Thankful For Turkey

Photos by John Minchillo

On a cold and rainy November morning, farmers Mary Carpenter and Paul Dench-Layton waded arm-in-arm into the large soggy paddock that’s home to their Broad Breasted Whites, nearly 250 gobbling, barking, and bumbling Thanksgiving turkeys.

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In this Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014, photo, Broad Breasted Whites, a specific breed of turkey prized for their size and larger proportion of white meat, stand in their paddock at Violet Hill Farm before they are harvested for Thanksgiving, in West Winfield, N.Y. The turkeys are less colorful than their wild cousins. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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The husband-and-wife team that owns and operates Violet Hill Farm, a 200-acre spread nestled in upstate New York’s Mohawk Valley, began catching the birds by hand days ahead of the year’s busiest market week. Together, with their two young children close by, they worked around the clock to slaughter and dress the animals before a four-hour drive south to Manhattan’s Union Square Market. There, loyal customers eagerly awaited their organic, non-GMO fed gobblers. This year’s lot sold out well before anyone thought to pre-heat their ovens.

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In this Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014, photo, Paul Dench-Layton, of Violet Hill Farm, holds his daughter Lillianna Grace, as customers pick up their Thanksgiving turkeys at the Union Square Farmers Market, in New York. The market, and various high-end Manhattan restaurants, are the farms’ entire consumer base. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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The work is back-breaking and time is short, but for the farmers it is worth it.

“The market for me, that’s my reset button, because it can get so stressful and overwhelming and exhausting,” said Carpenter. “We go to the market and we have people who bring their families to come meet their farmers. It is like an extended family. It sounds cliche and hokey, but it really does become that. You know a lot about your customers and they show you pictures and they know your kids’ names.”

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In this Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014, photo, fresh Thanksgiving turkeys wait to be picked up at the Violet Hill Farm stand at the Union Square Farmers Market, in New York. All 250 birds were sold before they ever left their paddock over a week before. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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Buyers say knowing the people who grow their food makes a difference.

“When you shop at the same vendor for the same thing all the time, you start to develop a connection,” said Karma Hara, one of Violet Hill’s regular and enthusiastic customers.

“I get an email every year, three weeks before Thanksgiving. Mary has my email address, and many other people’s too, but it feels personal, and she sends an email and it says `OK we’re starting to take deposits for turkey now,’ and I don’t get that email from Whole Foods … and I wouldn’t give my email to Whole Foods.”

But bottom line is the taste. Is fully-pastured fresh turkey really all that different?

“I originally tried one of their chickens and it was probably the best chicken I’ve had, ever, and so I started shopping for chicken from them and then they offered turkeys that first year. I ordered one, and the rest is history,” said Hara. “I buy my turkey from them every year. Even if I travel for Thanksgiving, then I just cook Thanksgiving early on the Saturday before.”

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Click any image to launch the Thankful For Turkey gallery.

In this Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, photo, a domesticated turkey stands in its enclosure at Violet Hill Farm before being harvested for Thanksgiving, in West Winfield, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014, photo, Mary Carpenter, owner of Violet Hill Farm, not pictured, feeds her gang of turkeys in their paddock before they are harvested for Thanksgiving, in West Winfield, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, photo, a gang of Broad Breasted Whites roam their paddock before they are harvested for Thanksgiving at Violet Hill Farm, in West Winfield, N.Y. The turkeys’ lives are starkly different from their factory farm brethren as the nearly 250 fully-pastured turkeys spend their time roaming a constantly cycling series of green spaces. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, photo, farmer Paul Dench-Layton catches turkeys at Violet Hill Farm before they are harvested for Thanksgiving, in West Winfield, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, photo, Paul Dench-Layton, of Violet Hill Farm, hoists a turkey from scalding water before its feathers are removed prior to butchering as they are harvested for Thanksgiving, in West Winfield, N.Y. The birds are culled before being scalded at a precise ratio of temperature and time. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014, photo, Paul Dench-Layton, of Violet Hill Farm, places a turkey in a plucking machine during their Thanksgiving harvest, in West Winfield, N.Y.(AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2014, photo, Paul Dench-Layton, of Violet Hill Farm, pulls a fully defeathered turkey from his homemade mechanical plucker during the farms’s Thanksgiving harvest, in West Winfield, N.Y. “In the beginning, the whole reason I wanted to do turkeys for Thanksgiving was as a thank you to the customers that supported the farm for the rest of the year. So it wasn’t really even initially, in its own sense, to make money or for an income,” said Dench-Layton. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, photo, a domesticated turkey walks through the snow in its enclosure at Violet Hill Farm before being harvested for Thanksgiving, in West Winfield, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014, photo, domesticated turkeys prepare to roost for the night at Violet Hill Farm before before they are harvested for Thanksgiving, in West Winfield, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, photo, Mary Carpenter, owner of Violet Hill Farm, butchers a turkey as it is harvested for Thanksgiving, in West Winfield, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Sunday, Nov. 16, 2014, photo, domesticated turkeys roam freely at Violet Hill Farm before they are harvested for Thanksgiving, in West Winfield, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

In this Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014, photo, a fresh Thanksgiving turkey is weighed at the Violet Hill Farm market stall at Union Square, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

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Opening text from AP news story, AP Photos: Turkey Farmers Connect With NYC Buyers, By John Minchillo

 

Lead Image Caption: In this Monday, Nov. 17, 2014, photo, Mary Carpenter, owner of Violet Hill Farm, butchers a turkey as it is harvested for Thanksgiving, in West Winfield, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

 

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