KW Homestead

Pasture Raised Poultry & Edible Landscaping Plants Since 2013

Category: our thoughts (page 6 of 13)

Homestead Christmas Trees, Okra Ornaments, Christmas Duck, & More!

 

Homestead Christmas Trees, Okra Ornaments, Christmas Duck, & More!

How was your holiday? We hope it was excellent! Our Thanksgiving feast was filled with a ton of interesting cuts of meat—some of them considered “weird.” You probably know by now that when we eat at the homestead, we eat all the weird parts, too! This Thanksgiving, we added turkey blood to our soup, feet and heads to our broth, and fried turkey testicles were a delicious and crunchy appetizer. That’s what it’s like to raise and process birds with zero waste! What we don’t eat or utilize in other ways, the pigs eat or we add to the compost pile… Literally everything! So, how about you… What’s the weirdest animal part you’ve eaten?

Also by now, you’re probably back in the swing of things and getting ready for the Christmas holiday. We’re rolling into Christmas this year with a whole lot of exciting offerings… We’ll have Christmas trees from our land, unique ornaments, and the usual delicious meats. Check out the details below and meet us at the Corner Farmers Market for the annual tree trimming tradition that’s fun for kids and adults alike!

A Charlie Brown Christmas
Tree For You!

This holiday, we’re super excited to announce that for the next 3 weeks we’ll be selling Charlie Brown Christmas Trees!

These trees are sustainably harvested from our land in Stokes County, grown wild, and never sprayed. We’ll have both pine and cedar trees available and trees will be 3-6 feet tall. 👌🏼 You can also grab a tree stand for your cute Charlie Brown tree! Come by the market this Saturday and grab a sweet, little, local tree from local land.

Also, if you’ve already picked out your gorgeous, full tree for the family room, these little trees make fun table toppers or decorations for the kid’s room or for the little ones to decorate and redecorate for fun!

Okra Ornaments Are Back!

It’s that time of year again… Okra Ornament time!

Emma’s mom has been hard at work on her annual okra ornaments and she’ll be bringing them to the Corner Farmers Market the for the next 3 Saturdays. Come by and grab a one-of-a-kind, handpainted and bejeweled okra ornament that she’s been making a Christmas tradition for over 25 years. We can’t wait to see you on Saturday!

Christmas Duck: Reserve Today!

This holiday season is one of our favorite times of year! Christmas cheer abounds, and our schedule slows down for us a little bit (well, sort of!). Last year we sold out of whole ducks during the few weeks before Christmas, and this year we tried to increase the supply to match with last year‘s demand. On Tuesday we began processing our last batch of ducks for the season, to ensure that you duck-loving folks could get a whole bird or two in time for Christmas.

So, there’s no time like the right time to reserve (which is now)! Go ahead and pre-order your whole duck for your Christmas celebration feast by checking out the blue link below and paying a $10 reservation fee for your Christmas duck. Happy holidays! 🌲🦆

Reserve Your Christmas Duck Today!

Our Nursery:
Featured in the
Winston-Salem Journal!

We’re super excited to share that Jason and our KW Edible Landscaping Nursery were featured in the Winston-Salem Journal’s Black Friday paper! A big thank you to Amy Dixon for reaching out and meeting us to chat about all things plant. 👍🏼

If you don’t have Friday’s WSJ handy, you can check out the article via the blue link below. Also, a huge thank you to our client, Sayonara, and her family for letting us meet among her edible landscape for photographs!

Check Out Our Featured Article Here!

Copyright © 2019 KW Homestead, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
KW Homestead
1839 Dillard Road
Madison, NC 27025

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Last Market Till December 7: Stock Up For Thanksgiving & Its Aftermath

We’re Thankful for You

It’s been a busy week here at the homestead! We’re getting ready to deliver our Bourbon Red turkeys for Thanksgiving and we couldn’t be happier. This year‘s batch of turkeys are looking big and scrumptious, and we’re really excited to share them with you.

Every year, the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving are filled with the ultimate excitement…  It’s finally the right time to harvest our flock of ~80 turkeys and to see how they’ve grown and developed over the better part of a year. It’s also time for us to say goodbye to these regal and comical birds, but in doing so celebrate their lives and the loved ones we call family. We feel extremely lucky to be a part of many of your Thanksgivings—through the birds that we raise, who are served on your tables: turkeys, ducks and chickens.

Need Some Turkey Help? Click Here For Our Turkey Cooking Tips to Save Thanksgiving!

Round Out Your Feast With a Red Ranger

Don’t forget that this holiday we have large, holiday roasting chickens. These Red Rangers were raised on pasture as are all of our animals, but for a longer period of time. This longer growing time yeilds a larger, meatier bird with full flavor, more like a small turkey. As with a fine wine or cheese, developing flavor takes time. We give our birds all the time they need to grow to larger sizes, accrue micronutrients from their pastured life, and bring that rich and full flavor to your table this Thanksgiving.

Our Last Market Week Till December 7

Tomorrow is not only the last day you’ll see us before Thanksgiving, it’s also your last chance to stock up on your usual fare until December 7th. We’ll be at the Corner Farmers Market tomorrow but we’ll be taking a market break on November 30th to spend time with family. Since we’ll be skipping a week, be sure to come by and grab extra eggs for baking, chicken bones for broth, or whatever else you’ll need to get you through 2 weeks of meals!

What’s On Our Plate?

This year, as always, we’re filling up our plates with our very own poultry. We’ll be roasting a heritage turkey, parted up a bit so that we have more room in the oven for other birds. This maple syrup glazed turkey recipe is the one we used last year, and we’ll likely use it again. We’ll also be confiting duck legs and serving corned duck breast, chicken pot pie, and a sage-and-garlic venison roast.

Side by Side!

You didn’t think we’d only be eating meat, did you? 😉 We’ll also be serving green beans and greens (vegetables grown by Emma’s father), mofongo stuffing and arroz con gandules (both cooked in the Puerto Rican tradition and in Jason’s mother’s family), liver pâté and duck egg custard from our birds, and many other veggies. Let’s hope we have enough! 😆

Elevate Your Baking This Holiday Season! 

We can’t say what magic is upon us that makes our laying flock continue to lay like crazy, but we’ll take it! Usually around this time, the ducks start to slow down in their egg production. This year, we’ve been lucky that they’re continuing to lay as much as they did this summer. This means only good things for you! It’s not looking like there’s going to be a shortage of eggs for the next few weeks—which means that now is a fantastic time for you to grab extra eggs for your Thanksgiving and Christmas baking. Duck eggs make every baked good more rich, creamy, and delicious, so why not grab an extra dozen tomorrow to get you through the holiday ahead? See you then!
Copyright © 2019 KW Homestead, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
KW Homestead
1839 Dillard Road
Madison, NC 27025

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Turkey Cooking Tips to Save Your Thanksgiving!

Many of this tips apply to standard turkeys as well as our heritage birds, so no matter what you’re serving this holiday, these tips are sure to save the day!

A Few Cooking Tips:

  • Make sure your bird is fully thawed before you cook it. Generally, birds takes 24 hours to thaw per every 4-5 lbs of bird (in a 40 degree refrigerator). For our heritage birds, this equates to 48 hours (2 days) for a hen and 72-96 hours (3-4 days) for a tom to be fully thawed.
  • Take it out of the refrigerator and let it come up to room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour before you begin cooking it.
  • Don’t overcook your bird!
  • Our heritage birds have not been injected with whatever gross flavor concoction the conventional grocery store birds have been, so be sure to season appropriately (salt, pepper, garlic, whatever floats your gravy boat).
  • The USDA recommends cooking your bird until the internal temperature (the meat in the inner thigh) reaches 165 degrees. However, many chefs recommend cooking your Heritage Turkey until it reaches 150 degrees. Be sure to calibrate your thermometer in boiling water before you measure your bird’s temperature, or the reading may be off.
  • When you take your bird out of the oven, let it rest for at least 15-20 minutes before you carve it. This allows for all of the moisture and juices to seep back into the meat instead of being released as steam.
  • Don’t cook the stuffing inside the bird. Because heritage birds cook quicker, the stuffing might make the bird cook unevenly. You can still add aromatics like part of an onion, apple, or carrot to the cavity to add moisture and flavor.
  • If you are cooking it at a higher temperature, you might want to skip basting the bird. This is because constantly opening the oven door lowers the temperature and might make the bird cook unevenly.
  • Heritage Turkeys do not need to be brined (they have their own delicious flavor). Some chefs say that brining enhances the flavor and others say that it is unnecessary and simply extra work.
  • Don’t forget to save your bones! Simmer them in a crock pot with water for hours to make a stock or broth. These birds were raised naturally on pasture and their bones, tendons, and joints will make a delicious and nutritious broth!

Turkey Customers: Important Pickup Information!

Less Than 2 Weeks
Till Thanksgiving!

And so it begins… Turkey Time is here! We’re sure that you’re busy finalizing plans about where you’re eating, who you’re eating with, and what you’re eating in addition to one (or two) of our pasture raised birds. Later this week we’ll be sending out an email with recipe ideas and turkey preparation tips, so look for that email to come through on Friday afternoon.

In the meantime, we need some really important information from you! Please read the below information thoroughly and get back to us with your answers. Thank you!

Important Considerations…

Please consider the below options and get back to us no later than Thursday, November 21 with your response!

  • Your pickup options are: Saturday the 23rd from 8-12pm at the Corner Farmers Market (2200 Walker Ave. Greensboro NC, 27403) and Tuesday the 26th from 1-3pm (same location, only not during regular market hours). Please read on for more info about each pickup day.
  • If you have not already informed us of which pickup date you would like, let us know no later than this Thursday, November 21.
  • Your turkey will be delivered with the neck inside the bird. You will also be able to grab your giblet pack (if you would like one) that includes the gizzard, liver, and heart of the bird. If you would like your turkey’s feet they will be an extra $3… Just let us know in advance.
  • We prefer cash but you may also pay via credit card or check.
  • If you have any questions, let us know!

Saturday the 23rd Pickup

Your first pick up option is this Saturday the 23rd from 8-12pm at the Corner Farmers Market (2200 Walker Ave. Greensboro NC, 27403).  This is our usual Saturday market location, and you can find our table right by the entrance to the Sticks and Stones restaurant. When you’re parking for the markets, it’s best to park in the Suds and Duds parking lot which can be found a little bit further up Walker Avenue at 2114 Walker Avenue. If parking on the street, be sure not to park in any No Parking or Loading Zones.

On this day, we will only be bringing the birds of those who have confirmed a Saturday pick up, so please let us know as soon as possible which day you want to pick up your bird. We prefer cash but you may also pay via credit card or check.

Tuesday the 26th Pickup

Your second pickup option is on Tuesday the 26th from 1-3pm at the Corner Farmers Market location (2200 Walker Ave. Greensboro NC, 27403), only not during normal market hours. We will be set up by the side of Sticks and Stones restaurant, facing Elam Avenue. It is important that you do not park in the Sticks and Stones parking lot, as this interferes with customer parking for the restaurant. When parking on the street, be sure not to park in any No Parking or Loading Zones—there has been an active police presence in the area lately, and they have been quick to give out tickets.

On this day, we will only be bringing the birds of those who have confirmed a Tuesday pick up, so please let us know as soon as possible which day you want to pick up your bird. We prefer cash but you may also pay via credit card or check.

For the Tuesday pickup only—If you are getting a frozen bird, we can begin defrosting your bird for you earlier in the week, so the remaining thawing time is very short at your house. Please let us know if you would like us to begin defrosting your bird for you by this Thursday, November 21.

Turkey Necks, Giblets, & Feet

Your turkey’s neck will be found inside your bird, and the giblet pack will be given to you separately and will be frozen. The giblet packs are included in the price of your bird, but if you would like your turkey’s feet for making broth (or just as a conversation piece at Thanksgiving) they will be an additional $3. Please let us know in advance if you would like the feet or if you would like extra packs of feet, if available!

Copyright © 2019 KW Homestead, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
KW Homestead
1839 Dillard Road
Madison, NC 27025

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“Head to Toe Turmeric” Broth for the Win! Plus, a Traveling Turkey!

“Head to Toe Turmeric”
Broth for the Win!

Of all the fine warm beverages that make a cold fall weekend even better, the best perhaps is broth. Called many names—bone broth, chicken broth, chicken stock, liquid luck—this rich, warming, nutrient-dense beverage gives you an extra kick to make it through the day and helps boost your immunity to the illnesses that winter often brings.

We’ve finally settled on our House Broth—one that we’ll have available each week, especially during the chilly season. It’s a simple but flavorful blend of salt, garlic powder, and turmeric, and has a yellow hue that matches its golden flavor profile. Turmeric is a natural anti inflammatory, it assists in your body’s ability to absorb antioxidants, it may help with heart disease and in regrowing neurons in your brain, and more.

The summary: Turmeric is a super cool substance that also tastes great!

And, when you couple these turmeric benefits with the benefits of bone broth in general, things get really exciting! Broth provides many minerals and amino acids, like collagen and gelatin which are necessary for skin health (and so many other things!). Broth is also amazing for healing gut issues and for maintaining immune health.

Our favorite iteration of our House Broth is made solely with chicken heads and feet, and called “Head to Toe Turmeric.” You can grab a quart or any Saturday at The Corner Farmers Market from 8am-12pm. We hope to see you there!

A Traveling Turkey

Well, it’s officially Thanksgiving season here at the homestead!

This week, during our usual chicken processing, we also processed our first heritage turkey of the year! This was a special order hen from 2 of our customer-friends who are moving to Colorado later this week. We felt honored that they asked us if they could special order a turkey to take with them cross-country to enjoy in Colorado for their Thanksgiving in their new home. We happily obliged!

She was a beauty—a 8.5 pound bird that hints at the bountiful promise that Thanksgiving will bring!

If you are planning on grabbing a turkey from us this year, we suggest you jump on the gravy boat ASAP. There are only a handful of birds left…

Not Into Turkey?
Snag a Duck or Holiday Chicken!

Less than 3 weeks until Thanksgiving!

Some folks are turkey people and some folks aren’t… So if you’re planning on celebrating this holiday with a protein other than the classic turkey, think about grabbing one of our 5+ pound chickens, a whole duck, or some delicious, oven-roasted duck legs!

Our large, holiday chickens are big, juicy, and so flavorful while our ducks make a rich Thanksgiving spread even richer. Both birds are in the 5-6 pound range, and you can reserve with us in person at the Corner Farmers Market or via email.

Less Than 3 Weeks Till Thanksgiving:
Reserve Your Heritage Bird Today!

With all of our tom turkeys sold out and handful of turkey hens left, we’re getting close to the finish line when it comes to Thanksgiving Turkey Reservations. If you haven’t yet reserved but are planning on it, we suggest reserving online today, even before market tomorrow. Folks tend to prefer in-person reservations, and it’s our expectation that many of the remaining birds will be spoken for tomorrow! You can reserve today via the link below…

Reserve Your Heritage Turkey Today!
Copyright © 2019 KW Homestead, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
KW Homestead
1839 Dillard Road
Madison, NC 27025

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What’s New This Week? Sale on Schmaltz & Fall Foliage Recommendations

$1 Off Schmaltz &
Fall Foliage Recommendations

We hope you had a great Halloween, or if you’re trick-or-treating tonight, we wish your little ones lots of luck! Our little, pasture-raised duck certainly had lots of fun dressing up and quacking!

Schmaltz? What’s schmaltz, you ask! It’s rendered chicken fat, meant for cooking, baking, and loads of other amazing uses! Because our birds are pasture-raised and always outside, our chicken fat has a delicious, rich flavor with a lightness that means it can be used even in baking sweets or “chocolate” making! It imparts a richness that doesn’t reveal any chicken flavor at all—and that makes it our favorite fat to cook with! Read on for more information about how to add schmaltz to your day!

This week, you can find both of us at the Corner Farmers Market, with schmaltz on sale and edible plants that are showing their fall colors! Come by and see us if you haven’t in a while—we look forward to enjoying the beautiful day together!

Sauté With Schmaltz

If you’ve chatted with us lately, perhaps you’ve heard us rave about the many uses of chicken fat!

In fact, Emma likes cooking with chicken fat even more than duck fat and she just loves the flavor. Chicken fat is such a versatile fat that we can’t even imagine the time before we cooked everything with chicken fat!

Among our favorite uses for chicken fat, one that stands out is its use as a canola/vegetable oil substitute. Because chicken fat has one of the highest smoking points, it’s excellent when used for frying eggs or sautéing veggies. Swing by and grab your tub of chicken fat for $1 off!

Drizzle that Chicken Fat!

Chicken fat is amazing when drizzled over veggies before they go in the oven! Rather than using olive oil or coconut oil, chicken fat adds a little something extra that vegetable derivative oils can’t quite match.

Just the other day we cooked up some delicious french fries in our chicken fat, and chicken fat brussels sprouts are super creamy!

If you follow a Paleo or Keto diet, here’s looking at you!

Did You Say Chocolate?

Our newest obsession–chicken fat fudge, made with cocoa powder, chicken fat, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. Oh my. Want to know more? Come chat with us tomorrow at the market!

Fall Foliage Feature: Red!

This Fall Foliage Feature looks at two plants that are native and display similar fall color!

Both blueberries and juneberries (serviceberries) yield sweet and juicy berries, hold their leaves for quite a while during the fall, and display bright red or bright red-orange coloring.

It’s always an added bonus when your edible plants are also ornamental, right?

Fall Foliage Feature: Orange!

Take a look at these two trees that display lovely orange fall leaves!

The first is persimmon, the leaves of which change color over the course of the season… Going from green to yellow to orange and sometimes red. When all of the persimmon’s leaves have dropped, the tree still bears the beautiful orange persimmon fruits—making it a lovely scene even after winter is here.

Hazelnut trees also go orange for the fall season, displaying more of a red-orange shade, and tend to grow as rounded bushes which appear to be big balls of color in the fall!

Only 4 Weeks Till Thanksgiving:
Reserve Your Heritage Bird Today!

With only 4 weeks to go until the big family holiday arrives, now is the time to reserve your pasture-raised, heritage turkey. We still have hens and toms available but this time of year the birds go fast! You can reserve online via the blue button below or you can reserve in person at the Corner Farmers Market. Thanks for making us a part of your Thanksgiving celebration!

Reserve Your Heritage Turkey Today!
Copyright © 2019 KW Homestead, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
KW Homestead
1839 Dillard Road
Madison, NC 27025

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What’s New This Week? 5 Cooking Hacks for More Nutritious Meals!

5 Cooking Hacks for
More Nutritious Meals

Looking for easy and delicious ways to increase the vitamins and minerals in your diet? This week, we’ve been looking in detail at 5 Cooking Hacks for More Nutritious Meals, and today we’re taking the magnifying glass to five of our favorite tips and tricks for healthier eating. This week, you can find Emma at the Corner Farmers Market (2200 Walker Ave, Greensboro NC, 27403) from 8am-12pm and Jason at the Bethabara Apple Festival at Historic Bethabara Park in Winston-Salem from 10am-4pm. He’ll be there with loads of plants but no poultry products so swing by our weekly market location to see Emma and pick up what you need for the week! Thanks for shopping with us, and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow for live music, kids crafts, and more!

Hack #1: Add An Egg

What’s easier than adding an egg? Maybe you’re sick of scrambled eggs or egg salad, but did you know that eggs are much more versatile than used in their classic preparations? The creaminess of eggs makes them an excellent choice for adding to roux, stir frys, bulletproof coffee, soups, or stews to thicken them. Plus, adding an egg or two gives you that extra boost of vitamins B12 and D without having any egg flavor imparted in your meal. Simply wisk the eggs into your dish, stirring heavily, to ensure they get fully incorporated.

Also, adding an egg to your fresh salad helps you to absorb the salad’s nutrients better! And… What burger wouldn’t benefits from a runny-yolked duck egg adorning the patty?

We love duck eggs, and you will too—especially when you try these new and fun ways to boost your daily vitamin and mineral intake!

Hack #2: Save the Fat

If you’re cooking up some delicious duck breast, duck legs, chicken thighs, or whole chicken, be sure to save the fat or drippings that comes off of your dish. This fat shines when used in cooking veggies for stirfry, in home fries, or in other savory dishes.

The amazing thing about duck and chicken fat is that you can reuse this fat repeatedly—something you can’t do with refined oils. The flavorful fat can be used to confit, fry, or for roasted veggies and all you have to do to save it is to strain it and keep it in the fridge. Animal fats are excellent because they’re not refined, they’re resistant to high heat, and they still retain their flavor and health qualities. So, when you buy a cut of our pasture-raised poultry, you know that you also gain a excellent serving of fat—great for adding flavor to any dish.

Hack #3: Replace Water With Broth

Broth adds loads of flavor to any dish, and imparts extra collagen, gelatin, and essential vitamins and minerals into your culinary experience. We use broth for nearly any dish that requires water—especially dishes where the liquid is saved and included in the final meal—like soup, stir fries, rice, or sauces and gravies. We don’t tend to use broth for dishes like beans or greens since this remaining liquid isn’t mean to be saved, but it can be done, of course.

Our favorite is making rice with a turmeric and garlic broth—the rice finishes with a light yellow color and a delicate turmeric bite that beats the hell out of a simple, boring rice!

What about you? What’s your favorite way to use broth in your everyday cooking?

Hack #4: Add Some Liver

Liver is a star, and it’s simply one of our favorites! It’s true that many folks dislike the flavor or texture of liver, but very few deny the nearly magical load of vitamins and minerals that liver contains. If you’re a person who wants what liver has to offer, without the earthy flavor, including liver often in your recipes—in small ways—helps your body just as much as eating one big meal of pan-fried livers!

A few livers can be added to your weekly tomato or pasta sauce, and then blended into smoothness. The flavor imparts a richness, but in small quantities, you can’t taste that it’s liver at all! This is also a great way to “convince” your kids to enjoy liver. Try this in a bolognese or ragu sauce or if you enjoy making your own meatballs, adding 10% liver makes your meatballs richer and more nutrient dense!

One of our regular customers also loves to add liver to her broth, and swears by the richness of flavor and the fact that she couldn’t stand eating liver before she started adding it to her weekly batch of broth. Now she’s enjoying just how easy it can be to include nutrient dense foods in your regular culinary routine—and so can you!

Hack #5: Save Your Bones & Veggie Tops

Let’s take a look at perhaps the easiest thing you can do to add more nutrients to your life! Not only is this tip easy, it’s also all about using items that you already have in the kitchen or food pieces that you may not have thought to reuse.

Making your own broth may seem daunting, but it’s really much more simple than you think! Some people ask us about our favorite recipes but it’s really up to you about which flavors you like the best. Really, any broth is good broth! The easiest thing you can do to make your own broth is to save any bones and cartilage from the birds or mammals you’ve cooked over the week. If you don’t cook meat at home very often, you can save any bones in a gallon Ziploc in your freezer and accrue them over the course of a month or two, making a batch of broth when you’ve filled up the bag.

You can also add loads more flavor by including the skins and tops of onions, the tops of veggies (like celery and carrots), and we’ve even included the tops of okra before—creating a broth that had a light okra flavor but none of the okra sliminess. As we said, it’s really up to you! Whatever floats your boat is the way to go with making broth. Just save what you already have and reuse it to pull out many of the extra vitamins and minerals that are locked inside!

 

Only 5 Weeks Till Thanksgiving:
Reserve Your Bird ASAP!

With only 5 weeks to go until the big family holiday arrives, now is the time to reserve your pasture-raised, heritage turkey. We still have hens and toms available but this time of year the birds go fast! You can reserve online via the link below or you can reserve in person at the Corner Farmers Market. Thanks for making us a part of your Thanksgiving celebration!

Reserve Your Heritage Turkey Today!
Copyright © 2019 KW Homestead, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
KW Homestead
1839 Dillard Road
Madison, NC 27025

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What’s New This Week: What Exactly Is a Heritage Turkey?

What Exactly Is a
Heritage Turkey?

All year, you hear us talk about the many virtues of our heritage turkeys! It’s nearing the time of the year when you finally get to taste one for the first time (if you haven’t already), but many folks don’t know what a heritage turkey actually is—except that it’s supposed to be super delicious! Here’s a little bit about what makes a heritage turkey a heritage turkey, and why they’re simply the best…

Heritage vs. Commercially Raised Turkeys

First of all, heritage turkeys are characterized by their slower growth. Heritage turkeys are domestic turkeys, but they more closely resemble wild turkeys in their appearance and behavior. The broad breasted, modern turkeys that make up the vast majority of turkeys raised in the US, grow twice as fast as heritage turkeys and reach such large sizes that their health suffers in the later stages of their development. In fact, many modern, broad-breasted turkeys have a very short lifespan and are unable to continue living past their “expiration” date. Because heritage turkeys have a very active life, and are grown to the age of seven or eight months, they have double the flavor and richness of an industrially farmed turkey. We have a small flock of Bourbon Red heritage turkeys that we keep around for fun—and these birds are going strong at 5 years old.

Another important distinction between heritage turkeys and industrially raised, broad-breasted turkeys, is that heritage turkeys can reproduce naturally and do so when given space, time, and a flock of their own. Broad-breasted turkeys are bred only for the rapid production of flavorless meat, and are unable to breed naturally and must be artificially inseminated. That’s a bit freaky, right?

When it comes to enjoying your heritage turkeys for Thanksgiving—you’ll notice that these birds are excellent turkey specimens. They have a much more even proportion of dark to white meat, and their meat is richer and more moist. The body shape of a heritage turkey reflects their active lifestyle… They are more leggy than broad-breasted birds and don’t look pumped up on steroids like these more common turkeys often do.

Although heritage turkeys have become more popular in the last decade, there are still significantly less of them raised in the US than the industrially produced birds. While over 200 million factory farmed turkeys are pumped out every year, only about 25,000 heritage birds are raised on farms. That’s quite a difference!

So, support your local farmers and turkey friends, and make this year’s Thanksgiving the best one yet. If you haven’t already, you can still reserve your Thanksgiving Turkey here via the button below or in person at the market!

Jason and Emma will both be at the Corner Farmers Market tomorrow from 8am-12pm, so if you’d like to scope out a wider selection of KW Edible Landscaping Nursery plants, tomorrow is a great day to do it! And, of course, come by to grab your usual pasture-raised meats as well!

Reserve Your Bourbon Red Heritage Turkey Now

Don’t Be Fooled By Misleading Labeling

Can you get a heritage turkey in a grocery store? The answer is a resounding no! Because of the renewed interest in heritage birds, some factory produced turkeys are being labeled as heritage. How is this possible, you ask? And how are these birds as heavy as a broad breasted turkey when they’re labeled as heritage?

The answer is as simple as misleading labeling… Big corporations know that the phrase “heritage” is a hot ticket and due to certain allowances, they’re able to label their huge, factory-raised, standard turkeys as heritage because these birds may have some heritage turkey lineage. They can claim heritage status with misleading labeling because they may be raising broad-breasted breed with a only smidgen of heritage turkey genetics. Know your farmers, and know their turkeys. Ask questions. Get real answers.

Our birds are always heritage–and we consider our Bourbon Reds to be the tastiest and most hardy heritage breed. Ask us why!

Humanely Raised, With Respect

Heritage turkeys and broad-breasted white/broad-breasted bronze turkeys generally have a vastly different quality of life, and overall health status.

Heritage birds are not raised in factory farming (they cost too much to raise to adulthood!), and are often pasture-raised and treated with more respect. Broad-breasted birds (of which 200+ million are raised in the US each year), are often debeaked and declawed when raised in factory-farming settings, and are bred and fed to grow so fast that they must be slaughtered at the scheduled time and would be too large—with too many associated leg and circulation problems—to live a normal life (or live at all) after their scheduled processing date.

Heritage birds experience none of these health and anatomy problems, and our birds live on pasture, roaming the land with their family flock! By all accounts, heritage birds can live to be 10-12 years old, while commercial breeds—when raised on farms in a more natural setting—can live 2-6 years. These toms often have a shorter life span than 2 years, though, because their size inhibits movement, and they can injure their own legs and have trouble with circulation and their heart.

Before you purchase a turkey from a store, think about the experience your bird had during its lifetime… Does it seem like a normal turkey life? Were they respected? Sadly, no. Unless you know the farmer that raised your bird, it’s highly unlikely that your bird was treated humanely or respectfully.

Bourbon Red Turkey History

Did you know that the Bourbon Red turkey was originally called the Bourbon Butternut? We love this moniker, but it didn’t last… It failed to peak the interest of the 1900s public.

This heritage turkey breed is named for Bourbon County in Kentucky’s Bluegrass region—where it originated in the late 1800s. It was recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1909.

These handsome guys yield a heavy breast, superior flavor, and rich meat.

Also, we’re pretty sure that this turkey emoji is actually a Bourbon Red! 🦃

Reserve Your Heritage Turkey Today!
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1839 Dillard Road
Madison, NC 27025

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What’s New This Week? 10% Off All Chicken Broth-Making Supplies & A Fun Fall Festival

10% Off of All Chicken Broth-Making Supplies!

This special is in honor of the cooler weather, which is often a harbinger of incoming sniffles or sore throats… So get a jump on your immunity boost and help keep your family germ-free this month! This 10% off special includes Red Ranger chicken necks, backs/frames, feet, and heads—all which make a delicious, rich, broth that tastes like the classic chicken broth that your grandma used to make! Yummy! The amazing thing about stock and bone broth is how much nutrition is packed in this liquid gold! Broth provides many mineral and amino acids, like collagen and gelatin which are necessary for skin health (and so many other things!). Broth is also amazing for healing gut issues and for maintaining immune health. There really isn’t too much that broth can’t help fix! Check out this article for more info about the benefits of bone broth!

One of the best ways to ensure your family’s continued health and nutrition is through bone broth. Our birds make the best broth because they’re raised on pasture, free ranging around among the greenery! That means they’re getting tons of extra vitamins and minerals.

Swing by the Corner Farmers Market tomorrow from 8am-12pm to grab a variety of broth-making goodies!

Why Bone Broth?

Bone broth has been known for a long time to assist in joint health, gut and instestinal health, and immunity. Gelatin and collagen are pulled from the skin, cartilage, and joints of the bones. Collagen builds and rebuilds cells and trace minerals nourish us from the inside out.

Making Broth is Easy!

Making broth is actually so much easier than you think! All it requires are some chicken bones, water, a large soup pot, water, and your favorite spices. You can always add veggies (like celery, onion, and carrots) and extra seasoning. This recipe is a simple and good one for making a delicious broth. We simplify the process even more by leaving out the vinegar… Give it a try and find your own unique additions, like a chicken feet and heads!

Join Us Tomorrow at
Bur-Mil Park’s Fall Festival

While Emma will be at our usual market location tomorrow, you can find Jason and a large supply of our edible plants from 10am-3pm at the Annual Bur-Mil Park Fall Festival in Greensboro. This gives you another chance to pick up the edible plants of your dreams!

So, you decide: Visit us at the excellent Corner Farmers Market from 8am-12pm to get a double dose of KW Homestead goodies and KW Edible Landscaping Nursery plants or head on over the the Bur-Mil Fall Festival to speak with Jason about planting and to pick his brain about all things plant! Or, both! You can always swing by the Fall Festival after the Corner and grab lunch, pick out a pumpkin, and catch some live music. Emma and Uhtred will certainly be joining Jason there after the market! Also, feel free to send us an email with questions or orders for either fall container stock or dormant season plants. Tell your friends and spread the word. Then come by and see us yourself! 👍🏼

Only 7 Weeks Till Thanksgiving!

Yes, this is a photo of our turkey flock running, an activity that they do for a large portion of the day. Our first year raising turkeys, we were concerned that they would never gain weight or be delicious because they spent all of their time running about the land.

Boy, were we wrong.

It just seems that running around and acting crazy is in their nature and may even make them more delicious. 😉

It’s 7 weeks until Thanksgiving and here’s a little heritage turkey update…

—The turkeys sure are growing! They spend a lot of their day gobbling at each other and at other loud noises like dogs barking or a school bus driving by (no, really!).
—They tend to stick together in one big group as they free range around, and they absolutely love eating tall green plants from the top down.
—Did you know that a tom’s head color will change, depending on his mood, ranging from a red-pink to white to a rich, sky blue?
—Right now the turkeys are a little over half of their adult weight, which means that they’ll be growing a lot over the next 2 months!

There aren’t many slots left available for reserving birds at $11/lb., so if you haven’t yet  reserved your bird for this Thanksgiving or Christmas, click that link below to get on it!

Reserve Your Thanksgiving Turkey Now!

What’s New This Week? 10% Off Drumsticks & More! Check Out the Sale Cooler…

The special, Sale Cooler is back! This week you can find many packages of drumsticks inside, at 10% off, plus an assortment of other goodies that you’ll just have to see to believe… Come on by our table, open up the Sale Cooler, and rummage around for significant savings. See you tomorrow!

In addition to our usual Saturday location, we’re super excited about joining in the fall festival celebrations and fun at the two-day Asheboro Fall Festival, this Saturday the 5th (10am-6pm) and Sunday the 6th (12-6pm) in downtown Asheboro! We’ll be equipped with loads of edible plants for sale, including a couple of new additions excellent for the shadiest parts of your yard (wintergreen and box huckleberry, oh my!).  Keep in mind that we’ll only have plants at this market location.

You can also find us next Saturday the 12th (10am-3pm) at the Annual Bur-Mil Park Fall Festival in Greensboro, for another chance to pick up the edible plants of your dreams!

As always, you can also swing by the excellent Corner Farmers Market every Saturday morning, from 8am-12pm to get a double dose of KW Homesteadgoodies and KW Edible Landscaping Nursery plants, if you can’t make it to either of these exciting fall festivals. Or, feel free to send us an email with questions or orders for either fall container stock or dormant season plants.

Tell your friends and spread the word. Then come by and see us yourself! 👍🏼

10% Off Drumsticks & More

Searching through the Sale Cooler is a hands on experience! There should be plenty of drumsticks to go around, but a limited number of other goodies inside… Like broth-making materials, organ meats, or other scrumptious and nutritious dietary additions. We can’t wait to see what jumps out at you…

Get Your Fall Planting Started With
An Edible Landscaping Consultation

Edible landscaping is more than just landscaping. It’s a way to feed your family and live a more sustainable life, regardless of where you live and how small your yard or land is!

We offer on-site consultations to assess your land and help you determine the best place for your edible or fruit bearing plants. During a consultation, Jason works with you to plan your property’s potential and determine what fruits and other goodies you would like your family to enjoy for the next decades. He spends a couple hours walking your land with you and discussing your vision, maintenance requirements, and installation tips, as well as what plants and strategies are best for your soil, sun exposure, and lifestyle.

Check in with us about scheduling your edible landscaping consultation ASAP, to get you ready for fall and winter planting and to help you get ahead on the spring growing season!

Schedule a Landscaping Consultation Now

Autumn’s Place in the Cycle of Life

Here’s a look at the life-death-life cycle that governs any homestead, farm, or (let’s face it) life or experience.

Last week, we processed one of our pigs, and Jason snapped the picture below right after we were finished with the process.

The acorns have been falling for weeks, and the pigs have been crunching away at the sweet seeds, fattening up and filling up.

The very same gigantic oak tree that shades our processing area is the one that drops huge amounts of these acorns each year. In fact, oaks often skip production years, but since we’ve been on our farm and processing under this tree—for 6 years—it’s never missed a chance to drop loads of acorns. We think that it’s due to all of the extra water and animal nutrients that have seeped into its ground over the year, and the pigs love to partake in the bounty.

This season is also the season for yellow jackets. While they’re around beginning in the spring, they really hang out at our processing area during the fall, enjoying the dropped meaty bits and blood—ever the focused scavengers.

When this bit of blood hit the ground, they swarmed around, ready to collect as much sustenance as they could. Everything gets used, and everything gets recycled. Energy and life isn’t created, it’s only borrowed and then given back. The pig’s time is done, the yellow jacket’s is just beginning, and the oak tree perseveres by sending out thousands of hopeful and patient acorns each year, many which feed the food that we eat.

8 Weeks Till Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is closer than you think, and with the busyness of the holiday season approaching, now is a great time to go ahead and reserve your Thanksgiving heritage turkey. There aren’t too many spots left available at $11/lb. so we always advise that reserving early is best. Plus, toms are often more popular than the smaller hens, and they said tend to sell out faster. Reserving now allows you first dibs on the size bird you’d like. You can reserve online, via the link below, or in person at the market tomorrow morning. See you soon!

Reserve Your Heritage Turkey Today!
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