touchtheearthfarm.com Blog

The New York Times published a wonderful article yesterday in the “Dining & Wine” section, titled “Preservation’s Progress,” clearly a play on the 18th century book title, Pilgrim’s Progress. I can assure you, however, that these turkeys are far more entertaining than the novel, and we love raising them here at Touch the Earth Farm. Their antics are a joy to watch, and they make excellent mothers and thrive well on free range pasture.

Here’s a photo of our Narragansett tom in the background with a Royal Palm, another heritage breed, in the foreground. Narragansetts are excellent meat birds and are the breed we currently feature as our Thanksgiving heritage birds. Slow Food USA lists the Narragansett on its Ark of Taste, as part of its foundation to preserve biodiversity and cherished cultural foods.

This is our first year raising Royal Palms, so they will grace only our table this year, as we try them out against the Narragansett before offering them to our customers. Their reputation as meat birds is not as strong as the Narragansett, but we’re testing them out for the possibility of offering a white heritage breed in addition to the Narragansetts.

We’re constantly developing our heritage breeding programs here at the farm—a slow and steady process. In 2008, we plan to begin offering heritage chicken as well as turkey, including Delaware, Buckeye, both listed on Slow Food’s Ark of Taste, as well as Silver Gray Dorking, an ancient breed that can be traced back to Roman times. In addition, our laying flock features several other rare and heritage breeds, including Wyandottes, Speckled Sussex, and Dominiques, enabling us to support other breeders’ efforts at preserving biodiversity. By creating a market for these birds, we help ensure their survival and the preservation of valuable genetics and instincts for real farm survival.