Thanksgiving Turkeys are coming!
We are raising 75 Heritage turkeys on the farm this season.
To reserve a bird, please email us at farmer@gardenofevefarm.com the following info:
Your Name
Phone number
Pick Up location choice
Bird size preference
There is a $20 deposit, you can paypal it to us at farmer [at] gardenofevefarm.com or mail it to us at PO Box 216, Aquebogue NY 11931
PRINTABLE TURKEY RESERVATION FORM – CLICK HERE
Available fresh for pickup at:
- Riverhead farm: dates to be announced
- Farmers markets locations: dates and locations to be announced
Bourbon Reds are a slow-growing heritage breed of turkey, with a more pronounced flavor. No need to do complicated brining or seasoning – just get a better turkey! The breed originated in Bourbon County, Kentucky and the birds are able to fly!
Blue Slate turkeys are a strikingly attractive and small sized turkey variety, grayish-blue feathers. They are veryhardy and are also able to fly!
Heritage turkeys are breeds that have been raised on farms in the US for hundreds of years (the turkey is one of our most important native birds!), and were close to extinction because they grow slowly and are not raised in factory farms. Each bird matures slowly over 6 months, as opposed to just 3 months for a Broad Breasted White turkey, a commercial meat turkey that cannot even reproduce naturally!
By buying and eating these birds, you are contributing to the survival of these wonderful and historic farm breeds, which will not be raised by farmers without a purpose! They are $10 per pound and are likely to be smaller birds approx 8-14 lbs.
All of our turkeys are fed an all-organic, vegetarian grain feed with no hormones or antibiotics. We are proud of the unique flavor and high quality of all our free-range, and pasture-raised turkeys which you can see at the farm.
Birds will be fresh, not frozen. (PS, if you are picking up the weekend before and feel it’s too long before Thanksgiving for a fresh turkey, we have found from extensive personal experience that THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH FREEZING A TURKEY AND IT DOES NOT AFFECT THE TASTE).
We will confirm your order with you in early November. If you decide you don’t want your turkey you can transfer your deposit to a friend or other buyer. Fill out this form now or Email or send us your contact information to: farmer@gardenofevefarm.com, or Garden of Eve, PO Box 216, Aquebogue NY 11931, along with your name and address, phone, email & bird weight preference. If you have any questions about turkey sales, please contact us directly at farmer@gardenofevefarm.com or call 722-8777
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TURKEY RESERVATION FORM
NAME: _________________________ PHONE: ______________________
ADDRESS: ___________________________________________________
EMAIL: ______________________________________________________
PICKUP LOCATION(circle one): RIVERHEAD WBURG FOREST HILLS
WEIGHT PREFERENCE (circle one): 8-12 lbs OR 13-15 lbs
(If you need more turkey, order two, because they will likely not be larger than 15 lbs)
We will do our best to match the birds to your request but, because our birds are raised outdoors and we cannot control every factor in their growth, we cannot guarantee that your bird will be a specific size.
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Meet the Farm Animals … SHEEP FOR SALE!
It’s true that we grow mostly vegetables, but we know first-hand that farm animals are irresistable. If you come to the farm, you’ll see some of these guys hard at work eating, playing, or maybe sleeping. We don’t consider our farm animals pets – everyone has to do their share of the farm work – but we do consider them a crucial part of our farm “ecosystem”.
Border Leicester Sheep
We have a flock of two purebred Border Lecicester ewes, three crossbred ewes, and one show-winning purebred ram named Winston, descended from Infinity 
who I brought back from Maryland on a charter tour bus (that’s another story).
We raise 3-6 lambs each year, which are for sale between March – December. The purebred lambs can be registered and shown, and the others are great for fiber, pets, or 4-H projects.
FOR SALE: Lambs are $200 each. Please contact us to see them if you are interested.
We also sell RAW FLEECES for $75 for approximately 8 lbs of fleece. The fleece is soft and lustrous, with a long staple and nice crimp. Suitable for spinning or felting.
We sell WHITE ROVING for $14 for 4 ounces, and can ship through the mail (postage additional).
Border Leicesters are known for their long, soft wool that is excellent for hand-spinning. They aren’t very common in the US compared to many commercial breeds, and are considered a heritage breed.
The Border Leicester breed was founded in 1767 in England and were introduced intothe United States by George Washington, who kept a small purebred flock of Leicesters and used the rams extensively in his flock of 800 head at Mount Vernon. However, the decline of the wool carpet industry in the 1940’s resulted in reduced numbers of all longwool breeds including the English and Border Leicesters. By the 1970’s, increased interest in handspinning and other crafts had rekindled interest in these unique sheep with their distinguished heads 
and long, curly, lustrous wool. Thank goodness!
AT LEFT: shearing our own sheep!
AT RIGHT: a hat knitted from handspun yarn from our sheep’s fleece!
Rhode Island Red Chickens
We have a flock of about 1500 laying hens on the farm at most times of the season. Sometimes we downsize in the wintertime and the older chickens are bought by neighbors for stew. Does this sound coldhearted? Do you eat chicken? We feel that both the animal and vegetable food webs are an integral part of the farm ecosystem.
Our chickens are housed out in our fields where they spend their time eating clover that Chris has planted as a cover crop (to add nitrogen to our soil), bugs, and digging holes in the dirt. Anyone who has tasted eggs from pastured chickens raves about the difference from store-bought eggs – the yolks are very orange and the egg has a lot more flavor. Our eggs are higher in Omega-3’s as well (this comes from the chlorophyll in the greens the chickens eat) so they’re better for you, too!
Maremma Livestock Guard Dogs
In Feb 2007 we purchased two Maremma livestock guard dog puppies (sisters) from a breeder in Pennsylvania. This is a breed from the Italian Alps, which was developed mainly to guard sheep. We’ve been using them to guard our large flock of laying hens from raccoons, weasels, and hawks. Before we got the dogs, we sometimes lost as many as 40 birds at a time to predators, and now lose almost none.
Maremmas are not pets, andmost breeders won’t even sell puppies to anyone who does not have a flock of animals that the dogs can “work”. They are so rare in the US that they are not even recognized as a breed by the American Kennel Club, so they can’t be shown. A lot of people think this is a good thing, because it means they are only bred for their working qualities, not their looks. They need lots of room to roam and live outside year-round.
If you have an LGD I would love to hear from you! You can learn more about Maremmas from the Maremma Sheepdog Club of America.
Bourbon Red Heritage Turkeys
They are beautiful birds (as you can see above) and they fly! Sometimes neighbors have called to us to tell us our turkeys are headed down the road, and they have ended up at other farmstands.
The Bourbon Red turkey is named for Bourbon County in Kentucky’s Bluegrass region where it originated in the late 1800’s. The Bourbon Red was an important commercial variety through the 1930s and 1940s. As time went on, however, the broad breasted varieties were developed – the standard “Butterball” you see in the supermarket today. Commercial turkeys today gain twice as much weight in half the time as these heritage turkeys, and get so fat that they can’t fly, can’t breed, and can barely walk. These heritage birds, on the other hand, are real birds. They can mate naturally, forage for themselves, and because they grow more slowly their meat tastes fantastic!
The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy has placed the Bourbon Red on their list of rare breeds to “watch”. Find out more at www.albc-usa.org