Baker/Owner Sally A. Moses

Bill and Miriam Keener of Sequatchie Cove Farm run their Sequatchie county enterprise with the help of Miriam’s parents and their 2 teenage children. Their goal is to create a family-friendly farm where all can be involved in meaningful work: old, young, able and less able.

The farm is comprised of 60 acres of pasture and hundreds of acres of wood hills, cliffs, waterfalls, sinkholes, caves, streams and wildlife. The farm is in turn surrounded by hundreds of acres of Cumberland Plateau wilderness. Among other foods, Sequatchie Farms produces beef, lamb, pork, eggs, shiitake mushrooms, vegetables, blueberries and helps sell raw milk cheese from their neighboring farm, Meadow Creek Dairy.

This year the Sequatchie animals will mingle with 125 Bourbon Red turkeys. The Keeners decided to raise only Bourbon Reds because of their dedication to promoting Southern food heritage. The Bourbon Red turkey was named for Bourbon County, Kentucky, where it was developed in the late 1800s. By raising these birds, the Keeners are reintroducing a piece of southern heritage to southern tables.

To many folks, Southern food conjures up visions of everything from ham & biscuits to grits & gumbo to great bbq & great bourbon, with pecan pie to cap off a serious meal. But what do you do if you are a turkey growing up in the heart of Kentucky? You take a name that not only speaks to place, but speaks as well to Kentucky tradition. So it is with the Bourbon Red, developed in the late 1800s from a Pennsylvania breed known as the Tuscarora Red & is to date the most popular (and says Miriam Burros of the New York Times, the most tasty) of the heirloom turkey breeds.

Also known as the Bourbon Butternut or Kentucky Red in the bluegrass region of Kentucky. It resulted from breeding stocks taken to Kentucky & selected for improved meat production & a darker red color. Recognized by the American Poultry Association in 1909 & it was ambitiously promoted – today it remains the most numerous of heirloom turkey breeds on Slow Food’s Ark USA. (Slow Foods is a pun on the Fast Food not very healthful or tasty movement)

According to the Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities (SPPA), the Bourbon makes up 31% of all Historical Farm turkeys. A recent census recorded over 700 breeding females & nearly 150 males. This is encouraging, but they still fall below the critical list as put out by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy.

Because of the relative rarity of all these heirloom turkeys, it is extremely important that this project result in a return to economic viability of these breeds. It is for this reason that Slow Food would like to express its deep appreciation to the Lyndhurst Foundation for its support of the Bourbon Red members of the Heritage Turkey Project.

212 Supports local sustainable growers.

The Chattanooga area is fortunate to have some very fine farms practicing sustainable growing techniques. We are always looking for responsible local sources of fresh products for our recipes… Fresh from their gardens to your plate… It’s the best. Below is a short article on one of our favorite providers, Bill & Miriam Keener’s Sequatchie Cove Farms. Also, below are a few links to related sites you may find interesting.

Displaying Tom (left) & Hen (right ) Bourbon Red turkeys.

Click on either photo to read more about this “heirloom” breed.