Ballston Spa farmer talks turkey
BALLSTON SPA (Nov. 16) — Do you know where your Thanksgiving turkey comes from? If you are a member of Eric Smassanow’s community-supported agriculture (CSA) group, you would. In fact, you might have even helped raise the turkey.
Every year Smassanow raises about 25 turkeys on his Ballston Spa farm. This year he started with 27, but 12 were killed by a fox while they were young. The CSA also raises chickens, pigs and sheep in addition to growing vegetables. Unlike a lot of CSAs, this one requires its members to work on the farm.
A Ballston Spa community-supported agriculture farm provides its members with turkeys for Thanksgiving.
Even members’ children come to the farm, so they will know where their food comes from, too. They’ll help for a bit and then …
“They know where the blueberries are,” Smassanow said. “They become country kids pretty quickly.”
Smassanow’s turkeys, like his chickens, are pasture raised. And he keeps his turkeys and chickens separate, but he’s been raising the birds for so long — around 20 years — that he can’t remember why.
It’s to prevent the turkeys from contracting histomoniasis — also known as blackhead disease, said Dave Leggett, who works in the Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Ballston Spa office. Chickens can carry the disease, which doesn’t affect them.
“But turkeys — especially young turkeys — are very susceptible to it,” he added.
Despite raising just a couple dozen turkeys a year — well below the state limit of 250 for small farms who process their own birds and sell directly to consumers without needing to be inspected — Smassanow provides a good amount of food to CSA members.
“One time I tried to figure it out,” he said. “I think it came out to roughly 5,000 meals a year.”
Smassanow said he thinks people are starting to have a new attitude about their food — causing a growing interest in CSAs and home gardens.
“More and more people are interested in growing food for themselves,” he said. “They’ll plant enough so they can put some away.”
He told the story of a nearby nursery, which saw new patterns in people’s purchases since the economy soured.
“They didn’t sell as many flowers,” Smassanow said. “But they were all sold out of their vegetable plants.”
For more information:
- Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County, 50 West High Street, Ballston Spa, 885.8995
