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Thanksgiving Plans – have you been thinking about what meat to prepare for your Thanksgiving & Christmas family meal? Many of our customers have! And have contacted us to see what is available. We have discovered that customers are hungry for authentic pastured-raised products like our farm raises for several reasons. These include nutritive value of a pastured turkey is much better than one raised inside because they are able to forage green grass as well as eat bugs. You see, just like the hens and broilers, they are "omnivores" meaning they are intended to eat both bugs and forages to include grains. Our pastured animals feed in their natural environment with all the sunshine and fresh air and water they need to grow a healthy product. They are not closed up in some environmentally-controlled building without ever seeing sunshine or having fresh air to breath and forced to eat a vegetarian diet.
Thanksgiving is one of our annual holidays when families come together and enjoy each others' company. It's a 4-day holiday weekend so there is plenty of relaxing time. And the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal is the turkey. Maybe this year you would like to splurge on a pasture-raised, NON-GMO fed turkey for your family. I'm sure it will be a hit with everyone.
Our farm has several options to choose from in addition to a turkey.
Option 1 Would be a pasture-raised turkey. We started buying our Thanksgiving turkeys from Joe's Farm in MI several years ago and folks really love them. We increased our order quantity 50% (we have had a lot of inquiries) from last year. However, Joe texted me a month ago and said he would not be able to supply the increased quantity.
The good news is Wednesday night about 10:45 the Sprinter van arrived with our turkeys (the only warning was a dispatcher called me that morning and said they "may" be picked up today). Anyway, we got dressed and unloaded them into our freezer.
They will be added to our website Sunday at 6pm - because that is when all pickup locations are open to place orders. We only have 60 turkeys so we will need to limit order quantities to one per person. And yes, I do have another regenerative farmer friend that I might be able to get more from, but need to confirm to be sure.
The price this year will be slightly more than last year at $9.25 per pound.
Option 2 - Many people include Fresh or Smoked ham as part of their Thanksgiving meal. We have a few Fresh hams and smoked hams in stock. However, if you would like a ham, please let me know as we are cutting and packing pigs next week and we need the heads up to make sure we have plenty available for you.
Option 3 - Chicken. This idea actually came from one of our customers a few years back who said - "I love knowing I'm feeding my children healthy food. Our favorite way to prep the chicken we buy is to brine it for 24 hours or so, drain and dry it, add a rub and then put it in our smoker. As a family we unanimously voted to have smoked chicken for our Thanksgiving menu this year instead of turkey."
Now that the weather is starting to cool down our chickens should grow bigger as they are not stressed as much from the heat. Our October 22nd batch of chickens should have many in the 6 to 7 pound range - perfect for smoking or roasting.
Option 4 - LAMB. We actually just restocked lamb this past Monday so you have plenty to choose from.
In a previous issue of Meatingplace Magazine, James Scarpa states - "Lamb wins big on consumers' increasing culinary confidence and interest in sustainable farming practices." Some key comments from his article include,
- Lamb demand surged in 2020 when millions of people were thrust into home chef duty in part to supply disruptions and depleted beef, pork, and chicken supply
- This created a new group of about 30% who cooked very differently - demographically skewed toward Generation X, Hispanic and Asian backgrounds
- The consumer is saying, I'm willing to try new things. I'm willing to spend more time. I care about the quality of ingredients
- Ground lamb is a great foot-in-the-door item that allows people to test the taste, but not be intimidated by the price or skill level
- With lamb, specifically, we often lean into the idea that if you can cook beef, you can cook lamb because the preparation techniques are often very similar
So, if you are a seasoned or novice lamb customer, at Nature's Gourmet Farm we have many freshly stocked cuts available that will fit your needs.
At Nature's Gourmet Farm, our intent is to create a community that evolves around one of the most intrinsically important things of the ages, and that’s the provision of sustenance. That's our passion - to raise healthy food to nourish families and strengthen immune systems.
Our Beef is always grass finished with NO grains. Additionally, our animals are free of mRNA, GMO's (chemicals), Antibiotics, and Hormones. We ethically raise them on diverse forage pastures that regenerates our soils and protects the ecosystem.
Let me encourage you to "Be The Change" our food system needs by "Voting With Your Fork" at every meal.
** Product Availability Update **
NOTE: Restocks are made about 6 PM on the dates indicated below!
Chicken - Restocked September 24th. Next restock October 8th
Turkey - Have poults arrived July 10th, August 20th, and September 17th. Additionally, Thanksgiving whole turkeys arrived October 1st. Will add to our store Sunday, October 5th at 6PM. Limit of one per customer. Please note the AVG weight is 16.5 pounds each.
Eggs - Restocked each Tuesday prior to your delivery date.
Beef - Restocked September 21st. Next restock will be October 19th
Pork – Restocked September 10th, Cured items September 21st. Next restock October 8th
Lamb - Restocked September 29, 2025
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