September is here and you know what that means: the return of pumpkin spice-flavored everything, football, sweaters — and turkeys? Yes, turkeys. Garden of Eve in Riverhead is currently raising 50 heritage turkeys on their farm, and the time to order them for Thanksgiving is now.
Heritage turkeys are exactly what they sound like: breeds raised on American farms for centuries. Garden of Eve is raising two: Bourbon reds and royal palms. The former, from in Bourbon County, Kentucky, (hence the name), is slow-growing with a pronounced flavor. The latter is a strikingly attractive, small-sized turkey with a metallic black edging on its otherwise white feathers. Both breeds can fly.
Because heritage turkeys grow much more slowly than the broad breasted white turkey, which cannot reproduce naturally, they have, at times, been close to extinction. By buying and eating these birds, you are not only eating the best-tasting, most flavorful turkey available, you’re also contributing to the survival of these wonderful and historic breeds never seen on a factory farm.
Garden of Eve’s are free-range, pasture-raised and fed an all-organic, vegetarian grain feed with no hormones or antibiotics. So, carnivores with a conscience: rejoice! And reserve your Thanksgiving turkey today.
Turkeys are $10 per pound, and this year’s birds are expected to weigh approximately 8-14 pounds each. To reserve your own Thanksgiving turkey, you can email Garden of Eve directly here. Turkeys will be fresh, not frozen, and available for pick-up at the farm in Riverhead on Monday and Tuesday, November 23 and 24, and at farmers markets in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and Forest Hills, Queens on Saturday, November 21.
