Thanksgiving Turkeys, 2011

Yep, it's time to think about Thanksgiving turkeys already.

The Background:

As you may recall: Last year, Rettland Farm raised pastured turkeys for Thanksgiving on a preorder basis. We got the turkey poults on the farm in early July, and raised them until the week before Thanksgiving. We then harvested the turkeys the Saturday before Thanksgiving, and some of our loyal (and adventurous) customers even came out to the farm to help butcher their own turkeys. That day, and the entire experience as a whole, was really enjoyable for me, so I decided to do it again this year.

The Details:

1. All turkeys will be a heritage variety, most likely Bourbon Reds, but we may have a few other rare breeds mixed in for kicks, just to see how they perform, and more importantly--to see how they taste. By using these heritage breeds, we'll have birds that have different composition than commercial turkeys, i.e. more proportional bodies, with the breasts and thighs being closer in size and weight. You can also expect a deeper, richer flavor from the heritage turkeys, as compared to a commercial turkey.

2. I'm estimating the weight of the dressed turkey will be 20 lbs, give or take 5 lbs. If you order a turkey, I'll try to keep you posted of their projected finished weight as the summer goes on, so you can plan your Thanksgiving meal accordingly. If in doubt, order two turkeys--you can always freeze the second one for Christmas!

3. We WILL be doing the Turkey Butchering day again this year, because I thought it was an overwhelmingly positive experience last year. We will be doing the processing in our brand new on farm processing facility. This day will be the weekend before Thanksgiving, date TBA. Anyone who orders a turkey is welcome to attend, and bring their friends, families, etc. While this day has been a great outing and an educational experience for all who attended in the past, you do not have to participate in the butchering day if you don't want to.

4. All turkeys will need to be picked up the weekend before Thanksgiving. Again, details for the pickup will be announced later in the season.

5. The total cost for the turkeys will be about $70.00, or about $3.50/lb. The reason for the increase in price over last year is the result of a drastic increase in feed costs, the slower growth rate of the heritage breeds, combined with the increased price of the heritage breed turkey poults.

6. New this year: I am asking that if you order a turkey, that you put a deposit of $35.00 down on the turkey. You may mail your deposit, payable to Rettland Farm LLC to: 920 Barlow Two Taverns Road, Gettysburg, PA 17325.

7. The number of turkeys will be limited, so orders will be taken on a first come, first served basis. If you are interested, please don't delay in placing your order.

So, if you'd like to have one of these great turkeys on your Thanksgiving table this year, please respond with your order no later than this Friday, June 10, 2011. Email your order to farmer@rettlandfarm.com . I will confirm all orders within a day or two of receiving them. Please contact me by phone or email to place your order first--we can then get your deposit in the mail in the following days.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Introducing...Cheese!

So, are you ready for a whole new product line from Rettland Farm?

CHEESE, BABY!

The Background:

Some of you may know that I have pretty extensive experience in the dairy industry. My dad has been a dairy farmer for almost 40 years, and I have been milking cows on his farm since I was twelve years old. After spending my childhood on the farm, I took the next step and acquired a degree in Dairy Science from Penn State. Finally, I decided to make dairy farming a career after I graduated. I have worked full time on the dairy since then.

The Milk:

The milk for the cheese comes from my family's dairy farm, which is operated by my dad, my brother, and myself. We milk about 75 cows twice per day. During the grazing season, from April until December, we graze the cows on grass pastures. Through the winter, we feed them stored feed, harvested off the farm during the summer.

Our milk is not "Organic", but we don't use antibiotics on any animal unless it is sick. Every load of milk that leaves the farm is tested for the presence of antibiotics in the milk, and for high levels of bacteria. If either would be found, the milk would be rejected.

Most importantly, our cows have NEVER been treated with the artificial hormone known as rBST, and they NEVER will be.

The Cheese:

We have been very fortunate to find a processor that uses his amazing artisanal skill to make cheese from our milk. The cheese plant is located in Eastern PA, and specializes in high quality, delicious, old style farmstead cheeses.

By using this custom processor, we are able to concentrate on producing high quality milk, and not needing to spend time, money, and labor developing and outfitting our own cheese plant. This synergy allows everyone to do what they do best, resulting in an amazing product.

Our initial varieties? How about Cheddar, Gouda, American, Muenster, Colby, and Farmer for starters? We are also considering a Feta, and maybe a Mozzarella. If you have a suggestion for a favorite cheese of yours, I'd love to hear it.

Where to Find it:

For starters, our cheeses will be offered at the Carriage House Market in Hanover. I will also have it for sale this summer at the Farmers Markets in Gettysburg. For those of you in the Harrisburg area, our cheeses can be found at Olewine's Meat and Cheese House. When our cheeses can be found in other places, we'll be sure to publicize that fact here and on the Rettland Farm Facebook page. As always, if you can't find these amazing cheeses, contact me directly and I'll FIND a way to get you some.

So, there you have it--a variety of delicious new products from Rettland Farm that can be an incredible addition to any meal. Try all the varieties, then tell me which one you like best!

Chicken Plans, Part 1

Here we are, fresh into a New Year, and things here at Rettland Farm are already shakin'. So much for winter downtime, huh? Since we have the holidays behind us, I've been busy getting the wheels turning on some pretty big changes here at the farm, changes that are going to make the RF product line bigger and better than ever.

So let's talk about the biggest change first.

Those of you who have been with me since the beginning of RF (the Littles, the Moores, the nee Sheppards) might remember the early days of the pastured broiler program when I butchered the birds right here on the farm. Every Sunday afternoon, all summer long, I would break out my knives, my feather picker, and my giant gas burner, and butcher the chickens that I needed that week.

I ended up with sore feet, aching back, sunburn, and absolutely phenomenal chicken.

Ohh, what memories!

But for several complex reasons, it became necessary for me to hire out the butchery of the chickens. For the past year and a half, a small butcher in a neighboring county has done all of the processing of the pastured broilers. I have been mostly satisfied with the performance of this butcher and the care they took in processing my chickens.

The problem is, I think that there is room for improvement in our broilers. In an effort to constantly improve the taste, texture, and quality of the chickens that we produce, I've decided to bring the butchery back home.

Here's why: Despite the relative short distance between me and the butcher, it still takes about an hour to drive there. So, my chickens are caught, placed into crates, and the crates are put on a truck. That all takes about 30 minutes. Then I drive them to the butcher as quickly as possible, (the hour, as mentioned), and then they wait their "turn" once we get to the butcher. This wait can be as much as another hour.

Reducing that two and a half hours is where I am going to improve the quality of the meat.
Crating the birds up and then driving them down the road creates stress in the birds. It is a new, unfamiliar process to them, and chickens like monotony (as do most animals). The longer they are stressed before they are killed, the less desirable the meat becomes. (Which, incidentally, is one of many reasons that commercial chicken is unpalatable.)

By eliminating the drive, and most of the wait time immediately before slaughter, you, the loyal Rettland Farm chicken lover, end up with a chicken on the table that is more flavorful, moister, and more tender.

So, how am I gonna do the butchery, now that I am producing about 10 times the birds that I did back in the good ole days? Still gonna have my little table and my little bunsen burner on steroids??

Nah...we're going state of the art, baby.

Stay tuned for the unveiling of the all new Rettland Farm slaughter facility, coming soon.

Husbandry, not Industry

Like my new catchphrase?

It just kind of stumbled into my head while I was making a point in a e-discussion group that I participate in.

It sums up, in three words, how I think modern, progressive farms should be run.

Husbandry. Not Industry.

As in--using knowledge and experience to care for animals, not electronics and shiny metal.

As in--treating farms like biological systems, not factories churning out widgets and doodads.

As in--making use of an animal's natural tendencies, instead of forcing them to change their behavior to fit a production model.

As in--understanding that there is a difference between a professional farmer, and a low paid "technician" with no stake in any part of the operation, other than a menial paycheck for his menial labor.

As in--realizing that at some point in food production, scale and quality become inversely proportional.

As in--believing that "food security" is defined by more than abundance and low price.

Husbandry. Not Industry.

Food as a Priority

Recently, I had a pretty nice article in our local newspaper, about our harvest of Thanksgiving turkeys, and some unique opportunities it offered to us and to the buyers of those turkeys.

The article was published on the papers webpage, and most of the comments posted about the article were extremely positive, and supportive of me and what I try to do for a living. There was, however, one naysayer who thought that the price that I charged for the turkeys was a little high, to put it lightly.

Let me say this right now: I don't give a damn about this guy, or his opinion of me. I live by Abe Lincoln's admonition about not being able to please all the people all the time, and that philosophy serves me well. In my mind, if I produce food that only one person in this whole wide world appreciates, then my life and my life's work has purpose. Period. I'm not running for Homecoming King, and popularity has never appeared on any list of my goals. Ever.

But as a result of this heckler, I've been thinking again about the stereotype that people who seek good food for themselves and their families are painted with: Elitists. Food snobs. Tree huggers. The Haves, not the Have-Nots.

I think the labels are bullshit.

I think that the desire and the willingness to seek out and pay for decent, honest, wholesome food boils down to nothing more than priorities.

People who buy from me, and other farmers like me, place a value in the role that food plays in their lives, beyond simply providing protein, fat, and carbohydrates in order to maintain their existence. They value the relationship and interaction that can be had with people who grow their food, or prepare it in a restaurant kitchen. They recognize the fact that, through their purchase and careful preparation of food, they can influence issues ranging from family cohesion to environmental protection, from foreign policy to public health. And they recognize that their influence can be positive.

Others don't hold food or it's producers in such high esteem. To them, every dollar spent on food is one that takes away from their entertainment budget, or their cigarette money, or the weekly bar tab, or the new car that they buy every two years, or the NFL channel, or whatever other IMPORTANT things exist in their lives, besides food. So therefore, food expense is something to be minimized, to be reduced to as close to zero as possible, and by default, food itself becomes a sterile, meaningless necessity, and those that are involved in food production are no longer professionals or artisans, but instead technicians or laborers.

I proudly consider myself a member of the first group, and I feel nothing but pity for those who are members of the second.

　
　

First Annual Turkey Day

Another post where I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

As a brief background, I started raising turkeys in July. They were sold on a pre-ordered basis, and as part of the deal, I offered to let people come out and take part in the harvest of their Thanksgiving turkey. Sort of a hard core twist to the "pick your own pumpkin" or "choose your own Christmas tree" idea.

In reality, I wanted to offer people the chance to see one more step that their food must take from farm to table, to completely close the circle. I wanted it to be an educational opportunity for adults and children alike, and I wanted to recreate some of the experiences I had as a child at similar community butchering days.

In the end, the butchering day was everything I wanted it to be, and more. We had LOTS of interest from the turkey buyers, and they came with a lot of really valid questions about my small scale butchering techniques, and how they compared with large scale slaughterhouses. Many of these folks rolled up their sleeves and stepped in to harvest and clean THEIR turkey, and that gave me satisfaction that I can't put into words.

Thanks to all who participated for making this a great experience. The wheels are already turning for next year...

A handsome turkey. Oh yeah, and the bird about to be butchered...

Turkeys, 2010 edition.

Making the selection.

My butchering facility. Notice the window with the scenic view, and ample spectator room...

Turkey, knife, right hand, blue sky. Just thought it was a cool picture.

A customer, hands-on in the process. Awesome.

Finished product, just chillin'.

Autumn Splendor Sausage

So, it's back to the future here at Rettland Farm.

No, I'm not talking about a visit by Ol' Doc or Marty McFly, or the arrival of Flux Capacitors by UPS or Stainless Steel Doloreans in the barnyard.

I'm talking about the latest addition to the Rettland Farm Original Sausage line, called "Autumn Splendor." This apparent new kid on the block is actually the grandaddy of them all. A little over a year ago, when I started exploring the idea of producing original sausages using our own meats as a way of showcasing the "taste" of Rettland Farm, I knew that the sausages had to be unique in concept and flavor. So, I started to experiment with different ingredients that were unique to the season at the time, which happened to be autumn.

The result of hours (and I mean hours) of messing around in the kitchen more than a year ago, before I ever produced a sausage for retail sale, yielded the basic recipe for the sausage we rolled out today, affectionately called "Autumn Splendor." But poor little Autumn Splendor had to wait a whole year, while the rest of the RF line hit the streets.

So why wait a whole year to release this sausage for public enjoyment? Well, for a couple of reasons, the first being seasonality. The ingredients are very much FALL ingredients. I wanted to use fresh fruit in season, not fruit from cold storage and ABSOLUTELY not fruit imported from some foreign country, essentially driving another nail in the coffin of American fruitgrowers. In Adams County, PA, fruit is harvested in the fall.

In addition, the sausage has a sort of FALL taste to it--it's just not something you'd want to eat watching fireworks on July 4th, or something you'd whip up for your sweetie on Valentine's Day. It's just...autumnal.

What are these magical FALL ingredients? Besides the ever present, ever reliable Rettland Farm Pork, I used some pretty awesome Adams County Bosc Pears, the kind that have rich mahogany colored skins, so fresh that a few of them still have a leaf or two attached to the stems. Next comes dried cranberries, which obviously didn't come from Adams County, but I happen to like them very much, and what they added to the sausage overcame any pangs of guilt I felt for not using super local ingredients.

After that, we've got a few spices thrown in that will remind you of apple pies, and the smells around grandma's house on Thanksgiving.

One other thing--this sausage is packaged and labelled as a "Breakfast" sausage. It's been stuffed into smaller diameter casings, making it possible to cook the sausage in less time. But, Autumn Splendor will work in lots of different scenarios, so don't be afraid to try. And as usual, if you come up with a really cool way to use the sausage, I'd love to hear about it in the comment section.

Autumn Splendor is available exclusively at the Carriage House Market, 117 Frederick St. Rear, Hanover, PA. Please make plans now to stop in and get some, because it will only be available for a limited time, for reasons you probably understand by now.

Happy Autumn!