To those of you who have gardened in the Ozarks, you may be scratching your head at the thought of running out of rocks. Allow me to explain my rock shortage. Turkeys need small rocks in their gizzard to help grind up the food they eat. I prefer to feed them granite grit, but ran out earlier in the summer. After a week or two without sufficient grit in their gizzard, the turkeys began to mine the pasture looking for rocks.

Some of the excavation sites were as big as a bathtub and ankle deep, tractor jarring. A friend told me years ago, "If you don't have time to do it right the first time, there is always time the second time." I finally got some grit, which stopped the excavation process, but now I had holes to fill in. We got some top soil and filled the holes. Then we seeded the dirt with Orchard grass seed and threw some straw on top just before the rain.

Through all of this, we may have run out of rocks, but we are not out of turkey! On November 11 we will process the first big batch. Turkeys are available at the farm starting November 11 at 4pm and in Springfield at MaMa Jean's and Horrmann Meats after November 12th. Call Jim’s cell 417-293-0450 to arrange a time to get your turkey at the farm before the crowds later in the month.

-Jim