Cook Local for Thanksgiving

Yes, I know it is just the first few days of October, but if you’re thinking of cooking local for Thanksgiving (something we strongly encourage), it is time to start planning now! Why? Well, because you’ll need to buy your Thanksgiving turkey as soon as possible. You see, if you want to serve a local turkey for Thanksgiving, you need to order well in advance. If you’ve been shopping the farmers markets regularly, you’ve probably seen the signs.

Skagit River Ranch is already sold out of their Thanksgiving turkeys, but you can sign up to get on their wait list. Stokesberry Farm has sold out of their birds, but River Farm at the University District Farmers Market still has frozen birds available. You can order by emailing them. They will take orders right up until Thanksgiving, but as of this morning they only had about 60 more frozen turkeys left, so email them very soon.

Another option is Thundering Hooves. We’ve gotten a turkey from Thundering Hooves before. Their heritage birds are sold out already, but they have various sizes of broad breasted turkeys left. You can order online with a $30 deposit and then pay in full with cash or check at any number of their pickup locations.

Growing Things has turkeys available. You can order a small, medium, or a large turkey and you can choose from a bronze bird (which is a heritage variety) or a white bird (broad breasted). The turkey requires a $10 deposit and is priced at $5.50/lb. You can contact them at the farmers markets (they’re at the University District, Carnation, Columbia City, and Ballard markets). When we checked on Sunday, they said there should be no problem getting a turkey if you place an order this week.

Dog Mountain Farm has a waiting list for their turkeys, but they are encouraging folks to sign up (and it isn’t too early to sign up for next year either!). It is a short waiting list as of 10/6/09. They have Bourbon Red Turkeys, which are always rated very highly for flavor. They are pastured most of their life and are fed certified organic feed (no soy). Birds will be in the 10-15 lb range and are sold for $10/lb. If turkey isn’t what you’re going for, they also have ducks and Guinea fowl for order. You can pick up a bird fresh at the farm or frozen at the farmers markets.

Bill the Butcher in Woodinville also has local and organic turkeys. They’ve had about 20 signups as of 10/6/09 so make sure and get in touch with them soon. We’ve heard nothing but excellent reviews of their products and we hope to be able to visit them soon.

Crown S Ranch (of the lovely Queen Anne Farmers Market) has about 40 birds left as well. Their turkeys are raised on all organic pastures and they can be delivered to the Seattle area on November 8th and December 13th. You’ll need to order with a non-refundable deposit of $35 per turkey that is applied to your final cost. Their turkeys are $4.95/lb for a 10-18 lb broad breasted turkey or $6.95 /lb for a heritage breed turkey.

If you haven’t ordered your turkey in advance, then we recommend heading to PCC to get a bird. We’re eagerly awaiting information on where their birds come from.

Of course, you could also start stocking up on a couple of larger frozen chickens from the farmers markets and serve chicken instead. If you want to go all out and serve up some nice steaks, check with Olsen Farms or of course, Skagit River Ranch.