Where to Find a Fresh Turkey in Peekskill-Cortlandt

Want to get beyond the Butterball this Thanksgiving? Local businesses are here to help.

At Hemlock Hill Farm on Croton Avenue in Cortlandt Manor, fresh-killed turkeys are $4.89 per pound. 

The folks there are taking orders through Monday, Nov. 25. Walk-ins are welcome during the afternoon hours of Wednesday, Nov. 27 (call 914-737-2810 for more information as the holiday gets closer). Orders may be picked up beginning Saturday, Nov. 23.

At both Sansotta Brothers deli locations, one at 2 Westbrook Drive and the other at 2008 Crompond Road in Cortlandt, birds from Maple Crest Farm should be ordered by Nov. 19. They are going for $2.79 per pound. 

The delis are also selling Murray's organic turkeys at $3.99 per pound; they need to be ordered by Thursday, Nov. 14. Customers are welcome to pick up their orders starting Tuesday, Nov. 26. The stores will be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thanksgiving day.

Cole's Market, at 2147 Albany Post Road in Montrose, is also selling fresh-killed turkeys off its holiday menu. The broad-breasted white birds are free of antibiotics, and they are not genetically modified. They come from South Carolina and go for $2.49 per pound. Murray's organic turkeys are $3.99 per pound. 

There's no deadline to order; the store will be open through Wednesday, Nov. 27. Certain sizes—sometimes the 16-pounders, other years the 20-pounders—do sell out quicker than others. 

Typically the weight range is between 10 and 30 or so pounds, owner Tom Cole told Patch. Customers often request the largest bird, and so far the biggest has been 44 pounds. It's first-come, first-served.

If you want more options, the editors at Epicurious did a turkey taste test so you wouldn't have to. And the good news is that one of the brands their judges preferred is available locally at Mrs. Green's, Whole Foods and Fairway.

Fairway even offers a way to reserve the size turkey you want, online.  

Mrs. Green's is all over our region, with many stores in Westchester and one each in Putnam and Rockland counties.

Or, you can go to Whole Foods in Westchester or northern New Jersey for your choice of free-range, brined, organic or local turkeys.

Want to take it up yet another notch? Order one from your local butcher.

If you're on the Sound Shore, you have till Nov. 19 to order up a fresh-killed kosher bird from the New Roc Glatt Gourmet Kosher Foodmarket. 

Meanwhile watch this Flickr video from Stone Barns of the running of the turkeys. Hope it becomes an annual event. Though sorry, folks, they're sold out. 

Ashley Tarr contributed to this post.