Let’s Talk Leaves – Most of the leaves have fallen from the trees with the exception of some oaks, pears, and a few others. Continue to remove leaves from your lawn at least once a week.

Remember that leaves are truly a natural resource and they make excellent compost or mulch for your garden beds.

The Time to Fertilize is Now – The window for fertilizing lawns is closing rapidly as the new fertilizer law in Maryland restricts applying fertilizer past November 30^th. This November 30^th deadline is for licensed professionals only; homeowners are restricted from applying fertilizer past November 15^th.  Click here to learn more: http://mda.maryland.gov/Pages/fertilizer.aspx

Did you know that Complete Lawn Care, Inc. was one of the first companies in Maryland to become licensed under the new Maryland Nutrient Management Law? It’s true, we are PFA 0091 and we are always striving to be leaders in providing you with high quality lawn service while protecting our environment.

The Holiday Season is Almost Upon Us –

The Holidays are rapidly approaching and I am sure that most of us are looking forward to celebrating with our families and friends. All of us at Complete Lawn Care and Complete Plant Health Care want to extend our warmest wishes for a safe and happy holiday season.

Also, there’s a very rare occurrence taking place this year as a very early Hanukah coincides with Thanksgiving!

And we all know that Christmas comes up very fast after Thanksgiving, so get ready for the Holidays!

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving and I love it so much because its focus is on family and food, two of my favorite things!

Everyone probably has a recipe for their Thanksgiving turkey and I would like to share mine with everyone. I use locally grown Maple Lawn Farm turkeys (http://www.maplelawn.com/, I always make two), they are just great turkeys grown by a really nice local family operation.

I smoke my turkeys using apple wood, but you can use any wood that you like or you can roast the turkey in your oven.

 

Eric’s (Nearly Famous) Smoked Turkey

1, 18 to 20lb Turkey

The Brine:

2 gallons of water

2lbs Kosher Salt

1.5 cups Sugar

1.5 cups Brown Sugar

2 cups Blackstrap Molasses

1.5 cups Light Soy Sauce

1 medium White Onion, quartered

1, 1” x 2” piece of Fresh Ginger, peeled and chopped

5 cloves of Fresh Garlic, peeled and smashed

1 Tablespoon Fresh Black Peppercorns

1 Tablespoon Dried Tarragon

1 Teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder

 

Use a large plastic brining tub or non-reactive pot (stainless steel) to dissolve the salt and sugar into the 2 gallons of water, and then add all of the other ingredients.

Remove the giblets and neck from the cavity of the turkey and put the turkey into the brine and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.

Remove the turkey from the brine after 12 hours and rinse off with cold water. Pat the turkey dry and truss it. Place unstuffed turkey into a smoker that is at 225° or place into a roasting pan and into an oven that is 350° (the turkey will not be smoked using the oven).

When using a roasting pan in the oven, lightly cover the turkey with a piece of aluminum foil for the first 1.5 hours and then remove the foil after that.

Turkey is fully cooked when meat thermometer reads 165°; this can take 4 to 4.5 hours in the oven or 12 to 14 hours on the smoker.

Around an hour before the turkey is finished cooking, brush the skin with extra virgin olive oil every 15 minutes for a golden brown sheen. Let the turkey rest on a carving board for 15 to 20 minutes before carving.

 

We hope you have a chance to try Eric’s Smoked Turkey recipe this Thanksgiving!