Text by Jeremy Withnell
Photo by Bruce Frisch

For many household cooks, Thanksgiving means finding room in the refrigerator to accommodate 20 pounds of poultry for a couple of days in order to properly defrost it. For those lucky enough to be in the know about Lost Ruby Farm in south Norfolk, there’s a better way.

In addition to goat husbandry and cheesemaking, Antonio Guindon and Adair Mali, owners of Lost Ruby, have for the past seven years been raising Broad Breasted White turkeys specifically for Thanksgiving dinner. “We wanted to raise our own turkey, and we realized that it just made sense that if we’re going to do the work for one, we could expand the operation a bit and sell to others as well,” says Guindon.

This year, they have around 75 full-grown birds that were only chicks when they arrived at the farm in two batches, in July and August. The chicks are purchased from a mom-and-pop hatchery in Pennsylvania and live free-range lives in the fields and woods of south Norfolk, subsisting on organic grain. “They’re relatively easy animals to take care of, really very gentle birds.” says Mali. “It gets more difficult as the season wears on. The pipes freeze, and we need to carry buckets of water down to them. They also eat a lot more come November. They go through about 100 pounds of grain a day by the end.” The biggest of the turkeys the couple sells run upward of 25 pounds, while others are closer to the 10-pound mark.

The Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week is when families come by to claim their prized poultry. Right before pickup day, Mali and Guindon are busy working with a small army of volunteers to help them process the turkeys for purchase. These are fresh turkeys that have never been frozen. They are dispatched, defeathered and bagged up less than a week before Thanksgiving Day. “We have what we call the ‘disassembly line’ system” Guindon explains. “This year for the first time we’ll be renting a mobile processing unit that should make the process a lot easier.” 

Guindon and Mali smile remembering previous pickup days, “There’s a joyful atmosphere. We have hot cider on hand, and the families are excited to claim a turkey for their own.” It’s essentially first come first served, so if you’re one of the first to show up, you have the pick of the lot. A deposit guarantees everyone a bird, but if you’re the last one to arrive on pickup day, you get whichever one is left, no matter the size. And volunteers are paid with a turkey of their own to take home.

Marinell Crippen is a satisfied customer. “The turkey we got from Lost Ruby Farm was by far the most moist turkey we have ever had,” she says. “We cooked it the same way we always have, but this one was literally spilling out juice.  Sooooo good. We will be getting our turkey from Lost Ruby Farm again, no question.”  

All of this year’s birds were spoken for before the November holiday. To ensure snagging one of these turkeys for your own Thanksgiving table next year, you need to call the farm (860-542-5806) or go to their website (lostrubyfarm.com) get on the mailing list for next spring’s “Turkey Letter.” “The Turkey Letter that we send out to interested individuals contains the order form, deposit information, etc.,” says Mali.

After that you just wait for the turkeys to grow.