Ode to the food holidays of autumn and winter-when eating becomes an endurance test! First comes Halloween, then Election Day (I usually ponder politics over a pint of ice cream), National Homemade Bread Day (Nov. 17), National Chocolate-Covered Anything Day (Dec. 16), and then Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza and New Years. But the mother of all American food holidays is, of course, Thanksgiving.

When thinking about Thanksgiving, think about Iowa's turkey story. Iowa is among the top states for turkey production, but most of the birds are conventionally raised in coops where some of a turkey's favorite pastimes, roosting up high and pecking at fresh bugs and grass, are not encouraged. Iowa is also one of the greatest states for wild turkey hunting, where success rates for hunters are considered some of the nation's best. Most of these birds are descendants of flocks that were reintroduced to the wild by the Department of Natural Resources in the 1960s.

On the other hand, there is a cluster of poultry farms that raise heritage turkeys with an all-natural diet of bugs and grass, plus room to strut and roost. When that fateful day in November rolls around, these birds are long on tasty dark meat with thick, meaty thighs.

Tom Wahl and Kathy Dice start thinking about this every spring. Tom and Kathy are the owners and operators of Red Fern Farms, a sweet spot tucked along a gravel road in Wapello, about 25 miles southwest of Muscatine. Here, in addition to maintaining a fertile grove of chestnut trees (which they harvest as part of the Southeast Iowa Nutgrowers Association), pawpaws and persimmons, Tom and Kathy raise goats, broiler chickens and turkeys.

The turkeys that Tom and Kathy raise aren't the big-breasted white birds that end up on super market shelves and over 99 percent of Thanksgiving tables across the country. Red Fern Farm turkeys are the svelte dancer-like Narragansetts and waddling American Bronze turkeys-two heritage turkey lines bred from a long line of prized turkey progeny. In June, Tom and Kathy get their poult (turkey chicks) directly from a hatchery when the hatchlings are no older than 4 days. They are carefully and lovingly raised on a turkey's delight of fresh pasture, tasty crickets and plump grasshoppers. Tom and Kathy diligently rotate their grazing grounds, protect them from coyotes and do whatever else needs to be done to make sure they are happy.

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There are eight heritage turkey varieties raised in this country: Standard Bronze, Narragansett, Bourbon Red, Jersey Buff, Blue Slate, White Holland, Beltsville Small White and Royal Palm. They are all descendants of original breeds that were once plentiful throughout North America. Many heritage species were originally crosses between regional varieties of wild turkeys and domesticated birds, which makes sense because turkeys are one of the few animal breeds that originated in North America that have since been domesticated. Despite their once plentiful numbers, these breeds were once on the verge of extinction and now are raised mostly on small family farms that have an interest in preserving food traditions.

Saving heritage breeds and the social, cultural and economic history that comes with these food traditions is one of the main missions of Slow Food's Ark of Taste project. Slow Food is an international organization dedicated to preserving food traditions and the communities that rely on them across North America and the world. Slow Food's Ark USA is a list of all sorts of foodstuffs that have helped form America's history: from fruits and vegetables, cured meats, cheese, cereals, pastas, cakes, confectionery to, of course, heritage turkeys. Farmers who raise these breeds are also recognized for their dedication to food and cultural history.

Patrick Martins, former Slow Food USA director and cofounder Heritage Foods USA, called Iowa poultry farmer Henry Miller eight years ago in Kalona, about 15 miles south of Iowa City. Martins recognized Miller's dedication to the fine craft of farming and his concern for poultry, and convinced him to expand his poultry flock to include four breeds of heritage turkeys. Now, in addition to his chickens, Miller also raises a variety of heritage turkeys and is recognized by Slow Food USA as a farmer dedicated to preserving endangered poultry breeds. Like Red Fern Farms, Miller gets his birds direct from a hatchery when they are merely days old and raises them on free range pasture, without antibiotics.

Together, farmers like Tom Wahl, Kathy Dice and Henry Miller are carefully bringing back breeds once on the verge of extinction by creating a market demand. They are not alone, according to Heritage Foods USA, which specializes in heritage breeds of meat and vegetables. Until recently, there were fewer than 500 farmers raising heritage breeds; now that number is nearly 5,000. Each farmer might not have more than a dozen or two birds, but as market demand increases, so will their flocks. So add the heritage turkey to your own Thanksgiving traditions. You can help preserve a bird, even if you don't take time out for National Homemade Bread Day.

One sure sign of autumn in the Iowa River Valley is the increase in traffic on Highway 1 just north of Iowa City. Not only is it a scenic drive (see "What a Difference a Day Makes" in this issue), but it is also the way to the famous Wilson's Orchard. Here Joyce and Chug Wilson care for 80 rolling acres and nearly 140 varieties of apples that people drive well out of their way to enjoy.

Strolling amid the well-tended rows of apples, you can feel almost instantly at peace. There is no traffic noise, no blaring advertisements, no background static-only the occasional tickling buzz of a honeybee flying by to see who is appreciating his work. In mid to late October, the trees are usually heavy-laden with yellow, blush, red and gold, and this year is no exception. Chug Wilson calls the 2006 crop "a limb-buster," which is a welcome relief after 2005's disastrous late-spring freeze, which wiped out the blooms on Wilson's trees and left a harvest of zero.

"We had to import apples from Wisconsin" to sell in the orchard store, Chug told me on a recent visit. "Never had to do that before."

Like all farming, growing apples is a very challenging undertaking, subject to the whims of weather and the market, insects, environment and urban sprawl.

Iowa was once the second largest apple producer in the country, not behind Washington but behind Michigan. The ubiquitous Red Delicious apple was originally called the Hawkeye, and was developed in the late 1800s by Madison County farmer Jesse Hiatt. He sold the rights to the Stark Brothers Fruit Company of Missouri, which propagated cuttings from the original tree near Peru, Iowa, and hybridized it out of all resemblance to it's origins. Today, Red Delicious apples found in grocery stores are bred for appearance and durability, not flavor.

On November 11, 1940, the "Armistice Day Freeze" swept across the Midwest, devastating many states, and none was more hard-hit than Iowa. Because its storied orchards, known to be the best nationwide, were still heavy with leaves and fruit, the ice storm destroyed them. Lightning split Jesse Hiatt's Hawkeye in half. Since orchards are expensive to replant and can take up to 10 years to come to fruition, and with war on the horizon, Iowa's orchards were plowed under and replaced with corn and soybeans.

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Enjoy one of those hot turnovers as you ride behind Chug and his wide-brimmed hat aboard his big old tractor, towing you and many others on a tour of the land on a crisp October morning. Preferably, share the experience with one or more children. Pick a basket of Suncrisps, Blushing Goldens, Spigolds and Crispins. In fact, pick two baskets full, or even three. Don't worry about having too much; they store very well, and you can preserve even more by saucing, drying, canning or freezing them.

Treasures like Wilson's Orchard, and the other orchards around the state, will survive only so long as there is demand for their luscious products. Buying more and preserving the excess is a good way to support the artisan-orchardists of Iowa, while also getting lots of tasty treats for your family.

To store your fresh-picked apples, Joyce says, place them in a plastic bag with a dripping wet cloth or paper towel. Refrigerate them as soon as possible (ideally at 35 degrees and near 100 percent humidity) apart from other fruits and vegetables. The early summer apples will keep this way for a week or so, but later apples like Gala, Honeycrisp and Blushing Golden will last for three to six months.

Canning apples is not as daunting as it may seem. As with all canning, cleanliness and organization are the keys to success, and, done right, you'll have the perfect filling for a hot apple pie on New Year's Day or beyond.

For a wonderful way to enjoy autumn's abundance, take a day trip or overnight jaunt through some of eastern Iowa's most scenic small towns.

Start on a crisp October morning just 2 miles north of Interstate 80 at Wilson's Orchard, just off of Highway 1. Take in the cool orchard breeze as it mingles with hot apple turnovers from their bakery. Be sure to ask to see the Hawkeye Apple trees, source of the original Red Delicious.

Solon is just 5.2 miles north on Highway 1, and you can stop at Savvy for a great cup of coffee, or if your timing is right, Redhead is a delightful little restaurant.

From there, another 6.4 miles up Highway 1 will bring you to Kroul's pumpkin patch, which is a treat to visit anytime, but kids especially like it in October when the pompous pumpkins are everywhere, and the scarecrows watch over the dry decorative corn, gourds and squash.

Then it's on to Mt Vernon where you can stroll trough the leaves of the beautiful Cornell College campus, and do a little antiquing. Before settling into a delicious meal at the Lincoln Café, one of the area's true hidden gems, consider a bottle of wine at DeVine Wines, just a couple doors down, to enjoy with your meal.

By taking Highway 30 west from Mt. Vernon just a few miles, you will meet up with Highway 13, which will take north you to the quaint village of Strawberry Point, home of the world's largest statue of a strawberry, and nearby Backbone State Park, Iowa's oldest.

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It's only 30 miles up Highway 52 from Postville to Decorah, past the Bily Clocks Museum & Antonin Dvorak Exhibit in Spillville. Decorah is home to one of Iowa's greatest gifts to the food world, Seed Savers Exchange, home to over 30,000 varieties of heirloom seeds, 80 head of rare Ancient White Park Cattle, beautiful gardens and a new post-and-beam visitors' center. In downtown Decorah, you could enjoy a frosty treat at the 50+ year old Whippy Dip, shop at Oneota Co-op, and then sit down to a fantastic supper at La Rana Bistro. La Rana is a cozy place with a nice wine list and excellent, carefully prepared food from local ingredients.

If you can stay the night, consider the Hotel Winneshiek, just a block from La Rana, and recently restored to turn-of-the-last-century grandeur. Or, double back to Spillville and the homey Taylor-Made B&B

Now's the perfect time to take this trip, while the fall colors are at their best and the air is crisp with apples and pumpkins.

After visiting the charming and historic Amana Colonies you'll find that you need something to wash down the prerequisite jams, mustards and fudge that inevitably weigh you down at the end of your explorations. At the traditional Millstream Brewery you'll find that it's just as hard to leave this town without a sampler six pack. Their Oktoberfest Beer is one of the most true to form German style lagers available. Nothing dramatic here- you won't be pondering over remnants of cinnamon sticks like some other fall beers. This is just a good malty beer with full, strong, smooth flavor that usually sells-out to locals and visitors to their Oktoberfest celebration and is almost always gone by the middle of October. The Millstream Brewery produces about 1600 barrels a year and only distributes in Eastern Iowa. So, if you want to taste the lovely and light Schild Brau Amber that they have been making for 21 years leave your lederhosen at home and get ye to the Amana Colonies.

Over the years if I've learned one thing about beer sampling, it's that a good base of fried food might allow you to imbibe for a bit longer than say a stomach full of field greens. Beer requires a solid base to stand on and one of my favorite weird brewery foods that does the job right has to be deep fried pickles. So shimmy up to the bar at the Old Capital Brew Works in Iowa City and order up a plate of these strange crave-ables with Harvest Moon Belgian Wit. Brewed with Curacao orange peel and coriander seeds, only a great micro brewery could convince a pallet that orange and pickle should be paired. And now that the scaffolding is in place please don't leave without trying the Pumpkin Splitter Ale. Served only in October it's the perfect prelude to Novembers full herbed and bitter Big Cock Country IPA. American IPA's have been the subject of debate because they are a totally different experience than their weaker and less citric English originator, but this is one gulp-able IPA that brew snobs can agree on.

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Last but not least, I have to give a shout out to my home town brewery in Dubuque aptly named Bricktown. Housed in a massive turn of the century renovated warehouse that in a deal-turned-down could have been the manufacturing site of a long-shot idea known as "the automobile", this brewery does not suffer from the same lack of vision that the former tenants did. When Dubuque Star Brewery sadly closed doors in 1999 after being in operation since 1898 this river town, which was already on the road to a major renovation, did what river towns do best: bounce back with something shiny and new, housed in history. So, as you're sipping a Laughing Ass, which gives American style beers a good name, take a moment to reflect on Big Miss out the window and the abundance that she's brought to the valley that she forged.