Catch Up Time

Is it really December?

Wow!

Where did the year go?

This has been a challenging year in a lot of ways.  I have not kept up with updating the Facebook page, posting blogs & posting pictures & for that I am sorry.  I really had hopes of doing a better job with the website & other social media outlets.  There's always next year......

Well, turkeys have come & gone again this year.  As always, a big thank you to our customers new & old who continue to support us with buying holiday turkeys.  We had several new customers this year.

Here is an email I received after Thanksgiving:

Dear Menius Family,

Just wanted to let you know how delicious our turkey was at dinner!!! So moist & tender!!! The whole family enjoyed your turkey!! So looking forward to turkey sandwiches tomorrow!!!

Can we order a Christmas turkey now?!!!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving too!!

It always does us good to receive these emails & Facebook comments from you all.

It has also been a refreshing break to have a few Saturdays off from the Farmer's Market during the fall & winter months.

Davidson is operating on a every other Saturday schedule.  The Salisbury Market is open but we will not be there again until December 22, 2012 from 9 to noon.

We had a pleasure to take part in the 2nd Annual Carolina Meat Conference held in Bermuda Run, NC on Monday & Tuesday of this week.  Not only were we sponsors but Lee participated as a moderator & on a panel.

It is always nice to reconnect with farmer friends & meet new farmer friends.

The Keynote Speaker on Monday night was Temple Grandin.  She not only is an Animal Science Professor at Colorado State University, an author & creator of humane slaughter designs but she also has a personal story with autism

urr meal was provided by The Blind Pig from Asheville, NC.

Stay Tuned for the link to the pics from that event.

WTF News- November 30th

Wild Turkey Farms News- Nov 30

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  

After a busy summer, things are finally starting to quiet down a bit at the farm now that all of the turkeys and most of the chickens are gone for the season.  It's  the time of year that we enjoy a little bit of a break around the holidays before getting geared up for spring.  We're kicking around lots of new ideas for WTF next year so you can probably look for us to send out a survey to see how some of these ideas sound to you.

Davidson Farmers Market 9-11:20 (this Saturday is the Davidson Christmas Parade so we plan on cutting out a lil early to avoid the road closures)

No Salisbury Farmers Market this weekend.  We'll be back the weekend before Christmas

Don't forget to check out our Wild Turkey Farms Facebook page and "like" us to get the most up to date info.

    

We hope that you'll support some of the chefs & businesses that support us & other local farmers.

Customshop Restaurant- Charlotte

Chef Charles Catering - Charlotte/ DFM

Whiskey Warehouse- Charlotte

Pure Pizza (at 7th St Market) - Charlotte

The Bradford Store- Davidson

Black Mountain Farmers Market- Black Mountain

Salisbury Wine Shop- Salisbury

300 East- Charlotte

Thanks for your support, have a great weekend, and we'll see you at the market.

Lee, Domisty, Rosty, & Charlie

Wild Turkey Farms LLC

China Grove, NC

WTF News- November 16th

Wild Turkey Farms News- Nov 16

Well another turkey season has come & gone- YEAH!!!  It's nearly 10pm now and I've been up since 4am so I'm going to keep this short & sweet.  See you all at the market this weekend

For those of you that ordered turkeys we'll see you sometime soon.  If you missed out on the turkeys check with us after 4pm today cause we may end up with a couple extras.  

We also restocked on pork chops, german & beer brats, bologna, & smoked bacon!!!!!

Thanksgiving specials- quantities are limited so please pre order if possible

- Lard- pure piggy goodness- The perfect baking companion for the best pie crust or make the perfect fried chicken

- Greens- Turnip, Mustard, Kale- all organically grown and available by the pound or the truck load.

- Sweet potatoes- We'll have some of our delicious WTF purple sweet potatoes available & some orange ones(not ours but from our neighbor) too if your not into cool purple tubers

Davidson Farmers Market 9-noon

Salisbury Farmers Market 9-noon- email us your order & we'll have it ready to pick up.  

Don't forget to check out our Wild Turkey Farms Facebook page and "like" us to get the most up to date info.

    

We hope that you'll support some of the chefs & businesses that support us & other local farmers.

Customshop Restaurant- Charlotte

Chef Charles Catering - Charlotte/ DFM

Whiskey Warehouse- Charlotte

Pure Pizza (at 7th St Market) - Charlotte

The Bradford Store- Davidson

Black Mountain Farmers Market- Black Mountain

Salisbury Wine Shop- Salisbury

300 East- Charlotte

Thanks for your support, have a great weekend, and we'll see you at the market.

Lee, Domisty, Rosty, & Charlie

Wild Turkey Farms LLC

China Grove, NC

TURKEY TIME

Turkey Time is coming up next week.  I'd say THE EMAIL should be arriving  about Wednesday between 3-4pm.

For those that are new to the WTF turkey process, here's how it goes.

- we'll send out THE EMAIL which you will need to respond to (better be close by since we tend to sell out in a very short time)

- we'll fill our turkey list in the order we receive replies

- if you make the list we'll send a confirmation with details on what to do.  

Good Luck Turkey Hunting!!

this years' birds are $4.99/lb and should avg about 15lbs

WTF News- October 19th

Wild Turkey Farms News- Oct 19

Turkey Time is coming up next week.  I'd say THE EMAIL should be arriving  next weds between 3-4pm.  

For those that are new to the WTF turkey process, here's how it goes.

- we'll send out THE EMAIL which you will need to respond to (better be close by since we tend to sell out in a very short time)

- we'll fill our turkey list in the order we receive replies

- if you make the list we'll send a confirmation with details on what to do.  

Good Luck Turkey Hunting!!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Davidson Farmers Market-   (8-noon) Come load up on yummy WTF meats and fresh free range eggs!!!   Sorry but no pre orders again this week.

DFM November & December Markets- 1st & 3rd saturdays 8-noon

Salisbury Farmers Market-  We will NOT be at Salisbury Tomorrow .
            -Domisty will be back on Oct 27

Don't forget to check out our Wild Turkey Farms Facebook page and "like" us to get the most up to date info.

    

We hope that you'll support some of the chefs & businesses that support us & other local farmers.

Customshop Restaurant- Charlotte

Chef Charles Catering - Charlotte/ DFM

Whiskey Warehouse- Charlotte

Pure Pizza (at 7th St Market) - Charlotte

The Bradford Store- Davidson

Black Mountain Farmers Market- Black Mountain

Salisbury Wine Shop- Salisbury

Thanks for your support, have a great weekend, and we'll see you at the market.

Lee, Domisty, Rosty, & Charlie

Wild Turkey Farms LLC

China Grove, NC

It's Thanksgiving Time at WTF!

Info on Thanksgiving Turkey's:

Be near your email on October 24th because the turkey email will be going out!!!!

Hard to believe that it's that time of year again but it is.  

As has been our tradition at WTF, you get first dibs on this year's turkeys since you got one last year.  Here are the details so look over and let us know if you plan to participate again this year

- we anticipate this years turkeys will be about 13-15lbs - (this year we didn't start any early birds so we don't expect to have any of the 18+lb birds at all)

- if you have a size request now is the time to let us know (ie bigger bird or smaller bird) and we'll do the best to match you up with what's available

- this year we plan to have birds available for pick up at the farmers markets on the Saturday before thanksgiving

-due to the limited number of birds we may have to limit everyone to 1 bird- if you would like a second bird please let us know and we will do our best to accommodate that request

- price is $4.99/lb which is up mainly due to a big feed cost increase this year

- let us know if you plan to get a turkey by replying back to this email  you can then mail a $25 deposit to: 

            Wild Turkey Farms 

            PO Box 491 

            China Grove NC 28034

or you can pay your deposit at the farmers markets this weekend

- in the name of full disclosure and transparency- we can not claim this year's birds as 100% antibiotic free.  at 2 weeks of age we had a spell of brooder pneumonia which claimed about 75 poults so we had to administer antibiotics for 3 days to stop the losses.  the withdrawal time prior to slaughter for the AB was about 2 weeks so by the time these are harvested they will have had over 7 times the required withdrawal period so they should be as clean as an AB free turkey

Thanks for your continued support

Lee & Domisty Menius

WTF News- October 5th

Wild Turkey Farms News- Oct 5

It looks as though fall is back (again) and we are looking forward to the cool down after this weekend. It'll be a bummer when it starts getting dark at 5:30 but for now the shorter days are a welcome change.  

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

BEEF and LAMB and PORK - OH MY!!!!

Last week we restocked on our delicious grass fed beef and lambl.  Come on out to the market tomorrow and stock up!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Davidson Farmers Market-   (8-noon) Come load up on yummy WTF meats and fresh free range eggs!!!  

Salisbury Farmers Market- Domisty will be at Salisbury this week so email us your orders or come on out and see her!


Don't forget to check out our Wild Turkey Farms Facebook page and "like" us to get the most up to date info.

    

We hope that you'll support some of the chefs & businesses that support us & other local farmers.

Customshop Restaurant- Charlotte

Chef Charles Catering - Charlotte/ DFM

Whiskey Warehouse- Charlotte

Pure Pizza (at 7th St Market) - Charlotte

The Bradford Store- Davidson

Black Mountain Farmers Market- Black Mountain

Salisbury Wine Shop- Salisbury

Thanks for your support, have a great weekend, and we'll see you at the market.

Lee, Domisty, Rosty, & Charlie

Wild Turkey Farms LLC

China Grove, NC

Last Call

LAST CALL TIME

This is the last call for Dinner on the Back Forty Farm Dinner 

Sunday October 7 - 2nd Annual Farm Dinner on the Back Forty- The weather is looking perfect for Sunday afternoon so make plans to grab a jacket and join us for an evening of local drinks and great local food at Wild Turkey Farms.

        Tickets are $65 each and will be available at the markets but we need an email letting us know you plan on coming.

                     

Also this is the last week to sign up for the WTF/ North 40 Farms Fall CSA

10 Week CSA with weekly pick ups at Wild Turkey Farms or in Davidson  (sorry but no farmers market pick ups)

WTF Full Meat Share (with or w/o veggie share) $25/week                                             $250

North 40 Farm's Organic Vegetable Share-     $15/ week                                                $150

WTF Farmers Choice Meat Add On (w/ veggie share)-      $11/week                             $110

WTF Free Range Egg Share (1 dz eggs / week) $4/week                                                 $40

                                                                                                                        Total $  _______

Email us if you are interested in participating and you can drop a check in the mail or pay at the farmers markets this Saturday

Wild Turkey Farms 

PO Box 491

China Grove NC 28023                                                                                               

Lee, Domisty, Rosty, & Charlie

Wild Turkey Farms LLC

China Grove, NC

WTF CSA Information

heres the info on our csa 

Our friends at North 40 Farms are growing the veggies at our farm.  All of their stuff is grown organically just like we did.

The Meats and eggs are all WTF

10 weeks starting week of oct 9th

-vegetable share $15/week                              $150  ________

-small meat add on $11/week                         $110  ________

-egg add on $4/ week                                     $40    ________

-full meat share $25/week                                           $250  ________

                                                                                    Total        $________

Checks can be mailed to

Wild Turkey Farms 

PO Box 491 

China Grove NC 28023

We are only offering 1 share size this time which will be comparable to the small shares from this spring.

Meat share or add on are all farmers choice but will include a variety of cuts of beef, pork, lamb, & chicken over the course of the CSA

Once again we can deliver if you have 6+ shares.  we'll deliver either tuesday or thursday afternoons

Main thing i need to know soon is who wants what so i can get a count.

Thanks

Lee

Buthcher Guild Retreat 2012

I hardly know where to begin......

Since meeting the co-founders & many members of the Butcher's Guild back in August 2010 we have kept up with them thru Facebook, blogs, websites & emails.

When Lee saw that they were hosting The Butcher's Guild Retreat in San Francisco we knew we had to go!

For those of you who are saying 'What is the Butcher's Guild'? 

 This is what their website says:

The Butcher's Guild is a fraternity of meat professionals bound to create a support system for our industry.

We focus on education and camaraderie to achieve a communal goal: a network of successful, skilled, independent butchers all across the country! We also need courageous carnivorous consumers to insist on Good Meat!    

We spent our mornings in workshops learning about branding, HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point), profitability & handling publicity.  We had a lot of great speakers & we all learned a lot.

 

In the afternoons we all headed to the California Culinary Institute where Dr. Gregg Rentfrow (University of Kentucky) talked to us about Meat Science & Adam Tiberio demonstrated his skills using beef, pork & lamb.                                                  Marissa Guggiana, co-founder Butcher's guild

                                                                  Beef demonstration

 
                                                                          Adam Tiberio

                                                               Lamb demonstration

                                                                   Tying techniques

                                                                     Pork demonstration

                                          Bruce Aidells- Sausage maker & Cook Book Writer

                                                      Old Oakland Farmer's Market



WTF News- September 28th

Wild Turkey Farms News- Sept 28

Got to say that San Francisco was AWESOME!!!  Not only did we eat our way through San Francisco, Berkley, and Oakland but we got to see old friends and make many new ones from around the country.  Go to our Facebook page and check out some of the pics when you get time.  

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BEEF and LAMB and PORK - OH MY!!!!

That's right, if everything goes as planned I'll be reloading on our delicious grass fed beef and lamb as you are reading this email.  I know you have all waited patiently for the past 2 months so THANK YOU.  Come on out to the market tomorrow and stock up!

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Davidson Farmers Market-   (8-noon) Come load up on yummy WTF meats and fresh free range eggs!!!  

Salisbury Farmers Market- Domisty will be back at Salisbury this week so email us your orders or come on out and see her!

Don't Forget-  
Sunday October 7 - THIS IS THE FINAL WEEK  To get your tickets for the WTF 2nd Annual Farm Dinner on the Back Forty- Join us for an evening of local drinks, local music, and great local food. Tickets are $65 each and will be available at the markets.

Don't forget to check out our Wild Turkey Farms Facebook page and "like" us to get the most up to date info.

    

We hope that you'll support some of the chefs & businesses that support us & other local farmers.

Customshop Restaurant- Charlotte

Chef Charles Catering - Charlotte/ DFM

300 East Restaurant- Charlotte

Whiskey Warehouse- Charlotte

Pure Pizza (at 7th St Market) - Charlotte

The Bradford Store- Davidson

Black Mountain Farmers Market- Black Mountain

Salisbury Wine Shop- Salisbury

The Bread Riot- Salisbury

Thanks for your support, have a great weekend, and we'll see you at the market.

Lee, Domisty, Rosty, & Charlie

Wild Turkey Farms LLC

China Grove, NC

WTF News- September 21st

Wild Turkey Farms News- Sept 21

Some of you may remember from prior newsletters that two years ago Domisty and I got the chance to participate in Protein University at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.  At this event some of the best whole animal chefs from around the country came in for 3 days of breaking down and preparing whole animals.  From this event came the concept of The Butcher's Guild, a membership association that promotes craft butchery and purchasing locally raised animals from local farms.  The Butcher's Guild movement has been gaining steam ever since and now has members all over the country.  So it was only natural that when we found out they we're hosting a 2 day training in nearby San Francisco we decided to go!!!  The agenda looks great with 2 very full days of classes with master butchers, sausage grinders, and salami makers teaching us the ends and out of the specialty meat business.  Of course this crew has a knack for preparing some awesome food so I'm sure we're in for a real culinary treat as well.  We hope to get some great ideas for future WTF products and possibly spread WTF stickers all over the west coast.  Who knows what other crazy business ideas we might get out of this???????

Davidson Farmers Market-   (8-noon) Come load up on yummy WTF meats and fresh free range eggs!!!   Sorry but no preorders this week.

Salisbury Farmers Market- WE WILL NOT BE AT SALISBURY THIS WEEKEND


Don't Forget-  
Sunday October 7 - WTF 2nd Annual Farm Dinner on the Back Forty- Join us for an evening of local drinks, local music, and great local food. Tickets are $65 each and will be available at the markets.

Don't forget to check out our Wild Turkey Farms Facebook page and "like" us to get the most up to date info.

    

We hope that you'll support some of the chefs & businesses that support us & other local farmers.

Customshop Restaurant- Charlotte

Chef Charles Catering - Charlotte/ DFM

300 East Restaurant- Charlotte

Whiskey Warehouse- Charlotte

Pure Pizza (at 7th St Market) - Charlotte

The Bradford Store- Davidson

Black Mountain Farmers Market- Black Mountain

Salisbury Wine Shop- Salisbury

The Bread Riot- Salisbury

Thanks for your support, have a great weekend, and we'll see you at the market.

Lee, Domisty, Rosty, & Charlie

Wild Turkey Farms LLC

China Grove, NC

Know Your Farms tour 2012

I THOUGHT THIS POSTED LAST WEEK BUT IT DIDN'T....SO HERE YOU GO!!

This is the 4th year that Wild Turkey Farms has participated in the Know Your Farms (KYF) farm tour.  We enjoy having everyone come out & visit, see the farm &; listen to us talk about the farm.

What you may not realize is all the work that goes into getting ready for the farm tour.  The week before was filled with the guys at the farm bush hogging to make sure there was a clear path to walk on, moving fences & animals around so they would be close enough to see (& they still hid under the trees out of the sun), moving equipment, and the list goes on......

We also worked both of our Farmer's Markets on Saturday so we had our usual Friday night getting ready for the Market party.  We were up before dawn on Saturday to get everything ready for the Markets & the tour and I'm sure we still forgot some stuff.

Trust me Lee & I could not do this by ourselves.

Thanks to Robbie, Matt & Adam for all the help during the week cleaning up & all the help on Saturday.

Thanks to Ben, Courtney & Joe for working the Market trailer at Davidson & the Farm Tour.

Thanks to Ashley & Judy for selling WTF t-shirts & aprons.  We almost sold completely out so we'll be placing another order soon.

Thanks to Becky for bringing the ice, helping answer questions & playing tour guide.

A great big THANK YOU to Lee because he always works so hard to make sure everything is ready!

We also had great volunteers with KYF helping us again this year.

And of course all of you that came out to visit THANK You!!  We hope you had a great time & come back to visit again.

I always have great intentions of taking pictures but things always seem to happen.....like not charging my camera battery & only getting a few pictures........
Again thanks to all who helped make the KYF farm tour a success this year.


                                                              Lee getting the tractor in place.
                                       This was a very popular place to get pictures made that day.

                                       Charlie even wanted to get his picture made on the tractor!

                               These are not all of our volunteers that day but they were the ones who were                         there while my camera battery was working!  Again thanks to ALL of our volunteers!!!

                                            Rosty likes to help show the animals off.  He is showing
                                                            off one of the little chickens.