I bought my Thanksgiving turkey in August. And, no, it hasn’t been hanging out in the freezer all these months. It’s a live heritage turkey being raised by Patricia Costanzo, who owns Bare Bottom Ranch in Calhan with her husband, Bob Richardson.So, why bother with buying a live turkey? Because they taste so much better than the regular turkeys found in the grocery store.Heritage turkeys — old-fashioned varieties — are the turkey equivalent to heirloom tomatoes. It was the kind of turkey I grew up with, back before turkeys were cranked out like Fords on assembly lines.Few people younger than 50 know what they taste like. In the 1950s, the mass production of turkeys pushed the old-fashioned, brown-feathered bird to near extinction. Our taste buds were dumbed down with factory turkeys suitably known as Broad Breasted White, which have been bred to have white feathers, larger amounts of white meat and shorter maturation times. These birds are ready for market in 12 weeks (heritage birds take twice as long), and they tend to have drier, blander tasting meat than those brown turkeys of yesteryear.Like so many things from the past, the old-fashioned turkey is making a comeback. And, Costanzo and her husband are in the forefront of all things feathery and heritage. They have had their ranch for two years and are dedicated to growing animals the way they should be raised: free to roam around the pastures.A few weeks ago I went to Calhan to see how my turkey was maturing. I was surprised how beautiful the birds are, and how friendly.“There’s something about the turkeys,” Costanzo said, “I’ve grown to love them. They are always following us around and curious about what we are doing.”This year, Costanzo purchased five breeds of heritage turkeys: Royal Palm, Black Spanish, Bourbon Red, Slate and Narragansett.“We’re trying to figure out which breed grows best and tastes best,” she said. “Our goal is to zero in on one breed that we can breed naturally here. I’d prefer not buying the little birds from a hatchery.”Last year they experimented with 12 turkeys. This year they bought 30, and they hope to raise around 100 next year.When I learned about Costanzo’s ranch and that she was selling heritage turkeys, I jumped at my chance to get one of the birds. I sent her a $30 deposit to reserve my turkey. The birds will be taken to a processing plant on Nov. 21 and Costanzo will pick them up to be delivered fresh the same day.“We did a taste-off between a roasted fresh turkey and a frozen one,” said Costanzo, who is also a professionally trained chef. “The flavor and texture of the fresh was so much better. So we make every effort to be sure our customers get a fresh bird.”Though all the turkeys from Bare Bottom Ranch are destined for holiday tables, you can find deep-chilled, free-range heritage turkeys at Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage.Visit gazettedev.gazette.com to see a video of Costanzo talking about her ranch and the turkeys.—Reach Farney at 636-0271. She appears Tuesdays on KOAA’s Comcast Channel 5 at noon.

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