The more we pour the big machines, the fuel, the pesticides, the herbicides, the fertilizer and chemicals into farming, the more we knock out the mechanism that made it all work in the first place. - David R. Brower

Turkeys

It's time to talk turkey.

I don't know how many of you folks have worked with or around turkeys, but those of you who have can imagine what a crime it is to lock them inside the trappings of a confinement poultry operation. Turkeys are wonderfully sociable and curious creatures. Much more so than broilers. They are animated, vocal and will not fail to peck at your shoelaces or the rivets on your back pocket.

Conventional

The confinement turkey farms have absolutely no respect for the personality and expression of turkeys. Their only goal is to create as many pounds of flesh as possible for the smallest dollar. The cleverness of the industry is impressive, even if they only use it to solve the problems they've created with their greed. For example, turkeys have a very structured social order. Because of this, it's very important to provide enough roosting space with varying elevations for the different social classes to maintain minimum aggression.

It's also important that the turkeys have enough room to maintain their personal space. Because the industry wants to pack their barns to maximum density and wouldn't even consider building roosts, they just cauterize the tips of the babies' beaks. So, as the turkeys grow, they can't do as much damage when the density stress makes them cannibalize each other. You'd get aggressive too, if your bubble was invaded for your whole life.

Industrial turkeys don't even dream about natural light, clean air, or fresh greens. Pesticide and antibiotic-laden GMO grains are their unfair fare. Essentially, they're raised in a concentration camp, except they're overfed instead of undernourished.

Certified Organic

The Certified Organic turkey by biological necessity has much better standards. Without the crutch of antibiotics, organic growers must make sure the birds have much better air quality and more sanitary bedding. De-beaking is still a permissible practice although it's seldom used in small scale flocks.
By law, the organic turkey must have access to an outdoor yard, but it doesn't have to have any greenery or roosting space. I'm sure if you've read a couple of these articles, you're picking up on the pattern. Organic certification mandates organic certified feed, and no pharmaceuticals, but it doesn't require any respect for the turkey's natural design.

Organic certification is a standard that forbids poisoning or outright abusing the animals but, doesn't mandate integrity or proper stewardship.

Harvest Haven Certified

Harvest Haven Certified is about the maximum. Turkeys are exceptional foragers. Much more so than chickens. They're able to supplement their grain-based diet with up to 30% salad and 5% bugs if you give them access to pasture. This isn't just an economic incentive. This is the Nature of the Turkey.

Over the years we've allowed our turkeys to range in a huge open yard filled with greens and when they exhausted the yard by the end of summer, we brought them tractor loads of fresh leafy plants. This year, we created a mobile roosting barn, so we could move them to fresh pastures daily, which means we didn't have to harvest the forage for them.

(You'll note that the mobile barn, aka Turkey Villa, is missing in the video, it was being renovated during the video shooting. We'll post a picture of it for you).

Turkeys love to range, forage, and roost. They love to use their highly coordinated pointy hooked beaks to hunt for dandelions and grasshoppers. They love to socialize with each other and people. They come when we call and stand by the fence gobbling at us.

Our goal is not maximum pounds of flesh or maximum profits. Our goal is maximum health and maximum happiness. We're confident that if we remain committed to the Harvest Haven standard, that there will always be enough appreciative customers to keep our labours profitable.

I'm sure you've heard it said that a people can't be healthier than the soil their food is growing in. But I would like to extend the adage. I believe that, ultimately, a person's quality of life will never exceed the quality of living they afford to the animals they eat. Think about it.

Landscaping has begun!

James has removed the big rocks and organic matter from the front of the new store. Now that the top soil has been taken away, fill will be brought in to build a bed for a patio of paving stones and a space for parking.

It's exciting to see this starting to take shape.

Next week, harvesting of the root crops will be in full swing. Just smell that lovely earthiness!

Fresh Harvest Haven Lamb will be in the store every Friday and Sunday for September.

If there are specific cuts you would like, let us know as soon as possible so we can get them for you.

I know, it seems a little early to start thinking about turkey, but we need to have your orders sooner than later this year.

With an increase in demand and a limited supply, we're taking orders until September 23, which is two weeks before Thanksgiving. We won't have any birds available for last minute shoppers. So, SEND US YOUR ORDER ASAP TO BE SURE TO GET WHAT YOU WANT!

Email: solutions@harvesthaven.com or call: 403-329-9157 to reserve your turkey and turkey parts.

Sirloin Tip Roast- Sale $11.49/lb Reg. $13.49/lb (See Recipe Box)

Bone-In Chicken Breast- Sale $9.99/lb Reg. $10.49/lb (See Recipe Box)

Beef Pepperoni Sale $3.89/ 4 oz Reg. $4.49/ 4 oz

Large Eggs- Sale 3 dozen for $16 Reg. $6.00/dozen

Baby Carrots- Sale $1.99/lb Reg. $2.50/lb

Organic Austrian Pumpkin Seeds, 250 g- Sale $6.99/ Reg. $7.49/lb (See Recipe Box)

Nature's Path Organic Peanut Butter Love Crunch Bars, 6 x 30 g- Sale $4.99 Reg. $5.99

Que Pasa Organic Thin and Crispy Tortilla Chips, 300 g- Sale $4.49 Reg. $5.49 (See Recipe Box)

Please note, all ingredients in our recipes are organic.

Pastured Poultry – Free Range Living at Its Best

Martin and James's big project for this summer has been to get all the poultry out on pasture. As you can see in this short video, they succeeded.

Some of the layers are truly free-range as they are allowed to roam through the caragana hedge behind Martin in the video. Because these girls are four or five years old, they don't lay many eggs anymore, but are useful for cleaning up bugs in the garden. Other hens are following close to the cows and have been trained to use their mobile house for laying their eggs, which are gathered daily.

The broilers need to be in smaller units with some cover because they are less mature. They need closer monitoring, just like children.

We had a sad situation with the turkeys shortly after they were moved to pasture. They had a roosting house, which wasn't quite big enough for them as they grew. One evening, some of them had to settle for just sitting on the ground under the unit.

One of the things we learned about turkeys is that they like to roost as high up as they can and are immovable when perched at night. When they are on the ground, they are Nervous Nellies.

When James went out one morning to tend the flocks, he found some of the birds running around outside their fence and something had had turkey for midnight dinner – probably coyotes. The predators hadn't gotten inside the pen, so the birds had gotten out somehow.

Before the guys could solve the problem, it was turkey dinner the next night, too, as a few birds got out again and four more were eaten.

Martin had to find a solution! He now has two rows of fence around a humongous turkey roost on wheels. This keeps the birds from any predators that try to stalk them around the fence and the birds won't push down the fence in their fear. In the new turkey villa, they all have lots of room to roost and feel secure.

That's the cost of R & D that the farmer must swallow. We knew there would be a price in doing something new but, we also know the longer-term rewards are there for us, our livestock, and our customers.