Lady Astor and I had a good think together yesterday. Cows and I mind-think – think like a cow and all that. 
My Plan has always been to share-milk with the cows this year. They are older girls and have not ever been house cows. I had intended to do this with both – but Elsie the Wild was not sharing. Lady A is doing the best she can though she has a short attention span and is getting a bit kicky when it is time to strip the last of her milk. This is not good for her udder. I was going to keep her calf and milk her outright. But she has convinced me – share milking is the way to go. Baby can come into the Parlour for visits.
She is good with me and good with me being near Naomi. I don’t feel threatened by her. So I think we can make this work. Elsie threw me a bit – her aggression knocked my confidence with cows – but I am back up on the horse – I think that Lady A and I can make a go of it. 
So starting from tomorrow Lady Astor will spend all day with her baby. Naomi can come out of the barn into the field with her Mum. Then Naomi will come in at night (which is safer – Potter and her Mum are locked up by the barn every night ) and Naomi will sleep with the goats and I will milk Lady A the following morning then she can take her baby out into the fields with her for the day. And so on. This is fairly standard practice for many House Cow managers and I think Lady A will adjust to it well. It will also give Boo and I plenty of time with Naomi in the evenings. 
I will not be able to do this with Potter but I hope that the opportunist daily handling of her will make a difference.
I have this very real determination that animals need sunshine and air and fields. I think we can all get the best of both worlds this way. Plus, not milking in the evenings, when it is hot and there are a million flies, will be better for everyone – most especially me. I get milk once a day and Lady gets a health check once a day. Fingers crossed.
Look at Potter, 
– she is only a few days older and hurling herself around the fields. I want this for Naomi too. Lady A has been on a steep learning curve too. But I am farming these cows for milk. Milk is one of the foundation proteins for the farm, the animals and for me.
(Potter has her mothers nose. Poor girl. Aunty Del is making sure she is in the shot!)
Let’s see what happens next. Of course I am always ready to tack with the wind. This is something we know about me. But I think we are on the right track now. Soon Lady Astor’s milk will clear and be bright white. Ready to drink. Ready for fresh cheese. Ready for ice-cream and butter. Ready for coffee. But in smaller doses than with Daisy. Lady A’s udder is less than a quarter the size of Daisy’s.
Yesterday the two buck goats went with their owner, my neighbour up on the ridge, to live at her house. They were gone in the blink of an eye, Freya, Hazel and I waved a goodbye. They are weaned and early next year we will borrow one back to stay with the girls a while. For now they are keeping her front field in order. And right at the moment I can see the attraction of milking Goats!
But: Keeping in mind that my objective is to grow everything I eat for a year – The cows stay.
But which year will be that year when I eat only what I grow. Shall I aim for 2016? Will my husband leave me?
Good morning. Things are settling. I can feel them settling – into that early summer rhythm.
I hope you have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm,
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
47 responses to “Sharing the Milk”
I hope you get enough milk to make some awesome cheeses. Grow some herbs like thyme , rosemary , fennel , savory, basil, tarragon , dill, oregano , lavender, chervil and marjoram to add spices to your homegrown food and John will never dream of leaving you.
I just read a great article from a book called ” The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor” . Every animal and human left to their own devices depends on taste and smell to identify nutrients crucial to live. All of our food these days is loosing flavor and nutrients because of mass production . As any grandparent can tell you , tomatoes , strawberries , chicken, all taste like cardboard today. You Celie, are bringing back flavor and nutrients . I’m proud of you.
Yesterday I tested a l lemonade for a blog and it was horrible sweet .
Hubby won’t leave ; ) He waited too long for you : )
The calves are so sweet. I’m so glad they arrived safe and healthy. Looking forward to more goat pictures
Loving all that sun you are sharing. I can feel the warmth.
Good morning, Celi. My house is 69 years old, but I’m even older. : (
It’s a Georgian, with plaster walls. I’m a bit deaf and my husband is a graduate of The Marlon Brando School of Elocution, so I spend my days hollering, “What did you say?” and he spends his days repeating himself.
That is so funny! Yoyr house sounds lovely c
Get some hearing aids. You’ll be amazed at what you’ve been missing!
I really want to make Lady Aster a tiara.
I am glad that things are settling into a routine for you, Celie. Did you by any chance get an email from me? Just checking in case it has gone astray.
No, I have not received an email from you but my inbox is a bit of a mess.
It was in connection with my comment on the post about Sheets & Towels, I sent the email the same day.
I find there’s an art to if one plan doesn’t quite work out to having others waiting in the wings for a gentle change of direction, sort of like the car GPS… I can hear Sweety Pie as we call her quietly advising “re-routing re-routing!”
How far we often come without realizing… an interesting exercise to consider the changes already accomplished that become the norm. A decade ago when we began cohabitation the G.O. was fairly set in his food ways, thought I was a Foodie which I’m not, I was simply necessarily accommodating the proliferation and infiltration of Big Food via necessary adaptation of our shopping, cooking and eating customs. He’s now onboard and open to ongoing [gradual] evolution. I wish I’d kept a journal but who knew it would be such a journey!
The journey of our food through our lives, that would be an amazing journal.. c
Why am I not surprised to see Boo visiting with the new babe?
Sounds like a good plan. You have to be so adaptable with this kind of farming, don’t you? Gosh Lady A’s udder only a quarter the size of Daisy’s; that’s a big difference. You’ll be so glad to have milk again; I know how much you love it. It’s the white life blood of the farmy.
Good plan but oh you do set yourself tough challenges. Is that the Matriarch’s Dog I see in the header shot?
Celi, I take my hat off to you, not sure I could keep up what you do every day.
Have a beautiful day and here’s to 2016 being your year of being fully self sufficient.
🙂 Mandy xo