (What we are trying to avoid is having to process 20 or 30 turkeys all at once, especially if there's bad cold snap like last year.) Bigger turkeys take up more storage space, and take more effort to process, so fees are on a per pound basis:

• Frozen turkey, picked up before November 16th: $8.50/lb

• Frozen turkey, picked up November 16th or later: $9.00/lb

• Fresh turkey, processed between November 16th and 19th, picked up fresh by November 22nd: $9.50/lb

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Before you purchase a heritage turkey, we suggest that you learn more about them, since they are really different from the Butterball you get at Meijer. But cooked correctly, they are a complete departure from the bland, mushy-yet-dry broad breasted soporific bird you're used to. We expect most of our birds to dress out between 8-14 lbs; we recommend planning on 1.5 lbs per person, since heritage turkeys have less meat to bone (but those bones make some amazing stock). We have several customers who purchase smaller turkeys to cook and serve side-by-side with a more familiar broad-breasted turkey. The market is full of impostor heritage turkeys, so make sure to get one from a local farmer you can trust. We have lots of advice to share with you on how to get the best results from your heritage turkey, including a recipe that we've developed that combines several methods for a tasty result!

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Ready to reserve? Act now, because we have a limited supply! Due to our limited quantities, we can't guarantee sizes -- but we will do our best to match your order with our supply. Turkeys will be matched to purchasers in order of receipt of your $50 deposit, so if it's important to you to get a certain size (usually larger ones sell out quicker), then reserve ASAP. This year, we have some turkeys that are a little older (hatched in April) so there is a better chance of getting a larger turkey if that's your jam. If you haven't paid your deposit, please do so ASAP by clicking here -- select "Deposit" from the drop-down menu, add to cart, then click through to pay by credit card. You can also stop by in person if you prefer to pay by cash or check.

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There are two steps to getting your heritage holiday turkey:​

1. Put down a $50 deposit via our online store to secure your spot! (Note -- if you prefer to pay in cash or in person, just let us know via email, text, or phone call)

2. Fill out the form at this link to let us know your preferred size.

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Frequently Asked Questions:

• How big will the turkeys be? We expect most to be between 8 and 14 lbs; you can choose your preferred size when you fill out your reservation form -- turkeys are assigned first come, first serve.

• What does the turkey include? It will be the turkey (whole, skin on), plus neck and giblets as the default. We can also return feet (and even the head) if you like. Everything just gets put in the bag and weighed, so they do add to total cost. You can choose what parts you want back in the detailed reservation form that you will receive once you put down your deposit.

• What about Christmas turkeys? It would be the same fee structure as above, but in the days before December 25th instead of November 23rd. 

• What if I want a turkey before Thanksgiving? Yeah sure, we can process your turkey anytime. We have some that are big enough now.

• If I sign up for frozen, is there a chance I would get unfrozen? Yes, but there would not be an additional fee in that case. Unless you have a different deadline than Thanksgiving, your exact processing date would depend on the size of the turkey you want (if you want as big as possible, they will need more time to grow and would be processed later). That being said, the older the turkeys get, the more curious they get about things like the busy road out front or the back field where a coyote might be looking for a meal, so we are motivated to process early!

• If I sign up for fresh, is there a chance I would end up with a frozen turkey? Possibly -- it would depend mainly on the weather. In 2022 there was extremely cold weather the week before Thanksgiving, and in such conditions we can't process due to water lines freezing up. If it looks like that is going to happen again, we will contact you and figure out what to do.

• Will you be able to deliver turkeys to Ypsi Farmer's Market like in 2022? Yep! Please let us know in the comments of your order form if you will be picking up at the Ypsi Tuesday market.

• Can I have my turkey cut up into pieces? Spatchcocked? Legs cut off so it's ready to follow the recipe on your website? Yeah, sure. Probably an extra fee for fully cut up or spatchcocked, depending on how hard it is, but we do have the tools for all that. We can take the legs off the crown for no fee.​