Everyone’s Thanksgiving meal starts somewhere.
Whether you’re enjoying it in the capital city of St. John’s or on the west coast of the island, that turkey dinner and all of its trimmings is the product of someone’s hard work.
For many families in central Newfoundland, that dinner got its start at Chaulk’s Heritage Farm near Glovertown.
There, you can get everything you need for a solid plate of dinner.
Between regular dropoffs and deliveries of vegetables and turkeys, as well as people dropping by the farm, it’s been a hectic several days leading up to this weekend.
“Here is Thanksgiving and we’ve been nonstop between turkeys and vegetable hampers,” said owner Cindy Chaulk.
This is the first full year that Chaulk’s has added turkeys to the products they’re producing, as they added a turkey abattoir to the farm in 2019. They already have one Christmas season under their belts and are amid their first Thanksgiving.
As it stands, Chaulk finds the Christmas season is a bit busier when it comes to demand for turkeys.
“They always say every year it is going to get better and, well, it is,” she said.
Chaulk’s days usually started around 5 a.m. when she heads to the barn and takes care of the 2,400 turkeys there.
From there, she heads back to her home, where she fixes breakfast for her family.
When that meal is finished, it's back to the farm to start their regular work looking after the other animals they have on the farm and preparing vegetable hampers.
Then someone might swing by looking for a turkey. In August, they processed 1,674 turkeys to get ready for this season.
“It is crazy,” said Chaulk.
Busy market
While Rideout’s Farm in Cormack didn’t get the usual 7,000 hamper orders it usually does from the various schools on the west coast, owner Melvin Rideout anticipates the number of vegetable hampers they’ve prepared is on par with what they usually put together.
"Our market is still fairly busy,” he said of its vegetable stand along the Viking Trail headed north.
Rideout Farms is a popular vendor and often supplies vegetables to stores in towns on the West Coast. They also do some business further up the northern peninsula.
Work to get everything ready starts in early September with the potato harvest. From there, they’ll move into pulling carrots from the ground.
The farm also does cabbage, turnip, beets and other vegetables over the year. They’ll keep a full crew working as they move from Thanksgiving season and into the Christmas season.
“It is a busy time of year,” said Rideout. “We more or less take it as it comes.”
While the Chaulks have posted hours for their farm, it isn’t strange for a vehicle to find its way up the driveway leading to the farm after hours.
Chances are they’re looking for a hamper or a turkey.
Chaulk doesn’t mind. She won’t turn them away, and instead asks them what size they are looking for.
“That's what’s been happening, but I don’t mind that,” she said.
Nicholas Mercer is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering central Newfoundland for SaltWire Network
