the milking routine

A few of you have been asking how the cows were doing, so I thought a cow devoted blog post was in order. Last week was a busy one and it got away on me without being able to spend time on any post. But with a (thankfully) dreary wet day outside it is the perfect excuse for a little blogging update.

Bessie has been with us around 6 months now. She has been good to us beginners, and although there was plenty of learning for both us and her in the beginning, being a first calf heifer and all, I think we really did get into a good routine. Of course there was much trial and error, but I think we really have got the hang of things. At least in the milking department.

A proper routine has evolved and every morning I drive out to the property. Bessie waits at the fence, often sitting chewing her cud. By this I would know that all was well. On her heat days however, she would be nervously pacing around inside the stables and I would have to coax her out with some good hay. The stables would get cleared of manure, hay brought down from the small shed and her mixture of pollard, barley, sunflower seeds, chaff, beet flakes and minerals made up for her morning and evening bucket. The water is checked and I may have Jerry cans of water with me if there has been no rain.

The morning bucket gets emptied into the feed bucket in the milking bails. I would then get all the milking equipment ready, stool out and get Violet out of the way behind the gate.
I then let Bessie in, who had been making her "foghorn" noise for the past ten minutes or so.

Cows are such a creature of habit which really makes the whole milking process fairly easy in the end. It may take awhile to get there, but in the end you have a cow that willingly walks in, happily eats her grain, lets you bolt the headpiece into place, put a chain behind her to keep her from swinging from side to side, and then a rope tied to keep her leg back. Of course you may not need the leg rope, and I likely don't really need it anymore,  but I view it more as an insurance policy against losing a bucket of milk. Of course one day Bessie swung her other leg and caught the bucket and I lost a hard earned three litres. But you live and learn and you get to anticipate any major shifts in that department.

I then brush Bessie's udder and surrounding area to get rid of any muck. Her udder is then washed with a soap and vinegar mix, dried and then each teat squirted into the ground to get rid of any bacteria. Coconut oil is then coated onto each teat and we are ready to go.

At first milking was terribly difficult. It takes time to learn the best way to milk the teats, and let me tell you that not all teats are created equal. Each teat in my experience ranges from easy to difficult. Bessie's front teats are fairly long (still not long enough to get a complete hand around, but almost) and the milk now comes out quickly and easily. The back teats, however, are small and the milk comes out at a much slower rate. They are hard work those small teats, and you must use your thumb and two fingers, like a stripping action, and they don't produce as much milk. Over time though I have become pretty fast at milking, and I wouldn't really consider a machine at this point. It takes me about ten to fifteen minutes to milk now. It saves all that machine cleaning too.

In the beginning we were lucky to get about two and a half litres each morning, but as the months went by, and Bessie slowly gained weight, we were up to 4 to 5 litres each morning. After such a dry summer of virtually no grass, and all feed having to brought in (mostly oaten hay), we did get some small green growth after the rain. The cream line was remarkable. In some bottles the cream was a third of the bottle. As you can imagine, this was very exciting! Well, I was excited anyway.

Then when we've got all the milk we are going to get, I carry the bucket into the feed room, Violet lifts up the lid and we pour the milk into a filter sitting inside the milk can. Fortunately the feed room is nice and cool and we leave it here until we leave. Once we get home I again filter the milk into Mason jars and it is popped into the freezer for a few hours to cool down rapidly.

After milking is done, the hay is carried out, Bessie unbolted and when she is ready she heads out to her hay. I often give her a brush down at this time and tell her what a good girl she is. Bessie is not one to really enjoy a pat, but she will tolerate it. She is mostly all business, but she is a good girl. The calf is then let out and he often tries to scavenge some of the milking grain.

I then clean out the calf room, top up water and with a quick check over we are good to go. In the evening Daniel will pass through on this way home from work. He will feed the evening bucket and feed the calf in his "room" where he willingly goes each night.

We've found calf sharing to be very good for us. We can have the weekends off from milking, and skip a day here or there if the day is going to be terribly busy. It feels more humane to let them be together and they are company for each other. Of course it is not all smooth sailing and our calf has acquired a bit of an attitude in the past month or so. He has grown into a good sized calf, and when the time comes he should make a wonderful rose veal. But for now we try to make his life as pleasant as possible.

But as I type this we are missing our wonderful raw milk (Incidentally some of us have caught colds for the first time since we were on the raw milk).  Bessie is currently visiting a pure white Hereford bull, and has joined his herd for the past two weeks, with the calf by her side. We drive past them most days and all seems to be fine. Our calf is enjoying many calves to play with. Hopefully another week will seal the deal.

So you might be asking if all this fuss is worth it? For many people it may not be. You really have to like cows. You need to be prepared for unforeseen costs. Feed and supplements are not cheap, but neither are vets, and fortunately we haven't had to have one out yet. Though her hooves have been booked in.

Owning a cow is a huge time commitment and it does makes it difficult to go away. We are still trying to work our way around this. I think many people are scared of such commitments these days, though in times gone by many people had a house cow. Most people around here grew up drinking house cow milk, but now they are few and far between. It can work, but it's not for everyone.

But I do think owning a cow is the ultimate food connection. Milk is no longer just milk. There is a real connection to this large gentle creature. With luck she will also give you a calf each year. The manure will keep your garden healthy. The milk, though, is plentiful and delicious. You will never be able to really enjoy store bought milk again. To me it now tastes tainted, and I am having a hard time of drinking store bought. Not to mention slight sinus which I haven't suffered from in a long time. But this may just be coincidence.

We will be moving Bessie and her calf to the village in the coming weeks. A large 10 acre river flat paddock is available, and there is also a back up smaller paddock should this fall through. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Some of you may be asking about our calf Shirley. I will try and take some photos this week with an update. She really is growing up.



Until then, I hope your week is a good one, and that those that needed the rain are getting some.

christmas holidays

Nigella's Italian Christmas Pudding Cake. Just like last year.

Violet's Christmas stocking made up with a little old wool, needlework doily, ribbon and a little appliqued Liberty.

Christmas came and went this year without too much of a fuss. Sure there was that dreaded last Christmas shop, a fair bit of cooking (but not nearly so much as in other years past), and many days spent at home both with family and just ourselves. There has been some adjusting and compromising along the way as we haven't had the liberty of time that we've had in previous years. Sad to say not much at all in the way of handmade. Though Violet did finally get her stocking on Christmas Eve.

Brown paper, stamps we already had, string, bark, black marker and gumleaves made for budget wrapping this year.

 It has taken almost three weeks to really get into the routine of holidays. Holidays should be easy, right? Well, it is nice to imagine that it will be, but reality often reveals a different story. Sometimes all that time together brings out the very worst in us. There were clashes (I felt like I did nothing but break up fights amongst the kids for 2 weeks straight), there was the annual analyze your life discussions, as well as stopping to count all the jobs that need to be done around the house.

So although I have a small pile of pretty fabric just sitting there waiting to be made into a summer wardrobe of sorts, my house is only half clean and I have a sore throat, I can happily say that we are just now beginning to get into the swing of the holidays and truly enjoy each others company.  We've been enjoying homemade ice cream, allowing a few more treats than usual into the house (anyone else love panettone?), changing rooms around, long talks and having movie nights at home.

Funny, isn't it, that the week full of swimming lessons that I had been dreading has turned out the be the best week yet? But life is like that. Swimming lessons have gotten us all into the pool, with a coffee, lemonade or ice cream afterwards. Followed by a few lazy afternoons.

Our bottle fed calf has kept us grounded at home this holidays, but I think this has been a blessing in disguise. It has been good for us to just be at home doing home things.

Sadly it may be the final week that we are together as Daniel may be back to work next week. But I'm hoping that we can bring just a little holiday feeling with us as we get back into the daily grind of life. The odd movie night and a few more ice creams may be just what we need.

I do hope you are all enjoying and have enjoyed your christmas and new years break. Happy new year!

meanwhile

Just to let you all know that we are still alive and kicking. A little tired, yes, at least on my part, but still here and well.

I wasn't intending to neglect this space for so long. But you know how life happens, and certain things just get put on the back burner.

So what's been happening in the meanwhile? Swimming lessons, soccer, sewing lessons, calf feeding, cow milking, two birthdays (Luca's 11th and Violet's 3rd), a gun license safety course, breastfeeding finished as well as bed sharing done with (yes I still can't quite believe those last 3 things). Plus all the other thousand and one things that you can probably relate to. You know how crazy it gets at this time of year right? All those things that throw you out of your normal routine?

 
I'm afraid I'm so terribly disorganized this year that christmas is going to be a last minute affair. I haven't done christmas shopping, I haven't sent cards out yet and I haven't even put in my christmas ham and pork order. I know, what is the world coming to? But I am optimistically hoping that it will all fall into place with minimum effort (perhaps a little too optimistic!) Please tell me I am not the only one!

While we see the end of daily swimming lessons today, and school finishes up next week, not to mention the extra hours Daniel has been working to wrap up his business for the end of the year, we are hoping that things will go down a notch in the next week or so.

Afterall, it can be easy to get caught up in the whole "getting everything done just right" before christmas, but what really matters is relaxed time together, some good, not necessarily complicated food and a few simple presents. I've let go of the online shopping for christmas this year and I will be shopping locally for presents. In the past I have thought it was the right thing to buy online from ethical companies, and I still believe this can be a good thing. But I have seen local small businesses struggle in our small town, with many closing, and while they may have the general Made in China products for the main part, it somehow feels right this year to be supporting the local shops.

Our christmas tree only went up this week, and although this is usually my domain, and I am sadly a little controlling about how the tree should look, I let Julia take the reigns this year. So yes, our plastic white (that is beginning to yellow) tree is decorated to the hilt this year, complete with tinsel and every decoration that we own, but I'm loving it in all it's tacky glory.

I had grand plans to knit dishcloths for teacher's gifts and gift fillers this year, but the cotton is still sitting there and I don't think I'm going to get that done this year. But you never know. Otherwise I guess it's not too late for a few biscuit batches?

In the world of craft I actually managed to finish a few things of late. Okay, only one actually finished. I have almost finished Luca's cardigan, bar the zipper, so let's hope it still fits come next season. I think it will. I will hopefully get to Ravel it soon enough. The other completed project is another Wiksten tank (the last one I made is blogged here, and I wear it to death), made up with some op shop cotton voile. I love this pattern. It is fairly quick and easy and such a great cut. I added the pocket this time. Certainly quite forgiving on muffin tops.

All three of our bovines are doing well. Bessie's steer calf is perhaps doing a little too well, and at 4 months now we are contemplating weaning him over the holidays. We're getting a little greedy for some more milk, especially since Shirley enjoys her little share every day, mixed with her milk replacer. Speaking of Shirley, she is doing quite well, and at almost 7 weeks now, has settled into our house and our hearts. Who knew cows could be so cuddly? She is still in her straw covered watertank/firewood pen, and she is being taught to lead and be tethered on the grass.

So that's about it. I promise I will try to get to this blog a little more often as I do miss it when I'm away too long.  I hope you are all well and coping with this considerably more busy time of year. If there is one lesson that I am learning myself of christmas this year, it is to let go of unrealistic expectations. Do what you can with what you have (I read that saying recently somewhere, but I can't remember where?) Christmas will still happen.

meet Shirley

Life has been restored to somewhat more normality this week. Last week was quite a week! Daniel took the kids on school camp while I held the fort here (with Violet). There was the cow to milk, the calf to put away at night, of which I had never attempted before (fortunately he has learned to like buckets), a new calf to bottle feed (more on that later) as well as some spring cleaning to be done. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to Spring clean with most of the household away. Not such a great idea when I found myself up way past midnight trying to get the floors finished. But it is done, which is a good feeling I must say. Dust bunnies and dirty hand prints all gone.

The weather turned extra warm, the too-small water tank emptied, and so I had to hand cart bucket loads of water on the back of the ute for the cows. It wasn't easy and would probably have looked quite funny if anyone was around. Let's just say half the water didn't make it.

But back to the brand new calf. Meet little Shirley. She is now a little over two weeks and is a Jersey x Holstein. We are bottle raising her at home, and Julia has happily taken up bottle feeding duties. Daniel picked her up from a working dairy the day before school camp. This was a lot earlier than originally planned, but her owner was going away.  All their first calving heifers are bred to a Jersey bull which makes for smaller first calves. Since they keep only a Holstein herd they sell off the baby crosses.

Now, a one and a half week old calf with mild scours (which is almost inevitable when you move them) on my relatively inexperienced own was not an ideal scenario. There was much book and internet research, electrolytes given, a homemade fly repellant concocted, some Bessie milk to supplement the milk replacer, a little slippery elm and a daily egg yolk mixed in. Happily the scours have completely gone. But I can't quite get rid of the flies.

She is a lively, friendly little thing with plenty of energy. Her white patch on her back leg reminds me of a dancing cat! We are training her to lead (a calf halter has been ordered) and she is beginning to nibble on grass. Our water tank/firewood storage area has become a temporary calf pen for the summer. It will be quite some time before she will have a calf and be in milk, and meanwhile we hope to get her as used to people as possible. We have a half acre of grass here with half of that being abundant with grass right now. Hopefully next summer she will be able to keep it down. In the future we have several options of nearby paddocks from kindly neighbours, and at some stage Bessie will likely be brought to this area also.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Daniel and the kids came home. You never really know what you are capable of though until you have no choice in the matter. While I am sure this is probably a part of everyday for some people, and I do take my hat off to them, it certainly pushed me out of my comfort zone. I never really pictured myself shoveling manure, hauling water, milking and bottle feeding cows all on my own. Usually Daniel is around to help with the heavier duty things. My hair is always messy these days and I know I will never have nice nails again (not that I ever really did), but the funny thing is I don't really care that much.

It's strange the direction life takes you in. Sometimes it can all feel a little overwhelming, with the steep learning curves, with the hard physical work, on top of everything else, but I don't think I would have it any other way.

the weekly update

I don't know about you, but my goodness, the weeks are flying by right now. Let us not even mention 'christmas' at this stage.  It's been busy around here. Fortunately a good type of busy for the main part. I am not one to like being busy just for the sake of it, but when that busy involves the usual daily life (admittedly with all it's ups and downs), cow milking, manure hauling, new seed beds in the garden, lots of interesting reading and future projects to plan, well, then that is not so bad.

Unfortunately this little space here has been suffering a little for it, and I will try to put aside a little more time for some more frequent posts with you. So where to start?

 

Family : all good. Just lots of extra activities that always comes at the end of the year. Two birthdays are coming up this month.

Bessie the Jersey (and calf) : both very well. Munching through lots of hay, making a nice and creamy 4 litres every morning, and getting quite shiny with her summer coat. I'm becoming much quicker and more efficient with the milking. We did have a bucket kicked over episode last week (I wasn't paying attention and she kicked it with the untied foot), and I now know the true meaning of not crying over spilt milk. Live and learn. Did I tell you I'm really enjoying it?

The vegie garden : I am hoping for a bumper season (well, at least better than last year), with a full ute load of garden "gold" just added to the entire vegie garden. Cow manure mixed with manure and wee soaked straw from the stables. I've got radishes, peas, cabbage and lettuce in, but over the next few days I will be trying to get a lot more in. We're forecast for more rain so now is the time. It's a little too early to get the tomatoes in, as we're still getting early frosts a few times a week.

In the kitchen: I've been making my favourite new cake (though I replace the sugar with rapadura sugar)  and lots of simple meat and vegie meals. I'm still brewing kombucha and kefir, and I'm hoping to make a little more sauerkraut this week.

The block : we're looking into biting the bullet and investing in a water bore. Purely rain water is just not cutting it. We also need to paint the chook house and make some fences.

Craft : I've been doing knitting rows here and there. I'm on the final hood of Luca's jumper. As for sewing, I tried to start a dress, got halfway through and realised the sizing was way off. Not fun. Project discarded and I haven't had the time or motivation to start anything else. Goodness knows I need the motivation, as my cupboard is full of "nothing-to-wear" right now.

Reading : Folks, This Ain't Normal : A Farmers Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People and a Better World. Joel Salatin doesn't hold back, and you can't help thinking that this guy really does have it all figured out. Highly entertaining and thought provoking.

The Weed Foragers Handbook : An Australian guide to weeds that you can eat. Clear pictures make the weeds pretty easy to identify, and I recognized many of them. It feels comforting to know which weeds you can eat, should the need ever arise. I am looking forward to a little experimenting.

So what are your "updates" lately? I feel a little out of step with the blogging world right now, so please fill me in with your latest projects and doings.

our family cow update

Milking a cow, though a bumpy ride for the first few weeks, has slowly become a normal part of the morning routine. It has involved working out feed quantities, sourcing economical hay and which grains to feed at the morning milking. I have learnt to be very organized and to have everything ready before I open that stable door, because running out of feed will quickly put an end to the morning milking! For a two year old cow on her first calf I think Bessie is doing quite well to put up with our beginner milking attempts. She is pretty happy during milking as long as that feed doesn't run out.

I know I would not have been able to any of this without my hard working other half. He has fixed fences, chased up a giant roll of hay, pumped water and puts a rather cunning calf away every night. I am very grateful for his help. Although I do sometimes hear him mumbling that we should really just go and buy milk.

Share milking with the calf, by locking him up during the night, seems to be going quite well. I usually arrive home with between 3 and 4 litres. She still withholds some milk for the calf, because I know that udder is not empty, and besides not very long after milking the calf has frothy cream dripping from his mouth at his first feed of the day. But I have heard that can be the price you pay for share milking. It eases the pressure of milking, and can even mean a few days off. But you do only get half the milk, sometimes less. For now though, we are happy with that. I gave myself a day off last weekend, and actually missed milking!

Our little steer calf, beautiful and doe-like that he is, is sadly destined for the freezer at some stage. It is an unfortunate fact of life that few people can afford the keep of a pet steer. So we are not becoming too attached to him, while at the same time he does not seem to like us very much. At some point in the future he will be weaned and separated from his mother, and we hope to be able to provide perhaps another steer to keep him company as he fattens up. Some people may find this hard to comprehend, but as meat eaters we see this as an opportunity for taking responsibility as to where our meat comes from. Knowing that he has lived a pleasant life and hasn't had to endure the stress of being butchered elsewhere has to be better. Besides, there is not much point spending the money to buy meat, when we have it here already.

With all the decisions to make, the hard work and time involved, do I feel it is all worth it? For me the answer is yes. There is a sense of satisfaction difficult to find within other areas of life, that has to do with working with animals and providing food for the family. Watching cows eating in the paddock is strangely calming. It feels good to be both physically and emotionally connected to our food supply.

I have not added the monetary figures up yet, but I know it will be quite some time before we break even. But it's not all about the money, is it? There is so much more to it than that.

We're consuming a lot more milk now as a family. Raw milk feels very nourishing, and it makes me feel strong and energetic. The kids drink several glasses a day, and no one has had a hint of sickness since we started milking Bessie. Sadly there is not enough milk left over to make any cheese, but I do manage to make yoghurt, kefir and occasionally ricotta with any excess.

I thank you all again for your wonderfully supportive comments in my previous cow post.





Here are the books that I have found to be the most helpful :

Keeping a Family Cow : I love this one, it is like the bible of keeping a family cow, and there is a new addition out now that I am very tempted to order.

The Heathy House Cow : A little local book that is my favourite reference. Marja's love of her cows really shines through, and her Australian perspective is very handy.

The Family Cow :  The classic 1976 guide, and it is quite an entertaining read.

Natural Cattle Care : Pat Coleby's guide to healthy cows using organic methods and minerals.

The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable : A good book to have on hand for herbal treatments.

The Untold Story of Milk : This was the book that started me off on our cow journey!



Other useful links :

Keeping a Family Cow proboards
Once a Day Milking by Patrice Lewis


Inspiration from the blogging world :

Eight Acres : an Aussie blog starring a lovely Jersey cow. Highly informative.
Longest Acres : How to buy a family cow.

pictured

With all the busyness that the school holidays brought - kid's friends over, Bessie the cow and more kid's friends over, I'm afraid it all passed by in a bit of a blur. I can't pretend that I'm not a little relieved that school went back today. A little more organization the night before and this morning, enabled the drop off and milking routines to go fairly smoothly. It was nice to arrive home to a quiet house with a full milk can. A small bowl of popcorn is sometimes what it takes to gain ten minutes of quiet with a cup of coffee with no little person jumping all over me. 

Today is set to be a cleaning catch up day. The floors need mopping and the outside of the kitchen cupboards are not their best. Washing needs hanging out and sheets need changing. School holidays tend to wreak a little havoc, and they are certainly not the time to attempt any Spring cleaning. Which makes me wonder if I will even get to any Spring cleaning this time around.

I emptied out the camera the other day. There weren't many photos from the past few weeks. I believe the battery was flat on my camera for the half the holidays while I was looking for the charger. Time was not on my side these holidays. There is nothing very eventful here, just a few pictures taken around the house last week.

 

 While it has warmed up, we are still having cold days. Particularly early morning milking (Violets op-shopped hand knits)

Making lard.

First pig-tails.

Tea from Pop's old tea-pot.

Luca's Deckard. Picking the needles back up after an unintended knitting break.

Quilts and reading piles.

Bessie's milk cream line.

The Home Creamery, a book I have had for some time, is proving even more useful now. Last week it was ricotta and I would like to attempt the Farmer's cheese soon.

Dishes. Not a pretty sight, but it was a constant reality during the holidays. Some days you just feel chained to the sink. At such times I almost wished I had a dishwasher.


***

I could not end this post without saying how supported and truly moved I felt after reading your encouraging, heartfelt comments from my last post. It has made me feel that I do want to continue in this space, after a period of time that had me questioning whether I really wanted to continue or not. Sometimes there is a bigger picture at hand here, and if my little ramblings here brighten another person's day, encourage them to try something new, or make them feel that they are not the only square peg in a round hole, then that will make it all worth it.

So thank you, those that come back time and again, even waiting patiently when the posts are few and far between. I am afraid I am terribly slack and time poor as regards to replying to questions and emails, but please be assured that I value each and every comment and email that someone has taken the time to reach out with. I am truly thankful that your voices have helped make this space what it is.