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Have you thought about your T-day turkey? We have!
Month:
October | Year:
2014 | Issue:
21
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Featured Farm - Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm
"We've had a family tradition of raising everything that is served on our Thanksgiving table. Of course, that starts with the turkey."
-Hermonot family
| Turkeys posing for the camera at Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm in Sterling, CT |
With November fast approaching, we were reviewing our own Thanksgiving checklists and realized that if folks are considering a local turkey for their holiday this year, they should contact one of the awesome CT farms raising turkeys soon. And so, this week, we bring you our featured farm, Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm in Sterling, CT because they are great CT farmers and they know turkey!
1.Tell us a little bit about how Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm got started. Is there a story behind the name?
We were formerly dairy farmers milking 220 Holsteins. We were interested in getting into value-added retail agriculture. We always raised turkeys for our own holiday. The turkeys ended up replacing the cows on our family farm as they grew from an annual flock of 15 to 3,000 today.
The farm name refers to the name of the hill we are located on. Ekonk Hill is a glacial drumlin that runs north/south as it was deposited by a receding glacier. It is a Native American name meaning "long hill".
3. If folks are interested in a local raised turkey for their Thanksgiving feast, what is the best way to connect with your farm?
They can contact us three ways:
Call the store @ 860-564-0248 and reserve over the phone with a credit card
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Upcoming Events
October 23, 2014
Managing Your Woodlands for Wildlife & Profit
Canterbury
The Canterbury Agriculture Commission invites you to participate in a Regional Agriculture Commission meeting on Thursday, October 23, 2014 from 7 to 9 pm at the Canterbury Municipal Center, Route 14, Canterbury. Topic: "Managing Your Woodlands for Wildlife and Profit" Several local forestry... Read more >>
October 25, 2014
Wibberly Farm Walk
Canterbury The Canterbury Agriculture Commission invites you to participate in a Walktober on Saturday, October 25th "Wibberly Farm Walk". Join us at 10 am at 362 Lisbon Road, Canterbury to take a tour of the fields and forests of this sixth generation farm.
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October 25, 2014
Harvest Hootenanny @ Black Rock Farmers Market
Bridgeport
The Black Rock Farmers' Market is throwing a party to celebrate the closing of the market for the 2014 season. Go shop the market on October 25th from 9-1pm, and then stay for an afternoon of celebration at their Harvest Hootenanny featuring local food, local breweries, and live music, from 1-5pm.... Read more >>
October 26, 2014
Natureworks Halloween Fairy Festival
Northford
Creatures of all kinds are invited to participate in our 2nd Annual Halloween themed Fairy Festival. Activities include fairy or goblin house building in the Natureworks gardens. Participants will also make and take home a Pumpkin Paradise mini-garden made out of a hollowed-out sugar pumpkin and...
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What's in season and tracking with CT 10% Campaign
The growing season may be winding down, but there's still plenty of locally grown, seasonal crops available in this late part of Fall. We wanted to share this seasonality chart with you as you consider items on your grocery list and what items can still be sourced locally.
Remember, there are a lot of foods and goods produced in CT that are available year round too! Like dairy, meat, poultry, eggs, wool and lots of gardening supplies - compost, seeds, herbs, etc.
When you buy CT grown, make it count towards your 10% Pledge!
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Our Fall Top 10 is up! Here's the rest of the list:
6. Brew your own hard cider! Stop by Beardsley's Cider Mill for a starter kit and the 'raw' ingredients (the link has a list of some of their suggested varietals for cider making)...make sure to buy some extra apples to snack on for the ride home (and for making into apple crisp)! There is no such thing as too many apples, or is there?
7. Grow your own! Fall is exactly the time to get your garlic and bulbs in the ground. Visit your local farmers market or check out buyctgrown for an extensive list of farmers in CT that grow/sell garlic.
8. Gardening to-do! This is the time to start adding compost to your garden in preparation for the next growing season. Collins Powder Hill Farm is one of the CT dairy farms that have both bagged and bulk compost available for sale!
9. Soups, chilis and stews! Capture the true flavors of fall with CT harvested root vegetables, onions, potatoes and meats using one of these seasonal recipes.
10. Pledge and track all autumn long! With apples, ciders, wines, dairy, eggs, meats, hardy greens, winter squash, pumpkins, and more, it's easy to keep 'on track' with the CT 10% Campaign. Use buyCTgrown to search for specific ingredients or businesses that are serving locally sourced meals through the autumnal season!
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Root Vegetables to peel or not to peel?
Beets, Turnips, Parsnips, Rutabaga, Carrots, Potatoes-sweet, fingerling, yukon, red, white and blue!
When we posed this question to Farmer Theresa, she said, 'we always peel rutabaga, but all the rest of the root vegetables can just get a good scrubbing with a stiff brush.'
With all of these root crops, especially when they're fresh this season, they can be as simply prepared as a chop, a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper and toss 'em in the oven until you can easily push a fork through.
In the case that you're looking for something a little different...
An absolute favorite recipe for this season is our Parsnip & Carrot Smash.
Simply peel and boil parsnips and carrots until tender.
Drain; add a dollop of butter and a splash of milk.
Then simply mash together.
Salt and pepper to taste.
It's just as good as dessert!
Jonathan says "If the parsnips aren't sweet - they are not from here, (CT)."
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The CT 10% Campaign is a collaborative project led by
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Thank You to Our Sponsors!
Tractor Sponsor
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