By ANN ALLEN
Indiana Correspondent

ROCHESTER, Ind. — Rob North and Rebecca Bonsib are preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas the same as they have since 2004 – by raising pastured heritage turkeys on Earth Cure Farm, a 96-acre environmentally friendly operation they carved out of rolling fields dotted with pockets of wetlands and woods northwest of Rochester.

Dedicated to healthy eating, the couple, who moved to Fulton County in 1997 from Fort Wayne, cannot imagine a better entrée for themselves or their customers.

“The meat is similar to pheasant, tender and smooth, and just tastes much better than commercial turkeys,” they said.
Heritage breeds are old varieties of turkeys that still breed naturally. The couple raise two breeds – Bourbon Red and Narragansett. They collect eggs and each spring hatch about 250 birds in their own incubator, selling nearly half of them. The rest are raised for Thanksgiving, with a few retained for Christmas and still others kept for next year’s breeders.

Unlike commercial broad breasted turkeys that are artificially inseminated, raised shoulder-to-shoulder in confinement buildings, given feeds that may contain soy, hormones and antibiotics and vaccinated to prevent diseases rampant in crowded conditions, the couple’s heritage breed turkeys are raised with plenty of room, fresh air and sunshine.

They let their flock range during the daylight hours but move them into a pen at night. Come morning, when North opens the gate, the flock follows him across the pasture, with a magnificent tom trailing behind.

“I’m the lead turkey,” he said with a chuckle, as the friendly birds followed him into a grassy field.

“Our turkeys get protein in the form of bugs,” North and Bonsib said.

“They get valuable minerals in their diet by scratching in the soil. They feed on fresh greens in the pasture.”

The couple supplement their birds’ natural foraging with a non-soy mix of whole oats, corn and wheat from certified organic farms. They grind the organic grains fresh and mix them with sea kelp, fish meal and mineral salt.

Because they take longer to reach their finished weight, heritage breed turkeys are more costly to raise than commercial birds, which the Heritage Turkey Foundation estimates comprises 99.99 percent of turkeys sold in supermarkets. North and Bonsib charge $5 per pound for their birds, with toms finishing out at about 15 pounds and hens dressing out from 10-12 pounds.

“That’s fairly pricey,” North said, “but there is no comparison when it comes to taste.”

The couple sell their birds dressed and frozen by direct order or at Traders Point Creamery in Zionsville, Ind., on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

On a year-round basis the couple can be found selling flowers and vegetables at the Fulton Co. Farmers Market on Rochester’s Main Street or, during winter months, in the Richland Township building at the Fulton Co. Historical Society.

“Our flowers are the most popular item we sell at that market,” North said. In addition, they make dried arrangements from their fields of wild flowers. They sold 80 pieces at the recent Trail of Courage Rendezvous.

“Rob and Rebecca have one of the best organic farming operations around here,” said Mark Kepler, Purdue extension educator for Fulton County. “They’re very good at marketing their products.”

Self-sustainable

They also run an almost self-sustainable operation. Their house, an energy-efficient geodesic dome located 0.7 mile from the highway, gets its electrical power from solar panels and a nearby wind generator. Their octagonal barn, built of bales of straw covered with stucco, is so snug the inside temperature has never dropped below 45 degrees.

“The electric company wanted $15,000 to run a line back here,” North said. “We opted to create our own electricity.”

It cost the couple $20,000 to purchase the generator, solar panels and battery bank, but they feel the cost has been worth it. “We haven’t been without power a single day,” he said.

They heat the house with a wood burner but have propane backup. Their kitchen range and clothes dryer are also propane, but with the cost of fuel rising, they are looking at ways to become even more self-sufficient. “We may try to find a solar water heater, maybe try burning wood,” North said.

With a goal of becoming totally self-sufficient and raising all the feed for their turkeys, the couple also sell hay and raise Dexter cattle, a few sheep, enough chickens to keep themselves in eggs and enough goats to provide their flocks protection from predators. They have hives of bees located throughout the area.

To power their diesel tractor, they trade turkeys with a man who makes his own biofuel from cooking oil.

“I think we could grow our own fuel if we had a way to process it,” North said, estimating five acres of sunflowers would be sufficient for their operation. “Think what would happen if farmers could grow a tenth to a quarter of their own fuel.

“The farm is already two to three times more profitable than it was when we rented out the land. We are looking for ways to increase our profits five years from now. We’re using our animals to get our soil back to life.”

As for Rebecca, although they pull a lot of weeds, she’s quick to add, “I wouldn’t want to live anywhere (else) or any other way. Once you’ve eaten organically grown meat and vegetables, nothing else tastes good.”

The couple does not have a computer but they may be reached at 574-892-6351.