Real Milk?

Remember all the times I've mentioned that we mostly just buy dairy products from the store now? Well that might change. I looked in to a cow share program a while back. I gave it some thought and then put it out of my mind. Then out of the blue the program coordinator e-mailed me again just to make sure that she had indeed responded to my first e-mail (she did). That same week a new intern started at my workplace. We got to talking and it came up that she is part of the same cow share program. Her family loves the milk and doesn't plan on switching back.

I am still a little leery about the whole thing, to be honest. The milk comes straight out of the bulk tank on the farm. It is from Certified Organic cows. It is not pasteurized. I know there is a huge debate over whether or not pasteurizing is important. I think it is safe to say that if the cows are healthy there is no life-threatening risk involved. Still, there are recommendations that pregnant women not drink unpasteurized milk. God willing, that will apply to me one day (far away). So I have to think there is some risk, however slight. I'm the type to forgo recommendations about raw eggs to indulge in cookie dough. More than once I've had horse poop on my hands and eaten at a drive thru without washing them. Asparagus and peas taste best when you're still standing in the garden. But raw milk? I don't know.

Anyway, thanks to our intern, I'm drinking a glass of the stuff right now. I just wanted to try it. Really, it doesn't taste much different. The best way I can describe it is like this: it tastes a little more like warm milk, even when it's cold. Do you know what I mean? Like it has more flavor or something. I haven't seen any obvious separation in the carton, just some tiny specks sticking to the edges. I've been told that the butterfat content isn't very high but they're trying to improve that. I'm going to try making butter to see how it goes.


BTW, I'm thinking home pasteurization would be a perfect compromise, especially if we do get our own cow. I'm not sure that is very practical though. Plus, I think the home pasteurizers I saw were very expensive.

Does anyone have any experience with a cow share program? What are you thoughts on the whole thing? And please, don't jump my ass with any anti or pro raw milk campaigns. I'm not interested in the debate so much as how this type of thing has worked out for other people and their families. I have a strong desire for dairy products that are healthy and local.

Joining Farm Bureau

This is another post I've been putting off just because I wanted to make it worthwhile. I still don't have a lot of information to offer you but want to share our experience thus far. We went ahead and joined the bureau 2 weeks ago. We do not carry FB insurance and so joined as "Regular Farmer Members". Actually we only signed Brian up. The dues were $45 for year and as his wife I can attend all the events anyway.

We signed up at the kickoff event. A handful of couples that we're friends with had already joined and encouraged us to check it out. We actually had a lot of fun at the kickoff. It started off with a couple of short presentations from some of the extension staff. They talked for about 20 minutes on the new A.C.R.E. program which Brian is interested in. It is basically a different type of subsidy program from what I understood. It was good to learn about anyway.

The organizers had hired a local company, "A Touch Of Vegas" to come in an do some casino games. Each person was given a ticket to get chips equivalent to, I think, $200. I personally have never gambled and never been to casino so I didn't think that would be much fun. Turns out I had a blast at the Roulette table and tied for overall winnings at $800! That got us a $50 gift card to Red Lobster. We both love there food and so we more than got back our dues already. They also passed out tickets for beer or mixed drinks. I wasn't too keen on drinking and gambling on a Sunday but did have fun!

If you're interested in joining FB I'm sure you'd like some more useful information. The website might help you. We also get the Michigan Farm News now so I will try to keep you updated on relevant issues. I like the paper because it lists all the current legislative proposals and where FB stands on the issues. I will say that from scanning the paper (we've gotten it for a few months) I disagree wholeheartedly with FB on a lot of topics. I need to do some more research before I point fingers. If you've read this blog much you know that although I live on a cash crop farm my thinking is much less mainstream. FB seems to favor conventional agriculture on a lot of points. Some of our friends that are quite active in the bureau are organic farmers so the organization must not be too discriminatory at the local level. Maybe I am wrong here, that is just my first impression.

Concerns aside, I think this is going to be a great thing for us to be apart of, even if the only benefit is a social life! It will be a good excuse to get together with friends, learn about ag. issues, and share with other young farmers what we are doing. This weekend was the Young Farmers' Conference downstate. We missed the registration this year but hope to attend next year.

I'll keep you posted on our experiences with the bureau. Any fellow members out there? Any experiences with the organization to share? I'd love to hear what you have to say.

BTW, I want to add that I'm not sure yet how the organization's infrastructure is set up. I don't like the idea of "the blind leading the blind" but I don't think farmer members get to vote on these issues. Not sure how that works. I'll keep you posted.

Green Baby Shower Gift Basket

Okay I have a million new things (okay maybe a dozen) to post about. The majority of our wedding invitations are mailed out so I can start to relax again and get out of lurker mode. For those of you who don't know we are getting married August 23, 2008. I graduated from college the first week of June and took my board exams a couple weeks later. Then I started working full time and planning the wedding! All I ask is that for those of you who do read this blog please hold on a little longer. I plan to revamp the design here when I get a chance. Originally I wanted this blog to center around the farm and what Brian & I do as a couple. Now that I am finding more and more great blogs that I enjoy reading I think I am going to change the angle here to be more from just my point of view and discuss the things that I feel are important. Of course the farm happenings will still be incorporated since they are a huge, wonderful part of my life.

Anyway, I enjoy learning and reading more about how to live a "greener" lifestyle. I was raised to recycle, compost, turn the tv off, garden, etc. Now I am working on the finer points of this lifestyle. One important thing we can all do is give eco-friendly gifts. When I was invited to a good friend's baby shower I wanted to find something to give her that would help get the baby off to a great, healthy start.

Here is what I put together:
Seventh Generation Chlorine-Free Baby Wipes
Seventh Generation Baby Laundry Liquid Detergent
Seventh Generation Chlorine-Free Baby Diapers
Classy Kid Keep Me Tidy Clean & Green Biodegradable Diaper Sacks
Kiddopotomus & Co. Organic Dot Swaddle
Medela Single Bottle
Medela Nipples: Medium Flow
Green Is The New Black onesie: This is not the same one that I gave as a gift. The one I found was a natural color and made of Organic cotton.

I found all of these items at Babies R' Us. The Mom registered for the swaddle and I just took it from there. She did register for the Medela nursing system so I picked up the extra bottle and next stage of nipples for that. Total cost was around $55 with the diapers on sale. She seemed happy with it and a few other guests commented that it was a neat idea. One person asked me where I found all those cool products and I was glad I could say they are all available at Babies R' Us! This theme could carry over in to any kind of gift. Happy Shopping! :)