Heritage and Organic Turkey For Your Thanksgiving From The Farms of The Hudson Valley and Catskills
Posted by Coldwell Banker Village Green Realty on Thursday, October 31st, 2024 at 1:08pm
It’s the first of November. It’s time to talk some turkey!
Now, let’s be clear, we’re not talking about your Aunt Hilda’s frozen bowling ball turkey; the one she picked up on special at the end of last November and plans to foist upon you when she shows up at your house at 6 AM on Thanksgiving morning!? That one will require three-to-five days of thawing, Aunt Hilda! It will also take a minor miracle to taste like anything besides regret!
What we are talking about are local turkeys raised on small farms in the Upstate region who havecultivated heritagebreeds and truly free-range birds using sustainable practices. If you’re going toeat a turkey for Thanksgiving-and let’s face it, over 90% of us are going to eat a turkey forThanksgiving (only 5-8% of Americans are vegetarians), supporting local, sustainable farms whilegetting a truly tasty bird that’s lived a good life is the way to go. Yes, turkeys from small farms costmore than their big-box cousins. But consider these three scenarios:
- You pick up your Thanksgiving centerpiece while chatting with the actual farmer, perhaps getting their secret brine recipe, and watching their farm dog attempt to herd turkeys.
- You go to a lovely, local boutique butcher, have a nice chat, and are in and out in ten minutes.
- You go to the supermarket at midnight to avoid the crowds and find all they have left are three mutant turkeys to choose from, all too large to fit in your oven and each almost too big for your cart! You’re going to have to thaw it and saw it in order to get it in your roasting pan.
If you prefer option three, more power to you. To help the rest of you start your holiday season off right we’ve compiled a list of Catskills and Hudson Valley farms where you can purchase a lovely turkey. Happy Thanksgiving!
Karl Family Farms
Karl Family Farms is a bucolic farm where all the flocks and livestock roam and feed freely on pastures and woodlots. They do not use any GMO-grains, antibiotics, or hormones. You can pre-order your turkey on their website or contact them through their facebook page.
Quattro's Farm Store
Quattro’s is just a little famous. At their farm store you can pick up their home-grown turkeys as well as pies, ice cream, local jewelry, produce, and lots of other items for your Thanksgiving meal. You can stop by the farm stand when it’s open for your Thanksgiving supplies.
The Butcher Boys
This special butcher is offering local Murray’s chickens in a range of sizes (10-30 lbs). While you’re there you may want to stock your freezer with one of their packages like “The New Yorker”, a combo of 10 pounds New York strip steak, 20 pounds ground beef, and 20 pounds boneless breast for $260.00.
The Chatham Berry Farm
The Chatham Berry Farm is known for both its farm store and its Greenhouse cidery where they offer live music on the weekends during the warm season. This weekend is their last hurrah before they move into turkey time. They’re already taking orders for their domestic and heritage breed birds described in detail on their website. They can also give you a custom cut if you’re making something more exotic than your standard turkey with stuffing.
Northwind Farms
Northwind has been a family farm since the 80s. They offer beef, chicken, pork, lamb, smoked meats, and of course, turkeys. They have heritage bronze and new holland white turkeys. The growing season got started a little late this year, so their turkeys are on the smaller size – if you need something under twenty-two pounds, Northwind Farms is a good option.
Hemlock Hill Farm
Hemlock Hill is 120 acres of farmland in Northern Westchester County. They’ve been selling the same broad-breasted white turkeys for 40 years, pasture-raised on the farm. Here’s their guide to cooking your turkey.
Banbury Cross Farm
Banbury Cross Farm has been in the same family since the 60’s. Their goal is to “provide grass-fed, antibiotic free, no added hormone, all-natural beef & lamb, pork, chicken, ducks and turkey.” Visit their website for some lovely pictures of Upstate farm life, and then pick up your Thanksgiving turkey and see it in real life.
Halal Pastures
Halal Pastures offers Halal, organic meats, vegetables, and fruits. They are taking orders for pickup and for shipping nationwide. Their website and facebook pages have a great variety of educational and picturesque videos of farm life. If you need a little break from your harried reality, watch for a few minutes.
A note to any farmers we missed… please let us know about your farm! Email marketing@villagegreenrealty.com and we’ll add it to our list.
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