1. It’s turkey time. We are taking reservations. You can specify size, type of bird, and can either pay the deposit in check or on the internet (yeah, we’re impressed with ourselves as well).  For information on the breed characteristics of our Bourbon Reds and Broad-Breasted Bronzes, available sizes and prices, or to reserve your bird online, visit our 2010 Thanksgiving Turkey Page.

2. We’re having a big farm event: Adventures of Huck Finn on October 16th. As some of you may remember, we threw our “Arabian Nights” party last year and all had a great time. These events are half theater and half farm dinner. All of the information is on the website on our Mark Twain Final Banquet page.

3. Lastly, our buddy and regular farm and market volunteer Brad Weiss is in the midst of conducting some research about farming, local meat buying, etc. His appeal is below. It’ll only take a couple of minutes to fill out his survey. He’s helped the farm out a ton over the past year and half and it would be great if any of you could give him a hand with his research.

Dear Cane Creekers –

This is Brad Weiss writing to you.  If you’re a regular at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market, you might recognize me as the guy with the beard and the Cubs’ cap digging through coolers for pork chops, and dispensing the occasional cooking tip.  If you’re like most people you’ve probably wondered, “Who is this guy? And what is he doing here?” Or else you’ve got some very, very wrong ideas about Eliza and me.

Just to clear things up, in fact, I am a social and/or cultural anthropologist and all of this time I’ve been doing research on  – well – you!  That’s right, I’m doing a study on pasture-raised pork, how it’s produced, how it’s processed and marketed, how it’s consumed (at home and in restaurants), and what this might tell us about contemporary ideas about food, community, and the economy.  I’m writing to you now, through the grace of Ross and Eliza and the whole newsletter team, to ask if you can respond to a brief questionnaire about your use of Cane Creek products. The survey is online here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QSBFY6B

Only five minutes of your time will provide you with a lifetime of satisfaction, knowing you’ve made a vital contribution to social science.  Reporting on this survey is completely anonymous; your confidentiality is assured.

The other thing is this: if any of you would be willing to, or interested in contacting me directly to discuss these questions in a little more depth, I’d be very, very grateful.  You can email me at: blweis@wm.edu.  Or you can chat me up at the Market some Saturday, and we can arrange a time to talk in more detail.  I’m happy to share my findings with anyone who’s interested, and can promise copies of anything I publish (I bet you can’t wait! But you’ll have to wait).

Thank you for your consideration.

Brad

#########################################
SEND ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO:
Brad Weiss
121 Waverly Forest Ln
Chapel Hill NC 27516
919-967-6507

ON LEAVE 2010-2011
Brad Weiss
Professor of Anthropology
College of William & Mary
Williamsburg VA 23187
757-221-1209
#########################################

****

It’s time again to talk turkeys. Like last year, we have been raising Bourbon Reds and Broad-Breasted Bronze turkeys this summer. We’re now taking reservations. Thanksgiving seems like the perfect holiday to celebrate around an ethically-raised, delicious meal with the family. So let us know if you would like to reserve one. New this year, reserve your turkey online! See below. You can also pay by check. Just stop by our farm store or farmers market stand.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the two birds:

- Bourbon Reds are a heritage breed. The meat will be darker and flavorful, and the birds cook very quickly. They will have different proportions than conventional birds, with much less breast meat. Our smaller birds will be Bourbon Reds

- Broad-Breasted Bronze turkeys- while the Standard Bronze turkeys are a heritage breed, our Broad-Breasted Bronze have been bred for more breast (white) meat and will have similar proportions as a conventional turkey. The flavor is excellent and the meat will be darker than conventional birds. If you want a large bird, it will most likely be a BB Bronze.

All of our turkeys are raised on pasture, enjoying the grasses, bugs, the landscaping around Eliza’s house…

Let us know what size you’d like and if you have a preference of bird type (the smallest category will be Bourbon Reds, the 18+lbs birds will be BB Bronze.)

Prices:

10 -12.5lbs birds are $75.
12.5 -15lbs = $100
15-18lbs = $120
18+lbs = @$7/lb

Reserve Your Turkey Online P.S. No Paypal account required. Just look for the “Pay with a debit or credit card” link on the Paypal checkout page.”

What size do you need?

10-12.5lbs $30 Deposit. $45 due at pickup $30.00 12.5 -15lbs $30 Deposit. $70 due at pickup $30.00 15-18lbs $30 Deposit. $90 due at pickup $30.00 18+lbs @$7/lb, $30 Deposit. Min $96 due at pickup $30.00

Preferred Breed – subject to availability

No Preference Bourbon Red Broad-Breasted Bronze

Pick up bird at:

On farm Saturday, November 20 (10-4) Greenboro farmer’s market Saturday, November 20 (7-12) Carrboro farmer’s market Saturday, November 20 (9-12) Carrboro Farmer’s market Tuesday, November 23 (3-6)

You can also pay by check. Just stop by our farm store or  farmers market stand.

Besides the bucket’s worth we received today, it’s been a dry spring. You come to expect dry July’s and August’s, but April is too early for us to pull out our rain dancing (we can always use help). So the pastures are a bit dryer than we’d like at this point, but besides that the farm is in good shape.

2010 Piedmont Farm Tour

Thanks to everyone that made it out to the 2010 Piedmont Farm Tour this year. It was another great turnout and goes to show how much support local farms have around here. What you missed if you weren’t there:

- Our spring litters of pigs have been dropping since farm tour weekend. Farm visitors had the chance to meet our tiny newborn pigglets. After a bit of warring with the vultures, all the sows have hunkered down and are doing very well with their litters.

- Our three ages of hens- layers, soon to be layers (in July), and little tikes are growing well. This means that within a few months, we’ll hopefully be able to meet the demand for our eggs. Some of our youngest birds will turn out to be males though, so we will have some heritage breed chicken available this summer. This will be the only meat chickens we do this year.

- Speaking of breeding and incubating birds, we have loads of ducks now on the farm. Some are Cayuga, some are Buff Runners and Saxony crosses. So, as they’re mostly mutts, we won’t be tempted to breed them again and should have duck later this year.

- The strawberries have been glorious this spring, tomatoes are shooting up, fresh garlic and onions aren’t far off, and cucumbers and melons and peppers are in the ground. So far so good in the gardens.

Coming To Market:

What to expect at markets- we’re hitting our stride with pork, and should have a larger selection of pork cuts throughout the summer/fall. Fresh beef is only a few weeks away too, and that too should go for the rest of the year. So look forward to veggies, more eggs, more pork and beef, ducks, some goat and a few chickens this summer.

Events

Saxapahaw Saturdays have started, 5-8. We’ll be there selling, but if nothing else, come visit us and listen to some music. The Saxapahaw General Store (and the Eddy, the new pub opening next door) will be teaming with us at Farm to Fork this year, coming up May 23. Hope to see some of you out there, unfortunately it’s sold out if you don’t have tickets. We’re also planning the next “Final Banquet” out on the farm and it looks like it will happen late Sept or early October. We’ll keep everyone updated about that.

Besides that, we’ve been playing a mean game of softball in Saxapahaw every week. The farm and extended family have been duking it out on Sunday evenings- let us know if you want to join.

Farmers Markets: Where You’ll find us

Besides that, we hope everyone is looking forward to a great summer and we hope to see you either at the Farm (TR 2-6, Sat 10-4), in Greensboro (Curb mkt every other week, next is may 22), in Saxapahaw on (Sat 5-8), or in Carrboro (Wed 3:30-6:30, Sat 7-12)

Lata
Cane Creekers

Thanks first off to everyone who got a turkey from us this year. I hope everyone found their bird to be delicious and successfully weathered the stress that is Thanksgiving cooking. By the way, if anyone is interested in how to raise turkeys, here’s the time line
- incubate turkey eggs for 28 days
- raise them for 26-30 weeks
- frantically sell for 5 days and swear off turkeys forever
- suffer from short term memory loss for a few days
- and by early December, start talking about how many MORE turkeys you want to do for next year….

So as for Christmas, let us know any requests you have for special meals. We’ll be attending this week’s market (19th) in Carrboro and in Greensboro, and January 2 in Carrboro. We have 30 more turkeys, cured hams, some bacon, beef tenderloin, export racks (pork loin with bone), shoulder, fresh hams, whole ny strips and ribeyes, short ribs, etc. Our store will also be open on this Thursday 2-6 and Saturday 10-4, but not on Christmas eve. We’ll also have a little bit of lamb early next week, and if you wanted it for Christmas, you’d have to come to the farm early next week. Let us know

Other farm happenings: The staff took off to the CFSA (Carolina Farm Stewardship Association) conference in Black Mountain earlier this month. It’s important to keep our mind’s sharp, learn new techniques and research, and to network with other farmers in Carolina.

Besides that, the wet and cold have been a challenge but our animals are doing well and staying healthy. We have ten new lambs on the ground and as some of you know, they are hands-down the cutest animals in the world.

If you come visit, you can see lambs….

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, New Years, My Bd, Jesus’s Bd, Bowl Season, Boxing Day and those holidays I’ve forgotten. Have a wonderful season

Cane Creekers

The cool mornings, clear days, and fresh breezes have to make this the best time of the year on our farm. Remember to visit the farm store sometime this fall.

Thanks, first off, to all that joined us for our Arabian Nights party. We’ve received a great response and hope to do it again (different theme) sometime in the future. Pictures are on the here on our website if anyone is interested.

A few important updates:

1. We are having an October Beef bulk beef sale. This is definitely the best price we have ever sold beef at. We packed the boxes a few days ago so they have all been frozen immediately (after hanging). They also fit into two boxes, roughly 24″x16″x5″. So don’t worry, it won’t take up as much space as you’re worried about. We’re doing this 1. because it’s the most efficient and sustainable way to sell meat 2. because we would like to move many cows off of our land before the grasses stop growing this winter. This is why communities have long slaughtered animals in the fall and used that meat to provide for the family through the winter. Please see our website for pricing and other details.

2. It is turkey season. We have bourbon reds and broad-breasted bronze turkeys this year. This is a great opportunity to have an ethically-raised, flavorful, and locally-grown bird for your family and friends this holiday. Details about reserving them can be found here

3. About that website- Our new one is up! It’s gorgeous, user-friendly, has tons of info (updated too!), and has some new features like recipes and cooking advice from chefs.

That’s about all. We’ll be in Greensboro this week (and every other week afterward). They’ve been putting us outside, so look for us there. Remember to send any market requests to us during the week. Besides that, just let us know if you’re interested in bulk beef, turkeys, or if you just like our new website (thanks Sarah Cook!)

Well, we’re thinking about Thanksgiving around here. We’ve been raising Bourbon Red and Broad-Breasted Bronze turkeys throughout the summer and are now taking reservations. This is a great opportunity to have an ethically-raised, flavorful, and locally-grown bird for your family and friends this holiday.

As for the two birds – the Broad-Breasted Bronze turkeys will have larger breast (white) meat, and next year we’re planning on raising standard Bronze turkeys, an official heritage breed. If you have a preference – the larger birds will likely be BB Bronzes, and the smaller birds will likely be Bourbon Reds. Both birds are darker and more flavorful than standard white birds.

We are trying to simplify the turkey business this fall!

1. All birds will be frozen.
2. Pickup: You can pick up your turkey at
   • The Saturday market (Carrboro, Greensboro Curb) before Thanksgiving (Nov. 21)
   • or at the Tuesday Carrboro market on Nov. 24.
   • You can also pick up at the farm during store hours.
3. Prices:
   • 10-12lb birds = $75.
   • 12-15lbs = $100
   • 15-18lbs = $120
   • 18+lbs =  @$7/lb
4. If you would like to reserve a bird, email us at canecreekfarm@gmail.com or come out to our farm store or stop by our tables at the Carrboro Farmers Market or Greensboro Curb Market. A $50 deposit will reserve your turkey