| TURKANA FARMS, LLC |
| WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK:Cucumber avalanche. Perfect cooling on a summer day -- cucumber gazpacho, cucumber salad, cucumber sandwiches with your tea. Or put some away for winter, cucumber pickles or cucumber ketchup.. $2 a pound. Beets ($4/lb) are also abundant Wax beans and haricots verts, limited quantities $2.50/lb. Unbelievably, we are temporarily out of zucchini, and the season of elder flowers has now passed. |
| Anxious to replace this modest structure Photo by Mark Scherzer |
| Anxious for a Barn Hi all, Mark here.Perhaps it was the discomfort of the intense heat dome of last week, which had me looking forward to when the heat would break. Or maybe it was the imminent turning of the calendar page from July to August, which signals to me the beginning of the end of summer, before I've even tasted the first vine ripened Brandywine. For whatever reason, my thoughts have been on the coming of fall.In particular, because my thoughts tend to run in streams, nay, torrents, of anxiety, I have been thinking about whether we will be ready with a new barn constructed to replace our burnt one by the time grazing season is over and the cold weather sets in.Being without the barn this summer has been inconvenient, but not fatal, to our operations. As Victoria described last week, we were able to use makeshift substitutes for the barn's amenities to accomplish sheep shearing in a shaded corral outside. The sheep are thriving in their current totally outdoor life. But come November, makeshift substitutes just won't do. We need to store hay in a secure dry place to feed the sheep through winter. By that time the sheep too will need shelter from the elements. As I was once instructed, the sheep can be cold OR they can be wet and will get by just fine. But being simultaneously cold and wet is a recipe for disaster. Averting that requires a roofed, walled structure. A barn.We know what in an ideal world we want from a barn -- its size, the functions it will serve. Yet still there are decisions we haven't finalized. Do we want to replace the current unsalvageable concrete floor with a new one, or use a cheaper alternative like compacted crushed stone? Should the barn be made of wood, in aesthetic harmony with the traditional structures of the rest of the farm, or metal, which is far more fireproof and maintenance free? Wood is cheaper at the outset, but because it requires painting and is subject to rot, may turn out more expensive over time.In our decision making we must be money conscious. The old barn was underinsured -- just a $10,000 limit for the structure itself. We've already spent most of that amount for expenses like debris removal and water pump repair without the first nail in the new structure having been hammered. Our insurance company was quick, efficient and fair in valuing all the personal property, like equipment and tools, that burned. Although it did not cover the turkeys lost in the fire (coverage for animals requires a special rider that I, an insurance maven, didn't think to buy), it did cover our inanimate products. We were fortunate that one of Troy and Victoria's first projects on arrival was sorting through the accumulated bags of sheared wool stored in the hayloft and beginning to sell it through the website Etsy. Because we were able to show a continuous stream of sales at $12 per pound, the 900 pounds of wool stored up there brought our total insurance proceeds close to $30,000.00.If only that were enough. Troy has been busy getting estimates from barn builders. Of those that even deigned to respond with a number, the estimated costs range from just under $50,000 to a mind boggling, to me, $150,000. At the high end, the term "sticker shock" springs to mind.It might seem obvious that one would take the cheapest competent bid, but the eternal variables of time and money are in their usual tension. The highest estimator is a large full-service custom builder with multiple work crews. It can do drawings, get permits, remove old concrete, pour a new floor and get a barn up in the next month. The smaller contractors are far more affordable, but not only would they shift a lot of the ancillary tasks to us, they also, constrained by having just a single crew and more work than they can handle, are reluctant to guarantee finishing the barn by the time the cold weather has set in.What's a small cost-conscious farm to do? One friend, pointing out that barns are about the most basic buildings imaginable, suggested an old-fashioned barn raising: gathering friends and neighbors to create the structure in one festive day, perhaps using prefab components. While the prefab concept is very useful, and I sense such an event would make for a great party and plenty of high spirits, I nevertheless doubt that we, our friends and neighbors have the requisite skills for even so rudimentary a structure. And unlike in olden days, the structure needs to pass building inspector approval.So instead of planning that barn-raising we've scrambled back to the drawing board, trying to simplify the design to bring the estimates and time required down, and putting off some of the interior features until we can afford them down the road. You can perhaps understand why I woke up in the middle of the night this week in a panic after dreaming that the price of an 800 lb. bale of hay, for which we paid $65 last season, had been increased for the coming season to $1200 a bale.We are working well collaboratively to make the necessary decisions and believe we’ve got access to financing for whatever we decide will most cost effectively promote the farm’s future operations. We will of course get the barn built one way or another. But at the moment it’s not the barn that’s raising, it's the level of my anxiety. In times like this I feel the absence of Peter, with his theater director's talent for conceiving and completing complex productions, acutely. |
| WHAT'S AVAILABLE THIS WEEKLots of Rainbow Chard - $3/bunch Cucumbers, $2/lb Mugwort, $1/bunch for infusions or tea Beets, $4/bunch (mixed bunches Chiogga, Detroit Red, Golden, or tell us your preference), Scallions, $2/bunch Kale $3/bunch two different varieties, deep blue green straight leaf and curly leaf Collards, $3/bunch Wax beans and haricots verts $2.50/lb (limited quantities) Purslane, $2/bag SORREL, $2/BAG MINT: $.75 a bunch DILL: $.75 a bunch SHISO LEAVES, $1.00 FOR 10EGGS: Production is now in overdrive. We can handle all your orders. $5/dozMEATS: We keep some on hand, but it helps to order ahead in case we need to retrieve from our stash in the big commercial freezerGEESE: One remaining, about 8.5 lbs. $10/lb.TURKEYS: A few small ones left over and frozen $11/lb .GUINEA FOWL, We are sold out!ROASTING CHICKENS - We are sold out til FallLAMB: shoulder roasts at $10/lb, riblets $8/lb, small and larger leg roasts $14/lb, lamb stew $7/lb, shanks, $10/lbPORK: Loin pork chops, $12/lb (2 to a pack, btwn 1 and 1.5 lbs), Jowl (roughly 2 to 3 lbs each), $12/lb, Spare ribs and country ribs $7/lb baby back ribs $8/lb fresh ham roasts (2 to 3 lbs), $12/lb picnic or Boston butt roasts (roughly 2 lbs) $12/lb smoked bacon, $12/lb Kielbasa $8/lbDUCKS: SOLD OUTCOMPOST, $6/Bag, approx. 40 lbs. |
| FARM PICKUPS:Email us your order at [email protected], and let us know when you'd like to pick up your order. It will be put out for you on the side screened porch of the farmhouse (110 Lasher Ave., Germantown) in a bag. You can leave cash or a check in the now famous pineapple on the porch table. Regular pickup times are Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., other days by arrangement. If you have questions, don't hesitate to call at 518-537-3815 or email. |
Turkana Farms, LLC, is a small scale producer of heritage breed livestock and a wide array of vegetables and berries on just over 39...
Hi friends, it’s Victoria. Last weekend we hosted the much-anticipated revival of the Scherzer/Spindler Passover tradition, and had the pleasure of a full house,...
Turkana Farms, LLC, is a small-scale producer of heritage breed livestock and a wide array of vegetables and berries on just over 39 acres...