By A couple of days ago, Don and I and Alex and Michelle and girls, went to a small local dairy farm. Don and I had watched a television program on raw milk (unpasteurized milk), and Don has been fascinated with the idea ever since. He looked up area farms that provide raw milk, and found one close to home, about 10 minutes away, for us. For Alex and Michelle, much farther! The following pictures are some I took of the cows and kids and owner.
Sasha and her owner have a special bond, that was apparent! Michaela was right in line to see her up close and give her a pat. Sasha is a Swiss Brown Guernsey, with gorgeous eyes.
All of the cows were outside, and lunch was a big attraction. Can't remember this one's name, but I did ask how big she was, and that I remembered. The really large mommas are around 1700 to 1800 pounds. They all appeared to be very gentle, and I asked about that, too. The dairy owner confirmed that they all seem to have very sweet dispositions. I think that would be important, as he has six children, and the four oldest were good helpers, one studying to be a Veterinarian. Stories of James Herriott were with me the rest of the day.
This is Nicholas, about 4 to 5 months old. He is Sasha's baby boy, born on St. Nicholas day, Dec. 6. These Swiss Browns are born pure white. When he was born in snow, Sasha couldn't see him. The owner thinks Sasha thought he was dead. They didn't find him for about 6 hours, and it took many hours to get him warm and responding. And he appears just fine! He is a beautiful boy, and actually has his mother's eyes, but the sun seemed to cause him to close his eyes somewhat.
This is Millie, one week old.
Isn't she a beauty!? She is also a Guernsey, but not a Swiss Brown, which are really brown.
I just fell in love with these eyes. Right now Millie is in with the chickens, in a large pen where everyone has room to roam and no one gets stepped on. Dennis couldn't see her, because of trees and structures so he went into the pen to find her. She was chasing Dennis as he came around a few trees, and it was a very cute sight to see this week old calf. Millie is about 80 pounds, the size she was at birth.
We liked the idea of raw milk quite a bit, because it tastes sooo fresh, and because we thought this dairy really loves their animals, and takes very good care of them and the milk process. Their bacteria level in their milk is much, much lower than the standard set by the government. Right now, it is expensive, as you need to buy a share in a cow in order to buy her milk. One of the best features is that lactose intolerant people seem to be able to tolerate raw milk. Less chemicals, actually no chemicals, compared to pasteurized milk. Great experience for all. And two more pictures..
Well not everyone was as tickled with this calf. Carrie saw a cat just after this, and that really caught her attention. Cows, not so much.
Alex and Lily in the barn, Lily with her own bottle of milk. She didn't need these cows!
The close-up picture you took of Millie us absolutely adorable! And your grandkids are such cuties too. It looks like a very interesting outing, and my BoopaLoop would have wanted to touch every creature she could see. Did you end up buying some of the expensive stuff?
Hi Tiffany,
First have to tell you that Don and I are getting a kick out of your cooking entries. You 'guys' are funny to listen to, and to see how you do what you do.
As for the expensive stuff, first we all had a free taste, of course. And it did taste remarkably fresh. I'm lactose intolerant, and that issue apparently isn't as issue with many who drink raw milk. I was leery, so didn't have much. Don was ready to try it, so we were able to buy some. And today I had it on cereal, and I think I was ok. I'm going to do it again tomorrow. Usually I drink soy milk, plain, and have learned to really like it, but only on cereal. To drink it, I buy the chocolate, which is delicious. Don is lactose intolerant, also, and he did experience some discomfort, but not enough to persuade him not to buy a share. He and Alex want to do this, as Alex is making butter, and he has made buttermilk, and sour cream. Sour cream is great! We'll get the cream on top of our milk share, each time we get a gallon. Long explanation, I'll keep you informed!
I don't think your explanation was long - I am interested. MamaDB is also lactose intolerant, and she was thinking that maybe she had an allergy to gluten too. So, I'm going to share this information with her to check out.
HA! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the cooking saga. My mother is two parts amused and one part embarrassed that I learned so little from her :). I'm definitely enjoying your comments, though.
I really like cows.
Living in Devon, they are in nearly every field. On one of the small roads we use, we often have to wait for the cows to cross as they go in to be milked. Nothing quite like waiting in a line of cars while the cows meander around, takeing their time, because they are in no hurry even if you are. They have time to chew something interesting they have found along the hedgerow, slobber all over your car and if your really lucky and have the window down they even "do" tounges on the steering wheel.
I rather enjoy the fact that you visted a local dairy farm. Did you know that even on traditional dairy farms, milk only travels about 100 miles from farm to grocery store-a MUCH short trip than many of the other foods that we eat.
I did find one false fact in your post, pasturized milk DOES NOT contain chemicals. Pasturized milk is only raw milk which has been heated at a high temperature for a short period of time to kill any harmfull bacteria that may be in the milk. Pasturized milk is safe to drink, as it is tested 18 times from farm to store for "chemicals".
Nevertheless...thanks for visiting a dairy and taking the kids with! It's so important that they see where their food comes from!
Well hello girl! Jack and Lissie would have loved this farm...You could get so up close to the cows, and there were the young calves, too. The milk is really good.
I looked up info on pasteurization also, and for all bacteria to be eradicated the milk would have to be sterilized...that doesn't happen with pasteurized milk, because that would be cooking the milk. It would change the taste. So some bacteria does remain, even in pasteurized milk. And I did read that there is "chemical" pasteurization, but I only saw the stated fact, and didn't read what that means. I guess pasteurized vs. raw isn't a black and white issue. There must be more factors than we know! But the whole idea is so interesting when you think of what our forefathers drank, what they didn't know about bacteria, hence the reason for pasteurization, and what we know now. The dairy we visited knows their stuff. We decided against the share idea for now, but are keeping the information for the future. Thanks for sharing, Shannon.