The farm
Thanksgiving turkeys, and the year we plan to start
Pasture raised birds for the holiday table, reserved well ahead and picked up here the week before.
We plan to raise a small batch of turkeys for Thanksgiving. Birds out on pasture through the fall, reserved well ahead, and picked up here in the week before the holiday.
This is a bird you order in spring for one week in November, so a first year happens once we know roughly how many tables are waiting on it. That is why we are gathering names well before there is anything to sell.
What follows is the bird we intend to raise and how we plan to run it. If a pasture raised turkey is what your table wants, saying so now is what gets a first year on the calendar.
The bird we intend to raise
-
Raised outdoors on pasture
The same standard we hold for the chicken. Birds with room to move, out on grass through the fall, growing at their own pace rather than being pushed. It is the reason a bird like this is worth planning a year ahead for.
-
One batch, once a year
A turkey is a fall crop with a single delivery week in it. There is no restock and no second run, which means the number we raise is settled months earlier off a list of people who said they wanted one.
-
Reserved early, closed early
Every farm that does this well takes reservations early and stops taking them once the number is set. A bird ordered in November cannot be raised in November, and we would rather cap it honestly than disappoint anyone in the worst possible week.
-
A size range you can plan around
Birds that live outdoors finish at the size they finish at. We will give you a range you can build a table around rather than an exact weight, because an exact weight quoted months ahead is a guess dressed up as a promise.
-
Picked up here, like everything else
One trip out in the week before the holiday, alongside whatever else is ready. Pickup already works well on this farm, so a turkey slots into it rather than needing a system built around it.
-
The same November as the wreaths
Turkeys come ready in the exact stretch when the floral side is deep in wreaths and garland, which makes for one very full month. We would rather build the plan around that openly than find it out the hard way.
How we plan to run a first year
-
1
Get the fundamentals boring first
Broilers, properly, for a season or more. Turkeys take longer and are less forgiving at every stage, so they are what a farm adds once the basics stop being interesting rather than what it learns on.
-
2
Square away every step to the table
Before a single reservation is taken we intend to have every step between the field and your oven fully settled. That is the piece we are working through now, and reservations open after it, not before.
-
3
Count the list, then order the poults
Poults are ordered in spring for a bird ready in November. That is a long bet on a number, and the only sensible way to place it is against households who have actually said they want one.
-
4
Open reservations early and cap them
The first year will be a small and clearly limited number, offered to the list before it goes anywhere else. Keeping it capped is how everyone who reserves one actually gets one.
Why a holiday bird is worth planning a year out
Thanksgiving is the meal most households plan hardest for. It is the one they cook most carefully, invite the most people to, and are most willing to think ahead about. That makes it the natural place for a farm and a family to find each other.
It is also the meal where the difference shows. A bird raised outdoors, taken at its own pace, and collected from the people who raised it is a different thing from a frozen one picked up on the way home, and it tends to be the part of the table people talk about afterwards.
The catch is timing, and it runs entirely in one direction. The decision to raise the bird happens in spring, months before anyone starts thinking about the holiday. A farm that waits until October to ask has already missed the window, so we are asking early on purpose.
If enough tables around here want this, it becomes a fixture of every November on this farm, alongside the wreaths and the garland. That is exactly the kind of thing we want to build, and it starts with knowing who is interested.
Questions people ask
When would the first turkeys be available?
A first year happens once the broiler side is running smoothly and every step from field to table is settled. Rather than name a year we cannot stand behind, we will tell the list as soon as it is real and open reservations from there.
How far ahead would I need to reserve?
Further ahead than feels natural. Birds are ordered in spring for a November table, so reservations open in the first half of the year and close once the number is set. That is simply how a holiday bird has to work.
Will the turkeys be raised outdoors on pasture?
Yes, that is the plan, the same standard we hold for the chicken. Birds with room to move, out on grass through the fall, growing at their own pace rather than being rushed toward a date.
Can you tell me the exact weight in advance?
We will give you a range rather than a number. Birds raised outdoors finish where they finish, and a range you can plan a table around is far more useful than an exact figure quoted before the bird has grown.
How many birds would you raise?
A small and clearly capped batch in the first year, sized to the list. Keeping it limited is deliberate. It is how a farm makes sure everyone who reserved a bird actually gets one in the week they need it.
How do I get on the list for one?
Join the list and say that a turkey is what you are interested in. Reservations will be offered there first, and the number of people waiting is what decides how soon a first year is worth doing.
Elsewhere on the farm
Would your table want one?
Saying so now is what puts a first year on the calendar, and how many birds are in it. No deposit and nothing to cancel.
Join the list