Hello

As my dad used to say, "we are over the hump." That was Thursday morning, being Wednesday was "humpday." I've never heard that anywhere else. Maybe it's an old mill or plant mentality - something perhaps 40 hr per week union workers said when they got to the middle of the week, and then on the homestretch to the weekend.

I don't work a usual schedule and I enjoy what I do, so I never think about the "humpday," but I do know that the rigorous summer delivery schedule wears on our drivers and warehouse staff. This week marks the second half of our summer season, and the team is excited to be "over the hump" and hopefully smooth sailing into the fall.

I was trying to think of some "over the hump" promotions this week, and I was striking out on anything creative or full of puns. So we'll keep it simple. Celebrate with us with a grassfed beef, porterhouse steak, 20% off.

This week's online promotions:
  • Grassfed Beef, Porterhouse Steak - 20% off
  • Beef Chuck Roast - 20% off
  • A few leftover bundles (see limited selection in online store)

And the kitchen at the farm is busy again this week cranking out PEACH PIE. Be sure to reserve yours today.

Enjoy,
Trevor
Lattice Top Peach Pie

Warm or cold, the peach pie is summer right at it's best. We continue to celebrate peaches with this week's pie - a juicy peach filling inside a flaky, lard based whole wheat pie crust.
Ruling the Roost (or the farm)
Turkeys abound and growing fast
Turkey Season is Here
Waking up to the gobble of turkeys can be a haunting sound. Fall is coming, and as is winter. In this business that means the work compounds. While we are busy leveraging the sunshine for all we can, we must be thinking ahead to put away fruits and vegetables for winter use, harvest hay and grains for the animals, and get ready to plant cover crops to nourish our soils.

Right now, we have turkeys in 3 different groups. Here is an update on each.
Group 1: The Standard Bronze Heritage Turkeys
These are our most mature birds. The oldest ones are currently pushing 20 weeks old, while the youngest ones are about 12 weeks.

The heritage bird is a bird that has "unimproved" genetics. This is an older breed that is very hardy on pasture, slow growing, and isn't as "efficient" on feed conversion as more modern commercial genetics. These birds are also capable of naturally reproducing next year's flock.

The Standard Bronze males - called Toms - will size up to around 30 lbs live weight. The females - called hens - usually stay under 15 lb live weight. This gives birds that generally are either large (18 to 22 #) or small (8 to 12#), and few in between.

These birds are excellent foragers and can still fly. They have a natural instinct to want to roost at night up high, which includes on top of their shed or in the trees around it. This is how they stay protected from predators.

If you drive down US 62, you'll see these out by the road, east of the barn. The hardest part about these turkeys is keeping them from crossing the road (and getting hit).
Group 2: The Broad Breasted Bronze
This is my biggest group of turkeys and the primary Thanksgiving turkey batch. This group was born on July 8.

Just two weeks ago, we moved them from the brooder. The brooder is a small barn that is kept very warm to start the birds. In this case, the day old peeps come in and have to stay at 99.5 degrees for the first week. These are sleepless nights as you have to check on them often. Too hot and they suffer; a tad cold and they pile up. It's a delicate balance to keep them comfortable.

After about 4 weeks in the brooder, it was time to move them to a bigger building. We literally walked them back to another barn about 100 feet away. In that building, we setup perches for them to get up off the floor at night and more feeders and water bells.

Then this week, we opened up the doors to the side yards of that building and began to let them roam. And roaming they are. They are showing us where every single hole is in the fence or place that they can escape. It's a chore a few times per day to walk them home.

Here in a few weeks when they are older and hardier (to withstand a cool evening rain, for example), we'll move them out to pasture permanently. They will rotate across approximately 15 acres for the next few months until Thanksgiving comes.
Group 3: The Second Batch Broad Breasted Bronze
Like the other broad breasted bronze, these are our hybrid turkeys - a cross between the heritage bronze and the commercial broad breasted white. By farmer standards, they are more efficient and faster growing than the standard bronze heritage bird. This means, less time and less feed to get a heavier weight.

These birds are heavier on white meat than the standard bronze, and generally the best choice for most consumers.

This second batch we have was born last Tues, Aug 9. They are only a week old and still in the brooder staying toasty warm.

This group will help us fill orders for smaller turkeys come Thanksgiving.

One risk, however, of starting birds this late is that they will be more susceptible to damage out on pasture. Unlike the July batch, by the time these birds go out to pasture the nights could be quite cold and so could the rain (or snow). There is a greater risk that these birds die compared to the July batch.
Please Be Careful with Your Produce
This time of the year, the bags are very difficult for us to pack and mix quite a few "incompatible" ingredients.

For example, last week's watermelon was a guaranteed peach crusher. We took the time to bag the peaches and tomatoes separately and place them carefully in the tote. There was still a risk that the melon could shift on the truck and damage the peaches.

However, at the back of the truck we witness many customers simply pitch all of their food into the plastic liner bag, yank it up by the slack, and carry it to their car. I cringe thinking about what shape those peaches will be when they get home.

This is just a friendly reminder to please follow these few simple steps:
1) Bring a bag or two. Or box. Or laundry basket. I've seen many creative solutions at the back of the truck.
2) Double check your bag contents against the bag contents sheet at the back of the truck.
3) If anything is damaged, please let us know and we'll get you a replacement off of the truck.

Thanks
Trevor
Bag Contents
Small Omnivore
Chicken Patties (4 ct, 1.25#)
Spaghetti Squash (1)
Sweet Corn (4 ears)
Zucchini (2)
Sweet Fryer Peppers (2)
Eggplant (1-2)
Cherry Tomatoes (1 pint)
Peaches (2#)
Romaine Lettuce (1 head)
Small Vegetarian
Spaghetti Squash (1)
Sweet Corn (4 ears)
Zucchini (2)
Sweet Fryer Peppers (2)
Eggplant (1-2)
Cherry Tomatoes (1 pint)
Peaches (2#)
Romaine Lettuce (1 head)
Plums (1.5#)
Cantaloupe (1)
Mini
Spaghetti Squash (1)
Sweet Corn (4 ears)
Eggplant (1-2)
Cherry Tomatoes (1 pint)
Ginger or Early Gold Apples (5-6)

Large Omnivore
Chicken Patties (4 ct, 1.25#)
Spaghetti Squash (1)
Sweet Corn (4 ears)
Zucchini (2)
Sweet Fryer Peppers (2)
Eggplant (1-2)
Cherry Tomatoes (1 pint)
Peaches (2#)
Romaine Lettuce (1 head)
Pork Sirloin Chops (1 pack)
Paula Red Apples (5-6)
Yukon Gold Potatoes (1 qt)
Hot Hungarian Peppers (3)
Candy Onion (1)
Large Vegetarian
Spaghetti Squash (1)
Sweet Corn (4 ears)
Zucchini (2)
Sweet Fryer Peppers (2)
Eggplant (1-2)
Cherry Tomatoes (1 pint)
Peaches (2#)
Romaine Lettuce (1 head)
Plums (1.5#)
Cantaloupe (1)
Paula Red Apples (5-6)
Yukon Gold Potatoes (1 qt)
Hot Hungarian Peppers (3)
Candy Onion (1)
Tomatillos (1 qt)
Green Kale (1#)
Tomato Sauce (1 pint)
Small Vegan
Spaghetti Squash (1)
Sweet Corn (4 ears)
Zucchini (2)
Sweet Fryer Peppers (2)
Eggplant (1-2)
Cherry Tomatoes (1 pint)
Peaches (2#)
Romaine Lettuce (1 head)
Plums (1.5#)
Cantaloupe (1)

For more recipes, visit our archive at https://freshforkmarket.com/recipes/
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