A few days ago when I first was starting my chores for the day, I felt a cool breeze come in from the north and I thought to myself, here comes fall. It's hard to believe that the summer is coming to a close. In about two months, we will start to see our first flakes of snowfall. Before we know it the leaves will be turning, the tourists will be flocking, the birds will be flying south, and the farmers will be preparing for winter. This summer has not been the greatest year for dairy farmers in VT. Many of us had a very late start cutting hay, planting corn, and putting cows out to pasture. Because of our extremely wet spring, farmers are praying for an "indian summer" which is a term used for a warm fall, in order to get one more cut of hay in and give the corn enough time to grow before the first frost.
I can't believe its been two months since my last post, the farm is doing alright for the obstacles mother nature threw at us this spring. We've had a string of really strong, big and healthy heifer calves which gives me hope as we enter the colder months. The pastures are starting to recover from the wet conditions this spring, but a lot of work will have to be done this fall to reseed and prepare the pastures for a great growing season next year.
I've been dairy farming for about a year and a half and I feel like I'm finally starting to get the whole picture of our multi-million dollar operation. I am the farm manager now and have picked up a lot more responsibility running the farm. My bosses are getting closer and closer every day to opening Green Mountain Organic Creamery, and organic processing and bottling plant for our milk. The creamery will give the farm a higher price for our milk, and help us turn a livable profit. I am so excited and proud that our milk will be on the shelves of our local stores under our own label, and once the creamery gets going, I will hopefully be doing some work in sales and marketing.
I really do love my job. Some days when I'm covered in poo, and having a hard day with the cows I may say I hate it, but I don't. Nothing is more fulfilling than working the land, it's a really good life we live.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Shelly
A heifer was born on my birthday so I decided to name her. Although I know many of our cows by their number, it is a little impersonal. There are many cows I love on our farm who I call by their number, 1125, 1305, 1490, 1528... but I think it would be nice to start naming our cows. It may be a little much naming all cows on a 400 head farm, but I think its fun to name our friends :D
I decided to name her Shelly. She is a lovely Holstein (black and white cows see photo below) with nice markings, I think she will grow into a good milking cow. It's always fun to watch our little calves grow into cows, and I'm excited to see what this world will bring little Shelly.
I decided to name her Shelly. She is a lovely Holstein (black and white cows see photo below) with nice markings, I think she will grow into a good milking cow. It's always fun to watch our little calves grow into cows, and I'm excited to see what this world will bring little Shelly.
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| One of my favorite Holsteins 1115 |
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Soggy Cows
Vermont has experienced one of the wettest springs ever. Not only has Lake Champlain risen 6 feet above normal levels, it has been raining, heavy, for the past month! Our farm is located near the lake, with a creek (now it seems like an ocean) running through it. The creek is so flooded, we cannot get to over 150 acres of land. The pasture for our heifers is unreachable, the poor young-ins are yearning to go out to pasture. Also, our pasture for our milkers is so wet, the poor ladies are so uninterested in eating the overgrown grass.
With all this rain, the grass is growing like crazy. We cannot get tractors onto our hayfields to cut it. Farmers all over the state usually start their first cut of hay around time time of year. Unless we have a long stretch of drying, much of our feed (grass) will go to waste.
Normally, we let our cows out to graze on grass that is about 6-8" tall. This is an ideal height, because it is easier for the cows to eat younger grass. Cows eat grass by taking their tongues and wrapping it around a clump of grass, then they pull it up to put it in their mouths. Once the grass gets beyond 8" tall, it gets annoying to the cows to eat. It pokes them in the eyes and they have a harder time actually ripping the grass out of the ground. This causes the cows to search around for shorter grass- as they do this, they trample on the grass and knock it down. The result is ruined grass that the cows will not eat and will also not grow back right without some pasture management by a tractor. We cannot get the tractors onto the fields. It is a soggy soggy mess.
Because we are an organic farm, there is a pasture requirement. All organic cows must get 30% of their dry matter intake from pasture. This requirement forces organic farmers to pasture their cows as much as possible during the entire growing season. This rule is a good thing because it requires an organic farmer to have available pasture for the amount of cows on his or her farm.
Exemptions apply, in serous weather events, we can keep our cows at the barn. This is ok to do once in a while, we just put some extra feed (which is the food we grew last season to make it through the winter when pasture isn't available) down for the cows and they can eat all day.
Because we are getting all this rain, we are so far behind in planting our field crops. We are also running out of feed from last year. So we are stuck in this inbetween while mother nature continues to fall from the sky. Because of the rain, our cows can't eat the grass that is growing, we also cant harvest that grass because the ground is so wet, we are running out of feed from last year to feed our cows. We are in an absolutely sticky situation and we really hope it dries out really soon.
So please, whoever is praying for rain, stop!
With all this rain, the grass is growing like crazy. We cannot get tractors onto our hayfields to cut it. Farmers all over the state usually start their first cut of hay around time time of year. Unless we have a long stretch of drying, much of our feed (grass) will go to waste.
Normally, we let our cows out to graze on grass that is about 6-8" tall. This is an ideal height, because it is easier for the cows to eat younger grass. Cows eat grass by taking their tongues and wrapping it around a clump of grass, then they pull it up to put it in their mouths. Once the grass gets beyond 8" tall, it gets annoying to the cows to eat. It pokes them in the eyes and they have a harder time actually ripping the grass out of the ground. This causes the cows to search around for shorter grass- as they do this, they trample on the grass and knock it down. The result is ruined grass that the cows will not eat and will also not grow back right without some pasture management by a tractor. We cannot get the tractors onto the fields. It is a soggy soggy mess.
Because we are an organic farm, there is a pasture requirement. All organic cows must get 30% of their dry matter intake from pasture. This requirement forces organic farmers to pasture their cows as much as possible during the entire growing season. This rule is a good thing because it requires an organic farmer to have available pasture for the amount of cows on his or her farm.
Exemptions apply, in serous weather events, we can keep our cows at the barn. This is ok to do once in a while, we just put some extra feed (which is the food we grew last season to make it through the winter when pasture isn't available) down for the cows and they can eat all day.
Because we are getting all this rain, we are so far behind in planting our field crops. We are also running out of feed from last year. So we are stuck in this inbetween while mother nature continues to fall from the sky. Because of the rain, our cows can't eat the grass that is growing, we also cant harvest that grass because the ground is so wet, we are running out of feed from last year to feed our cows. We are in an absolutely sticky situation and we really hope it dries out really soon.
So please, whoever is praying for rain, stop!
Monday, May 2, 2011
The Modern Milk Maid gets HITCHED!
I've married the man of my dreams... so its been a while since I've blogged. Please accept my apologies! I will be blogging about my cows a WHOLE LOT MORE NOW! I have quit the DRAINING 9-5 to come back to work on the Organic dairy farm full time!! Many great stories to come!!!
We built our first fence of the season today! The ladies (cows) are going to be SO HAPPY to go outside! :D
We built our first fence of the season today! The ladies (cows) are going to be SO HAPPY to go outside! :D
Monday, March 21, 2011
Bread and Butter Beef Stew
Last Wednesday, I did some more training at Bread and Butter Farm. I will be relief milking when one of the owners on maternity leave for a bit. She is still milking cows, however, at almost 9 months pregnant! But when the baby comes, I will be milking Mondays at Bread and Butter Farm. Their farm is a true Micro-dairy. They feed 100% grass to their extremely small Jersey heard.
On Wednesday, I was given a 4.55 lb bone in chuck roast for doing chores. This was the biggest piece of meat I have held in a while, I just started eating farm fresh meat no more than 6 months ago. But I can't say no to a beautiful piece of locally grown meat.
I decided to make a beef stew out of the meat. It was the most delicious meat dish I have made to date. Craig and I ate it for two days straight- breakfast, lunch and dinner it was that good! I also served it with 100% local homemade biscuits! YUM!
Bread and Butter Farm Beef Stew
On Wednesday, I was given a 4.55 lb bone in chuck roast for doing chores. This was the biggest piece of meat I have held in a while, I just started eating farm fresh meat no more than 6 months ago. But I can't say no to a beautiful piece of locally grown meat.
I decided to make a beef stew out of the meat. It was the most delicious meat dish I have made to date. Craig and I ate it for two days straight- breakfast, lunch and dinner it was that good! I also served it with 100% local homemade biscuits! YUM!
Bread and Butter Farm Beef Stew
- Approximately 2-3 pounds local beef chuck roast cut in cubes. I started with a 4.55 lb bone in chuck roast and removed the bone and some of the fat.
- 2 cups red wine. I used cabernet sauvignon
- 4 cups chicken stock. A lot of the recipes I looked up called for beef stock. But I felt that a chicken stock gave enough flavor. Plus, I can get free range organic chicken stock from my local co-op, and it was on sale.
- 3-4 cloves of garlic chopped
- one large yellow onion chopped
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme tied together with cooking twine
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 large Yukon gold potatoes. I think red, fingerling, or russets would also make a great potato for this stew
- 2 large carrots
- 1 cup green peas
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbs butter
- local all purpose flour
Heat olive oil and butter in large skillet or soup pan until hot. Add cubed beef in one layer to skillet and brown on all sides. You may have to work in batches. Put browned beef on a plate and set aside when browned.
Add wine to skillet. Stir with wooden spoon until wine is hot and scrape browned bits of beef from pan. When wine gets hot, add chicken stock and browned meat and bring that to a boil. Then turn heat down so the mixture simmers for 20 minutes, uncovered, until mixture starts to thicken.
At this point, I put the mixture in a preheated slow cooker, so I could let it cook while I fished up some errands. You could also just start with a large soup pot, and let it cook in that the whole time. I let the mixture cook for two hours on low, covered, in a slow cooker, you could do the same on your stove top.
After two hours I preheated a large skillet with a tbs of olive oil. I then added the chopped onions, garlic, and carrot and cooked until soft and browned. I then added the cooked vegetables, thyme, bay leaves and the cubed potatoes to the slow cooker, turned it to high and let cook for an additional 1-2 hours- until vegetables are nice and soft. I cooked the vegetables first in a pan because I think the cooking of the vegetables gives it more flavor. I'm sure it would come out fine if using a slow cooker to just add the raw vegetables to the stew and let it go. Add defrosted green peas before serving!
I served it in a bowl with some homemade local busicuts. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS! Also, eating meat I exchanged for labor at the farm just tastes a little better!
Enjoy!
At this point, I put the mixture in a preheated slow cooker, so I could let it cook while I fished up some errands. You could also just start with a large soup pot, and let it cook in that the whole time. I let the mixture cook for two hours on low, covered, in a slow cooker, you could do the same on your stove top.
After two hours I preheated a large skillet with a tbs of olive oil. I then added the chopped onions, garlic, and carrot and cooked until soft and browned. I then added the cooked vegetables, thyme, bay leaves and the cubed potatoes to the slow cooker, turned it to high and let cook for an additional 1-2 hours- until vegetables are nice and soft. I cooked the vegetables first in a pan because I think the cooking of the vegetables gives it more flavor. I'm sure it would come out fine if using a slow cooker to just add the raw vegetables to the stew and let it go. Add defrosted green peas before serving!
I served it in a bowl with some homemade local busicuts. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS! Also, eating meat I exchanged for labor at the farm just tastes a little better!
Enjoy!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
First day of spring!
Today is the first day of spring!!! Beautiful and sunny, but a bit on the cold side.
This is a photo of the farm yesterday while it was snowing.
This is a photo of the farm yesterday while it was snowing.
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| Happy Spring!!! |
Friday, March 18, 2011
HAPPY HEIFER DAY!
I WAS RIGHT!! Cow 501 calved yesterday afternoon- a beautiful and happy heifer :)
but, I forgot my camera. I will bring it to the barn tomorrow morning, pics to follow...
but, I forgot my camera. I will bring it to the barn tomorrow morning, pics to follow...
Momma
Thursday, March 17, 2011
is she ready?
One of my favorite parts of working on the dairy farm last summer was the moment when the sun would rise. On the days I was responsible for calf chores, starting at 4:30 a.m., I was also responsible for the cows who were about to calve. During the summer time, these cows, called "dry cows", are out to pasture during the day and night. They would come up to the barn for their daily grain a little past sunrise, and then wander back to pasture to be a cow. After they went back to pasture, I would take a daily walk out to the pasture to look for calves. Nothing is more amazing than walking over a knoll in the pasture to see a beautiful young calf attempting to stand.
Because we do not use artificial insemination on our farm (we do it the old fashioned way- with a bull) the due date for a cow is approximate. Also, a cow can't tell us when her "water breaks" of if she is having contractions. I became pretty good at telling when a cow was about to calve, but I really think it was just luck.
I had motivation to learn how to tell when a cow was about to calve because if I didn't bring her in the barn before she calved, I had the strenuous task of bring the calf back up from the pasture to the safety of the barn, which some times is over a mile to walk. You would think, aw a cute little baby cow, that must not be too hard! Wrong! A new born calf weighs about 100 pounds, is wet and slimy and isn't too sure on its feet. Many summer days I would find a calf, pick it up and use all my might to bring the little thing back to the barn.
Other days I would go check on the dry cows and I would find a mother cow with two little hooves sticking out of her. Most cows calve fine by themselves, and if a birth was progressing smoothly, sometimes I would just take a seat and experience the miracle of life.
Other times, the cow has a little more difficulty and we have to help her by puling on the calf. Cow OBGYN was a hat I wore some days, pulling on the calf until she birthed, then making sure both the mother and the calf was ok.
1528 is my baby. She was the first calf that my boss had me help birth. We yanked her right out and made sure that her mom, an older cow, was ok. She is big now, and is outside with the other heifers. I make it a point to find her every time I visit the farm and give her a little love. I like to think she remembers me. I can't wait to watch her grow into a milking cow.
Birthing calves is what makes dairy happen. At the other farm I work at currently, cow number "501" a beautiful Swiss Brown Cow, is about to calf.
I secretly bet to myself that she would calve sometime this afternoon.... so if I'm right I will post a photo of the little one tomorrow. :)
Because we do not use artificial insemination on our farm (we do it the old fashioned way- with a bull) the due date for a cow is approximate. Also, a cow can't tell us when her "water breaks" of if she is having contractions. I became pretty good at telling when a cow was about to calve, but I really think it was just luck.
I had motivation to learn how to tell when a cow was about to calve because if I didn't bring her in the barn before she calved, I had the strenuous task of bring the calf back up from the pasture to the safety of the barn, which some times is over a mile to walk. You would think, aw a cute little baby cow, that must not be too hard! Wrong! A new born calf weighs about 100 pounds, is wet and slimy and isn't too sure on its feet. Many summer days I would find a calf, pick it up and use all my might to bring the little thing back to the barn.
Other days I would go check on the dry cows and I would find a mother cow with two little hooves sticking out of her. Most cows calve fine by themselves, and if a birth was progressing smoothly, sometimes I would just take a seat and experience the miracle of life.
Other times, the cow has a little more difficulty and we have to help her by puling on the calf. Cow OBGYN was a hat I wore some days, pulling on the calf until she birthed, then making sure both the mother and the calf was ok.
Birthing calves is what makes dairy happen. At the other farm I work at currently, cow number "501" a beautiful Swiss Brown Cow, is about to calf.
I secretly bet to myself that she would calve sometime this afternoon.... so if I'm right I will post a photo of the little one tomorrow. :)
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Last year, the cows were on pasture April 12th...
...this year it's a bit sloppy! Its hard to imagine after this long, extremely snowy Vermont winter that our lovely cows will be munching on 6" high grass in a month or so! Cows on pasture are happy cows! The first couple times they are let out to graze they run and kick and jump along with joy! It is quite the sight! I will be sure to capture a video of my happy friends when the time comes.
Which is hopefully sooner rather than later!
This is a photo I took of the cows in the spring of last year! They are wondering what I am up to while I was fixing their fence.
Which is hopefully sooner rather than later!
This is a photo I took of the cows in the spring of last year! They are wondering what I am up to while I was fixing their fence.
Friday, March 11, 2011
365 Days of Milking Cows
Today marks the 365th day since I started milking cows! What a crazy year this has been!!!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Monday, February 28, 2011
Milking at Bread and Butter Farm Tomorrow
So it turns out that the conversation I had with one of the owners of Bread and Butter Farm took my inquiry as to if there were any relief milking opportunities seriously and I will be milking their 5 Jerseys tomorrow at 6 a.m.! :) I am so excited to see how a real micro-dairy operates, because I have dreams to owning my own someday!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Bread and Butter Meat Balls
On Presidents Day I got the chance to visit one of my favorite farms, Bread and Butter Farm. http://www.breadandbutterfarm.com/ Bread and Butter Farm is a new farm located in the towns of South Burlington and Shelburne, about 5 miles from Downtown Burlington. They have many dreams and strive to become a Community Farm. Currently, the operate a small dairy, have a wood-fired oven for baking bread, and grow lettuces in a greenhouse. They also have a small farm store where they sell raw jersey milk, meats, eggs and breads.
After chatting with one of the owners, I bought a pound of ground beef from their freezer. Bread and Butter Farm hopes to grow their beef cow operation and are planning on getting bull calves from Shelburne Farms.
What is better than spaghetti and meatballs, right?
Bread and Butter Meat Balls
• 1 pound Bread and Butter Farm (or your favorite farm's) ground beef
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• dried parsley and basil
• crushed red pepper flakes
• finely chopped onion and garlic
• pinch salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together all other ingredients. If mixture seems too loose, add more breadcrumbs
Roll into golf ball sized balls and place on baking sheet
Put in oven and bake about 35 minutes, or until desired doneness
I served it with organic whole wheat spaghetti and homemade tomato sauce :)
Enjoy!!!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Craig Helps Me with Chores!
This morning Craig came to help me with morning chores!!
The newest heifer is healthy and happy :)
He also had the chance to take a few photos of me feeding the little one.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
if it ain't broke, don't fix it...
...if it is broke, you better fix it before the next milking. If working on a dairy farm isn't hard enough, just wait until the next thing breaks. Sh*t breaks every day on a dairy farm. If its not one thing, its the other. Today the tractor broke. The tractor is an essential part of a dairy farm. Without the tractor, we can't feed the cows. If we can't feed the cows, they won't make milk. If they don't make milk, no paycheck.
It also is important to get whatever broke fixed before the next milking! For most farms, that is 12 hours, so the pressure is on!! Thankfully our welder could help us out today and try to fix it.
About three weeks ago I arrived for the morning milking at 4:00 a.m. to find a foot of water in the barn!! uh oh! One of the cows kicked the hose off their waterbowl and water slowly filled the barn all night long! We had to call a septic pump truck to come to pump all the water out. Its amazing how many people will pick up the phone or give you a call back immediately when you call at 4:00 a.m.. Within an hour, the farmer had the tuck there, another farm hand, and his entire family there to help with the situation. Thankfully I decided to wear my huge muck boots that day, and milked the cows while standing in a foot of water. The water was gone before I finished the milking, which normally takes about 2 hours. amazing...
Dairy farmers employ a whole host of characters in order to keep the farm running. Mechanics, welders, pump truck (too much water) and water truck (no water) operators, electricians, dairy suppliers, vets, and the list goes on and on... its hard to think about the amount of people who would be out of a job if the VT Dairy Industry got any smaller. Many of these folks have already gone out of business or have been forced to change their business model to enter a new market.
wish us luck for tomorrow. Everyday is an adventure when you're on a farm :)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Raw Milk Discussion Resurfaces
Rural Vermont, a local non-profit organization, recently became a target of the VT Agency of Agriculture due to their workshop series on processing Raw Milk. Rural Vermont uses these workshops to raise funds, educate their supporters about Raw Milk's versatility, and engage the community in local foodmaking. You can read the warning letter here: http://www.ruralvermont.org/issues/milk/2011/warning.pdf
The Agency of Agriculture isn't entirely wrong in warning Rural Vermont for what they are doing. The way the Agency is interpreting the law, Rural Vermont is in violation. It is the job of the Agency of Agriculture to enforce the written law. It is the job of Rural Vermont and other raw milk advocates to constantly work on strengthening bills in order to meet the needs of farmers and interested parties.
Although it is crazy to think the government can say who can and cannot make yogurt from their raw milk is beyond me (a little of my New Hampshire roots are showing here :)). However, we are a democratic society, and thus we make laws. 6 V.S.A. Chapter 152: Sale of Unpasteurized (Raw) Milk, is quite ambiguous pertaining to the act of holding raw milk processing workshops. One way you can look at it is that the bill doesn't explicitly ban these sorts of activities and Rural Vermont isn't "selling" the processed raw milk. The other way you can interpret it is the bill doesn't allow anything other than the selling of unpasteurized raw milk for "fluid consumption". The bill also explicitly defines "unpasteurized raw milk" as "unpasteurized raw milk sold for fluid consumption". Thus bringing up the point that this bill permits the sale of "unpasteurized raw milk for fluid consumption", but not for anything else- for example, the use of raw milk in raw milk processing workshops. This again reiterates why we need to be crafty with our legislation- make it clear and concise and foresee any future ambiguity. You can read the full bill here :http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/fullchapter.cfm?Title=06&Chapter=152
I'm not saying the folks who worked on passing this bill didn't work hard, and I also don't know how much the bill was compromised in order to get it passed. However, our neighbors in NH and ME both have stronger Raw Milk bills that offer more freedom, so what can we do to make sure that we Vermonters have the freedom to do as we wish with our raw milk?
The Agency of Agriculture isn't entirely wrong in warning Rural Vermont for what they are doing. The way the Agency is interpreting the law, Rural Vermont is in violation. It is the job of the Agency of Agriculture to enforce the written law. It is the job of Rural Vermont and other raw milk advocates to constantly work on strengthening bills in order to meet the needs of farmers and interested parties.
Although it is crazy to think the government can say who can and cannot make yogurt from their raw milk is beyond me (a little of my New Hampshire roots are showing here :)). However, we are a democratic society, and thus we make laws. 6 V.S.A. Chapter 152: Sale of Unpasteurized (Raw) Milk, is quite ambiguous pertaining to the act of holding raw milk processing workshops. One way you can look at it is that the bill doesn't explicitly ban these sorts of activities and Rural Vermont isn't "selling" the processed raw milk. The other way you can interpret it is the bill doesn't allow anything other than the selling of unpasteurized raw milk for "fluid consumption". The bill also explicitly defines "unpasteurized raw milk" as "unpasteurized raw milk sold for fluid consumption". Thus bringing up the point that this bill permits the sale of "unpasteurized raw milk for fluid consumption", but not for anything else- for example, the use of raw milk in raw milk processing workshops. This again reiterates why we need to be crafty with our legislation- make it clear and concise and foresee any future ambiguity. You can read the full bill here :http://www.leg.state.vt.us/statutes/fullchapter.cfm?Title=06&Chapter=152
I'm not saying the folks who worked on passing this bill didn't work hard, and I also don't know how much the bill was compromised in order to get it passed. However, our neighbors in NH and ME both have stronger Raw Milk bills that offer more freedom, so what can we do to make sure that we Vermonters have the freedom to do as we wish with our raw milk?
If you are a Vermonter, please contact your local House Representative and Senate members and tell them that you want to see 6 V.S.A. Chapter 152 strengthened .
Directly selling raw milk to consumers is an extremely valuable part of many dairy farmers income. By cutting out the middle man and costs of transporting, processing, bottling, and transporting again in bulk milk sales, farmers are being paid a reasonable (and the fair) price for their milk. Vermonters benefit as well, having access to the freshest and most nutritious form of milk available. Also, consuming your milk raw is the most efficient and thus "environmentally friendly" way to buy and sell milk. I'm not saying that ALL milk should be consumed this way. I am saying that if Vermont Farmers want to sell, and Vermonters want to buy and consume milk this way, they should have the freedoms to do so.
I feel so lucky to have such a close connection to the milk products I consume. I go to the barn, milk the cows, and take my fresh milk home with me. I want to go to the source of my food and so do many people in this society. The freedom to go to the farm and get milk in a glass jar knowing that 100% of the price paid goes directly into the farmer's pocket is really a rare act. We are lucky in VT to have the freedoms we have with fluid raw milk consumption, but that doesn't mean we have to stop there. We need to constantly evolve and grow our laws to encompass all righteous food acts.
What do you think about the raw milk debate? Do you think Vermont can strengthen the law and allow for more freedom with raw milk?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Trying to Hop on the Blogging Bandwagon
So I had full intentions of continuing to blog as I farmed this summer, but between working 60 hours a week and finding the man of my dreams, the blog went to the wayside.
I still am dairy farming, but a lot less, on a different farm and I am also working full time at a local non-profit.
The summer of caring for 400+ organic cows was one of the best summers of my life. I yearn to be able to full-time farm again. When the opportunity came up for a job with full benefits and a pay increase, I couldn't say no. After two months of working from a desk (and gaining 10 lbs) I decided I needed to get back on the farm, that is when I found a lovely family farm right here in the same town I work my full-time job. Thankfully, my full time job is being flexible, and I am milking 55 registered Holsteins and Swiss Browns in a tie stall before work twice a week and on Saturdays.
As the Raw Milk Issue in VT has recently resurfaced for discussion due to an interpretation change by VT Agency of Agriculture, I have decided that I have way too much to say to keep to myself. I will write more regularly about my food stories. I have a lot to share and I hope you all enjoy.
I still am dairy farming, but a lot less, on a different farm and I am also working full time at a local non-profit.
The summer of caring for 400+ organic cows was one of the best summers of my life. I yearn to be able to full-time farm again. When the opportunity came up for a job with full benefits and a pay increase, I couldn't say no. After two months of working from a desk (and gaining 10 lbs) I decided I needed to get back on the farm, that is when I found a lovely family farm right here in the same town I work my full-time job. Thankfully, my full time job is being flexible, and I am milking 55 registered Holsteins and Swiss Browns in a tie stall before work twice a week and on Saturdays.
As the Raw Milk Issue in VT has recently resurfaced for discussion due to an interpretation change by VT Agency of Agriculture, I have decided that I have way too much to say to keep to myself. I will write more regularly about my food stories. I have a lot to share and I hope you all enjoy.
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