Turkey Season!

Its that time of year when everyone else is storming their grocery stores gettting ready for Turkey dinnners. Here on Black Mountain Farm its a kind of quiet time as we get ready to harvest the Turkeys we have hatched and raised for 6 months. Tom and Alice our beautiful heritage breed turkeys have produced a batch of chicks for three years now.

Each year we pardon Tom and Alice ( Mom and Dad) as it is close to a divine miracle having a matched pair of breeding Turkeys. (Did you know that turkeys by been raised in factories have forgotten how to have SEX!) Yes and how to drink water from a bucket , how to scratch the ground for bugs, even how to to perch so they can sleep high and dry from predators! ( Ellierose spends days teaching them these skills as chicks)

Well thanks to a movement of farmers and Babrabra Kingsolver's book; "Animal, Vegetable Miracle" folks are teaching these heritage turkeys their wild heritage. So as the stores are crowded with shoppers, a couple of good friends come over each year and we butcher turkeys here in the backyard. Its very calm and serene and sweet as we sing to them and thank them as they are dispatched. This year we had a friend from Haiti; Herve teach us a thing or two about plucking and my wonderful friend and vet, Myriam teach us about turkey anatomy! Wondeful Mary Jo, keeps us in good cheer as we prepare these turkeys the old fashioned way in community and friendship.

Love you Grandma in Heaven!

Happy Thanksgiving