We have reservations as of 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, for 98 percent of the Turkeys available for Thanksgiving.  We expect to sell out today.

In these final hours, you can order by going to the Our Products page and scrolling to the bottom.  Then, see on the form what sizes are available, and if you want one of those send in your order right away.

We will stop taking orders when we reach 100 percent, but we will begin a short waiting list of about 20 people since we always have cancellations as we near Thanksgiving.

Thank you.

Bob Neal

All Saints weekend has been perhaps the busiest weekend we have ever had for ordering farm-fresh Thanksgiving Turkeys.  The result is that we are almost sold out.  As of 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, we have reservations for 93 percent of the birds that we believe are available.

Most sizes are sold out.  We believe we still have a few birds in the 14-16- and 16-18-pound sizes.  We are sold out below 14 pounds and between 18 and 22 pounds.  Most of the birds still available larger than 22 pounds are in the 24-27- and, especially, the 27-30-pound ranges.

We will take a close count of the Turkeys on Monday afternoon, Nov. 1, to see what sizes, if any,  remain available.  Then, we will process orders until the birds are all spoken for.

So, go ahead and order, and we will confirm it if we can fill it.  If we fell we cannot fill the order, we will email you our regrets.  To order, go to the Our Products page and scroll to the bottom.  Place the order and we will get back to you.

Stay tuned.

The end of October means the end of outdoor marketing for The Turkey Farm.  When we set up on Oct. 31 at the Crystal Spring Farmers Market in Brunswick and at the Bath Farmers Market, it will be for the last time.

The indoor season begins on Nov. 6 with the Midcoast Winter Farmers Market opening in Topsham and running from 1 to 5 p.m. every Friday through April.  The Topsham market is in the exhibition hall of the Topsham Fairgrounds.  In Bath, the indoor season begins on Nov. 7 and runs from 9 a.m. to noon every Saturday through April at the Freight Shed, downtown on Commercial Street.

While we are retiring on Nov. 27, the farm will continue.  We are concluding a purchase agreement with Pauline and Tim Henderson of New Sharon and Wayland, Mass.  They have been farming for more than 20 years.  They plan to raise beef on their other farm in New Sharon and poultry on the farm they are buying from us.  For this winter, it will be business as usual at The Turkey Farm, under whatever name the Hendersons select, and you can look for new offerings from the farm as the Hendersons settle in and explore uses of our farm that never occurred to us.  It should be an exciting time for the farm and its customers.

As to Thanksgiving, the end is also near.  We have reservations for more than three-quarters of the Turkeys available for Thanksgiving.  Two size ranges (10-12 and 18-20) are sold out.  Not much time remains for you to order Turkeys between 12 and 14 pounds or between 14 and 16.  We expect 20-22 to sell out soon, as well.  The price this year is $3.95 a pound, whether you pick up at our farm or at Orono, Portland, Topsham or Bath.

To order, go to the Our Products page, scroll to the bottom and place your order.  We will confirm by email.  The earliest we have sold out was Nov. 5.  We may challenge that record this year.

You may have read that there is a serious shortage of native Turkeys this year. And you may know that we are retiring next month and that our flock is barely half the size it was last Thanksgiving.  For both of those reasons, we are selling out rapidly.

As of Oct. 28, we have sold 56 percent of our birds and we are yet to get final orders from three large customers who give more than 100 Turkeys to their employees.

We are sold out in the range 10-12 pounds, and Turkeys between 18 and 20 pounds will be gone before long.  The supply of humongous Turkeys (30-plus) is dwindling.

To order, go to the Our Products page and scroll to the bottom.  Send in the completed form, and we will confirm your order by email. The price is $3.95 a pound, whether you pick up here at the farm or at one of our remote sites (Orono, Portland, Topsham, Bath).

The new owners of our farm expect to have plenty of Christmas Turkeys, and you can order from them after Nov. 26.

Finally, we can set the price for farm-fresh Turkeys for Thanksgiving.  Sorry to say, feed prices started back up this month, and we have to take that into account in setting our price.  So, the price per pound is $3.95.  If you see another price on the website, it is wrong and will be corrected soon.

Sorry for the delay in getting to this.  We had hoped to set the price by Oct. 1, but billing for the feed deliveries was late, and we had to run the numbers to project our costs for the holiday Turkeys.

By the way, we have stopped taking reservations for Turkeys smaller than 12 pounds.  The beautiful autumn has the Turkeys eating more — Turkeys on pasture eat more in the good weather, less in the rain — and they are not likely to dress off smaller than 12 pounds.

Orders are trickling in for Thanksgiving, but expect the pace to quicken.  Here’s how to order and have a great day of food shopping as well.

We are taking orders at both of our farmers market, Brunswick and Bath, and at our farmstore.  The markets are abrim with summer and fall goodies, including the best Turkey items you can find.  Last week, fresh corn was still offered at the Crystal Spring Farmers Market in Brunswick, as well as the new batch of Turkey-apple-leek sausage that we produce each autumn.  And, we’re offering Mama Stamberg’s cranberry relish (the one on public radio).  It is always popular, so this year we extended the season by a few weeks.  Fall veggies are in, and many summer vegetables are still in good supply, especially from our friends at Fairwinds Farm and at Applewald Farm, both of whom sell at Crystal Spring.

Now, about ordering.  While you’re at market, stop by our stand for apple-leek sausage and Mama’s and to order for Thanksgiving.  We’ll take the order and hand you a confirmation card with directions for picking up the Turkey at Topsham the day before Thanksgiving.  At Bath, we will take your order and your email address and send you an email confirmation with directions for picking up your Turkey the day before Thanksgiving at Bath.

And, our farmstore will be open Friday fro 2 to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., so you can shop and order here, as well.

If you can’t get to us in person, go to the Our Products page on this website and scroll to the bottom.  Fill in and send the order form.  We will confirm by email.  Keep in mind that in our first 29 years, we sold out 28 times, as early as Nov. 5.  We are raising fewer birds this year since retirement impends, so don’t risk waiting too long.  Order soon.

We are taking order for farm-fresh Turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  We will have the website updated soon, but you can order now and avoid the rush.  Just go to our products page, scroll to the bottom and place your order.  We will confirm by email as soon as we can.

We plan the same pickups as last year:  the farm, Orono, Portland, Topsham and Bath for Thanksgiving; the farm, Orono, Portland and Topsham for Christmas.  We will set the price in the next few weeks when we see what the cost of feed looks like for the rest of the season.  Expect the price to be between $3.79 (last year’ price) and $3.99 a pound.

If you have questions about our Turkeys or about ordering, just call 778-2889 or send us an email at turkeyfarm@myfairpoint.net or send a question at the bottom of the order form.  We’ll reply as soon as we can.

It’s Spicy Saturday this week at our farmers markets.  We will feature our smoked Andouille (cooked Cajun sausage), curry sausage, chorizo (Mexican sausage) and spicy breakfast sausage.  All come in natural links and all but Andouille come in loose pack, as well, so you can sauté or grill them up or you can make patties or crumbles.

We will sample these sausages throughout the market day at Brunswick and at Bath.

The Crystal Spring Farmers Market in Brunswick runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.  It’s on the Pleasant Hill Road near the Woodside Road, about a mile from downtown Brunswick.  The Bath Farmers Market runs from 8:30 a.m. to noon on the waterfront downtown.

Come see us on Saturday.

Because of the snow falling in Southern Maine, our farmers markets for Jan. 30 and 31 are canceled.  We expect to be back next weekend, though.  The Topsham winter market will run from 1 to 5 p.m. every Friday, Feb. 6 through April 26.  The Bath winter market will run fro 9 a.m. to noon every Saturday, Feb. 7 through April 27.  We take all of our Turkey items to both markets.

We expect to be able to open our farmstore on Jan. 30 and 31, but we have had a devil of a time keeping up with plowing snow this week.  If you want to come to the farmstore, it is best to call ahead at 778-2889.  If we can keep the driveway and the parking lot clear, we will be open.

We hope to see you soon, whether at market or at the farm.  Thanks for your patience.

All the birds we dressed for Christmas have been reserved.  Thanks for thinking of us.

If you have received a confirmation of your Christmas order, the pickups are today and tomorrow.  If you have not received a confirmation, we do not have a Turkey for you.

PIckup at our farmstore is today (Monday, Dec. 22) and tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  We are closed Christmas Eve.

The Portland pickup is 11 to 11:30 a.m. today on the parking lot of the Woodfords Church, 205 Woodford St.

The Topsham pickup is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow in the exhibition hall of the Topsham Fairgrounds, just off Elm Street (Route 24) or just off the Topsham connector (Route 196).  Follow the signs.  The full Midcoast Winter Farmers Market will be open tomorrow at the exhibition hall so you can pick up Christmas veggies and baked goods as well.  There is no Topsham market on Boxing Day, but on Jan. 2 the market resumes its regular hours of 1 to 5 p.m. Fridays.

Merry Christmas.