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!

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!!!

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.

HAPPY HEIFER DAY!

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 :)

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?

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?

yum.

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.