already quite large and color-
ful. I’ve always noticed the
hands of people who are good
with animals – strong, confi-
dent – and the gentle way they
handle everything from new-
born lambs to spirited thor-
oughbreds to farmyard poultry.
“This is the Naragansett
from Rhode Island,” Regina
said. “It’s the biggest breed I
have. They make good moth-
ers.” Regina preened the poult,
picking a bit of wood shaving
that had caught in its wings.
She let the dog Hilde lick the
bird.
I picked up an irresistible
beauty whose feathers were a
bluish gray. “That’s the blue
slate,” Regina told me, “a
2,000-year-old breed from
Mexico.” The small bird wrig-
gled and peeped loudly until I
let her beak rest in the cup of
my hand. She went silent and
docile, letting me pet her.
Once the chicks were 5
weeks old Regina moved them
to their outdoor pen, where they
set to dust bathing. “I don't like
to lose animals,” Regina told
me. “I’m not raising chickens
and turkeys to have an animal
slaughter them. I’m going to make
the effort to keep them safe.”
To keep her turkeys safe
Regina has built a large impen-
etrable pen with cattle panels
covered in chicken wire. She
dug a moat around the perime-
ter of the pen and buried chick-
en wire to discourage predato-
ry diggers. The fowl fortress
was topped with 2-inch heavy-
duty netting that would deter a
mountain lion or a hawk. In -
side the pen stood a very nice
camping trailer, once used to
haul kayaks to Baja where
Regina set up camp on the
beach. Now the trailer had
been re-purposed and chris-
tened the turkeys’ house.
Unlike industry birds these
turkeys can roost, run and fly
and require accommodations
suitable to their lifestyle.
Regina told me about a day
in July when she was working
outside. “I yelled, ‘whoopee!’
and a gang of them answered
me with gobbles.” This was
their first gobble.
“I know you’re a tom,”
Regina said to the ones who
were strutting and beginning to
fan their tail feathers. “The
necks of the toms are redder
than the hens,” Regina pointed
out. “The toms are neck
wrestling but none of them are
aggressive.”
Turkeys are different from
chickens, of course – but how?
Regina noticed immediately
that the turkeys didn’t come
running when she filled their
water troughs or fed them
scraps the way the chickens did.
Regina appreciated the spe-
cial turkey qualities. “They are
calmer than my chickens.
They're curious and like to be
around people. They’re always
listening to voices.”
It turned out the turkeys
loved Marfa Public Radio.
Whenever Regina played the
station, the turkeys would wan-
der in together and listen along.
The “Nature Notes” show gave
them animal noises to gobble
along with.
I wondered if it were possi-
ble to have a favorite turkey.
“The chocolates,” Regina said
smiling. “They are more trust-
ing and calm. They always
come up to me to see what I'm
doing. And they follow me
around.”
In November, when the
turkeys are 6 and a half months
old, Regina will have found
someone to slaughter the birds.
Their natural growing cycle
will have given them time to
grow strong bones and healthy
organs before developing a
good oxygenated muscle mass.
Because they have spent their
days walking and running and
flying, their meat will be succu-
lent, with a chewy texture. The
summer rains that greened the
grounds around Regina’s house
will have provided abundant
forage for the birds. Their var-
ied diet will enhanced the
woodsy flavor of their meat.
The socializing and exploring
they did every day stimulated
their brains and kept them
happy.
“There's been so much
interest at the farmer’s market
in having a heritage turkey for
Thanksgiving,” said Regina, “I
won't be able to satisfy every-
one. I’ll save some back for
breeding. And I want to taste
one myself!”
TURKEY
TO THE TABLE
Dan Barber, the chef and
director of Stone Barns, a farm
and restaurant in New York
that highlights the resources of
the Hudson Valley, works with
his farmer who raises bourbon
reds. “On our farm we marry
old-world systems with new
world innovation,” Barber ex -
plained on the “Edible Com -
mun ities” radio show. “It's the
key to a sustainable food system.”
Even though the heritage
birds took longer to raise,
which increased the cost of
labor and food, Barber was
enthusiastic about “the fantas-
tic flavor” of the naturally
raised birds.
Barber advised against brin-
ing the heritage turkeys. “The
notes of turkeyness would be
lost in brining, would mask the
subtleties of the flavor.” He
cooks his heritage birds slowly
at 280 degrees and tests the
meat with a thermometer with-
out touching the bone. He
removes the turkey from the oven
when it reaches 140 to 150 de -
grees and lets it rest before carv-
ing. “Good ecology makes good
gastronomy,” Barber observed.
The principled commit-
ment of celebrated chefs like
Dan Barber and the determi-
nation of area farmers like
Regina Boling inspire us to join
the local food revolution, to
reject the industrial turkey and
to encourage our local farmers
to raise the heritage breeds.
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For references to heritage
turkeys, go to cenizojournal.com
and click on this story.
Marguerite
432.371.2292
Alpine Community
Credit Union
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Cenizo
Fourth Quarter 2010
11