In the evening, just before the pigs dinner I let them out into the field for a run and a grass munch. There is not a lot of grass yet so there is still a danger of them rooting. So their grass break is not very long. But they eat the whole time.Pigs! Then they are called in for their dinner washing it down with a drink of raw milk.
Are you pregnant Poppy? (there has been no sign of her coming back into heat but you know I won’t believe it until I see the udder). See how she is losing hair on her back? It may just be seasonal shedding but today I am going to rub all the pigs all over with DE (Diatomaceous earth). If it is an external parasite that should clear it up.
I spent a lot of time yesterday afternoon with the small wire cutters trimming Tima’s nails. They are very tough and I find the wire cutters the best thing for the job. It is important with the kunekune to handle their feet often so this job goes easily. Tima has terrible hooves. They drink a little raw milk too. 
Naomi says hullo. She is seven days old today. She drinks a lot of raw milk.
Lady Astor washing her baby. She provides us with the raw milk made with good clean green grass.
When I am working with the cows and calves Boo has to stay outside the gate.
Boo hates to be out of the action especially when Naomi pulls faces and laughs at him. (Boo and Ton get raw milk for breakfast too)
And now I have raw milk in the fridge and soon it will be in my coffee. This is from yesterday’s milking – so you can see the thick cream. It takes a good 12 hours to separate up.
Today, I will skim that cream out- later today I will start a yoghurt with the milk and by tomorrow afternoon I will make raw cultured butter and by the weekend I will be making a fresh rosemary and chilli cheese. (Yes, I have rosemary and chillis growing in the glasshouse). I love the fresh cheese. Oh the joy of it. This lovely life. I will make more muesli today too, that is the best with cream!
And on Friday we drink White Russians!
I drink the milk raw of course. This is grass fed raw milk. The best of the best. I cannot stomach pasteurised milk but raw – I can drink as much as I like.(Raw milk is not for everyone of course and that is fine, I am not trying to start an argument, people get so heated (joke) over the raw milk discussion but for me it is a simple and powerful medicine.) I don’t sell it, I milk my cow for myself, my husband and my animals. But once I am back with raw milk in my diet all my aches and pains disappear. The soles of my feet no longer throb, the broken cracked skin on my hands clears up, my joints ease (and I am not old – just old injuries). My hay-fever goes away. My tiredness lifts. It is my magic! That and the summer of course, this beach girl LOVES the sun. I am a lucky girl.
Here is an interesting article I read the other day looking at the links between raw milk and alleviating arthritis. And if you can find raw milk it is a case of Know your Farmer. Only ever buy from the source, at the farm and inspect her set up first. Milk is a live food, it must be handled correctly. And also ask what the cows are eating – good green pasture is king!
Have a lovely day.
Your friend on the farm
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
79 responses to “Raw Milk”
Lucky you to have all that milk. I was brought up on raw milk and wish it was still available but alas, dairy herds are few and far between in this part of the country.
I didn’t know there’s a black market here in Chicago for raw milk. I think I’m allergic to cows’ milk so now I’m drinking soy milk in my coffee. What do you think of soy milk, Cecilia?
Naomi is so cute! Are those her teeth she’s showing?
Yes those are her teeth. I don’t know much about soy really. So I tend to avoid it. c
Soy can cause problems with thyroid in some people – not all, but it is a concern to even pediatricians around here. We used to have local dairy farms, but regulations and big business ended up closing them. There are some local farms, though…but it’s all very hush hush. Important the dairy knows what it is doing to keep all healthy. Back to basic farm diets seem to be beneficial and many are returning to that for many reasons.
So nice you are managing so well with your farm – may encourage others
(Not much cuter than a little calf)
I aways thought I judt didn’t like the flavour of milk but maybe if I get lucky one day and taste the real stuff it will change my view – and be good for me too!
Everything is looking ever so good there, Miss C!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/sherlock-boomer
I don’t think I’ve ever had raw milk and don’t have much access here, but now I will know to take it easy if I ever get a chance to try some, thanks! Naomi is just a beautiful heifer. Love her “toofy” shot!
My grandparents had a dairy farm so I spent my earliest years drinking milk straight from the cow, sometimes literally! Now when I’m in the country I find myself striking up conversations with likely suspects that may be able to hook me up… no success yet but I’m determined… cow sharing… hmmm.
The raw milk might also help Poppy’s bald patch. I drink my coffee black now but used to love it with a dash of cream. I also dream of homemade butter and cheese, and would drink milk if I could lay my hands on the good stuff.
Oh, we are so lucky too to have a constant supply of raw milk (on the down low) from a nearby farmer. When I was little we would get milk direct, but I stopped drinking milk entirely for over 20 years because it just tasted gross to me. Raw milk bears no resemblance to what’s sold in cartons at the store! Raw milk tastes and feels like food to me; not one of the usual distasteful side effects usually associated with milk. Milk in general may get an unfairly bad rap because of the denaturing processing commercial milk undergoes before it’s deemed “safe” for your fridge (radiation, anyone?). Raw rules!
EllaDee has the right idea-just start chatting up people with a couple cows….
We are lucky too , our neighbor has a cow and we get to milk evenings now for milk! Our children drink a gallon a day and I’ve made cheese and butter, you so can’t beat raw milk I agree!!
that sounds like a great deal!
When we were children growing up in Taranaki raw milk was delivered into our billy at the gate each morning. Then came pasteurisation & I became intolerant. But yoghurt seems to be an OK way to have milk, maybe because it puts the probiotics back in.
wow.. taranaki is a beautiful area.. c
Yes, it’s dairying country plus mountain; a pretty good combination! I grew up around [other people’s] cows & even was introduced to hand-milking, so my ears prick up every time I read ‘milk’ in your posts.
it is a wonderful area, I do wish i had spent more time with cows as a youngster.. c
It’s illegal to sell raw milk here too. I’m fortunate to occasionally get some raw goat milk from a neighbor. I do not like the pasteurized goat milk you can buy in the store but the uber fresh raw I get is wonderful. There is a small dairy that pasteurizes but does not ‘ultra’ pasteurize. I believe that means they don’t heat it as hot or as long as ultra. i know it does have a shorter shelf life and it’s a bit more expensive but tastes much better than the large company brands so that’s my treat to me. The whole thing is silly, farmers no longer milk, dump it in cans and haul it to the dairy, now it goes directly from the cow to a chilled bulk tank to the chilled milk truck, never sees the light of day! Hard to see what could happen to it as long as the cows are healthy!
How does Tima react to her ‘pedicure’? I’ve had to trim the outside ‘claw’ on both Percy’s back feet, they wanted to curl up. If I sneak up on him while he’s napping and have John give him a belly rub it works okay.
The belly rub is the trick, for sure and handling the feet every chance I get whether trimming of not.. but I think it will always be a work in progress, thank goodness i don’t have to trim Poppys!.. c
I think it is legal to buy raw milk here in NZ, although you have to get it straight from the farmer, you can’t buy it in the stores (or I have never seen it, anyway). I would be too afraid to buy it from a store, I would like to be able to see the cows and know the farmer follows good practices, before I would drink the milk raw. My first cousin used to buy raw milk from a farmer and all her family came down with an awful bout of severe food poisoning, which was traced to their raw milk. Thankful it wasn’t something worse! It has put me off a bit, bu I still like the idea, I believe raw milk has so many health benefits, just have to find the right farmer to get it from. For now I am sticking with yoghurt!
I have treated milk every which way and never poisoned myself.. but yes.. yoghurt is wonderful! c
Interesting to read Kate’s comment as I saw another also recent interview where the Govt put a ‘stop’ on the raw ‘bath milk’ many people bought in shops if not supermarkets here in Oz. Firmly off the ‘allowed list’ now!! Not my area of expertise but I know all the milk I drank back in Europe was ‘raw’ and it surely nourished me!! The rosemary and chilli cheese rings all the right bells with me and I’ll be so happy when I know you can have your fave ‘White Russian’s again 🙂 !!
Life is good!.. c
Sleep deeply, sleep well . . . and hopefully life will be good tomorrow also 🙂 !! hugs . . .
It’s been years and years since I’ve had raw milk. I was just a kid riding along with my Uncle when he was delivering chicks (he had a hatchery in Iowa). It seemed that every farm we went to the “city kid” was given a tour, introduced to all the animals then plunked on the porch with a huge glass of fresh cold milk (raw, usually from the morning milking) and home made cookies. Considering we’d go to anywhere from four to six farms a day, I ended up well filled on the milk and cookies which my Aunt wasn’t too pleased about because I really didn’t want any dinner. Wonderful memories. I’d still be more than happy living in a small town, or even better, a small farm. Maybe the next lifetime.
Thank you for teaching me something new today. I did not know that about raw milk. I’m glad it makes you feel better and that’s all that is important.
That is interesting about raw milk Celi .. Must check out that link. What a little honey Naomi is. Give that girl a pat from me please? 🙂