Back in Business
We’re back in business as far as our raw milk is concerned. Luckily it’s much easier to come by in Maine that in Ohio. Back in Ohio, we were lucky that our dairy farm was only a few miles away, though I would have driven a long way to get milk from them. They stocked us up with lots of milk before we left and we were on our last jar.
I had a list of farms to call and visit, but then our neighbor gave me the name of a friend who does dairy on a small scale. We headed down the road yesterday to see her cows and chat with her. She has 3 Jersey cows that she milks. The dry periods are staggered throughout the year so she’s always milking 2 cows.
They were out frolicking in the 40 acres of pasture. In fact we weren’t sure if we were going to find them when we first arrived, but they finally came around. One of them thought my camera was a delicious cow treat and kept trying to eat it.
We made it home with a gallon of fresh raw milk. The cows we got milk from back in Ohio were Normandy cows. The Jersey milk is definitely different, much creamier. Milk is one of those funny things you always think it just tastes like milk until you start drinking pastured raw milk. Then you start to notice the changes that come throughout the seasons and from different cows.
Now that we’ve been drinking raw milk for many years I could never go back to the regular stuff. Even when we had to get lightly pasteurized milk from another small local dairy it always tasted boiled and weird to me. I’m happy that we should have enough options here in Maine to have a steady supply of raw milk all year long. Though I must admit, I’ll miss heading out to the farm on Thursdays and my chats with Dawn!
What product do you source locally or make at home that you could never buy the store/processed version again?
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Double Duty
Yesterday afternoon was beautiful here. It has been raining for the past few days, so when the sun peeked out in the afternoon I grabbed my Ethel gloves and headed outside.
I need to get weeding on the small kitchen garden that’s located right behind the house. In this spot, I’m hoping to plant overwintering spinach, leeks and a few other things. It has to be cleared out before I can plant.
Luckily, most of the weeds were easy to pull because of the moist soil. For those that weren’t, I scored this fabulous vintage hoe and Liberty Tool for only $3 (I know, quite a bargain). Many of my large garden tools are still back in Ohio. The previous owners also left a sad rusty wheelbarrow, which came in quite handy.
The weeds all went into the chicken run to give them something to eat and to keep them busy. They were in chicken heaven. I’m hoping to add lots of weeds and other fodder to the floor of their run.
It was one big mud hole before I started. Hopefully throughout the course of the next month I’ll be able to build up a nice layer of mulch for them to scratch and work through during the winter.
All-in-all, I weeded for about an hour and was able to take three wheelbarrow loads of weeds up to the chickens. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be the same and I hope to finish weeding this garden. There may even be time to get a few things planted! The chicken coop needs cleaned first though, that’s on the top of the to-do list.
I’ve never had trouble getting motivated to weed, it’s a chore I always enjoy doing. Now that I’m also gleaning food and entertainment for the chickens it’s even better. I feel like I’m doing double duty!
Do you love or hate weeding?
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Plants to Add to the Garden
I rarely leave the house without my camera in my bag. There are many reasons for this, the most important being, you never really know what you’re going to see. Like this:
When we went to the Belfast Co-op a week ago Friday, we stopped to look at their pollinator garden out front. We spotted this beauty blooming nicely for late September.
Thankfully, all the plants were labeled (as they should be in public gardens). I snapped a photo of the label so I could remember to procure some seeds this winter. Downy Sunflower is a perfect name for this plant, it’s leaves are fuzzy like lamb’s ears. In case you’re interested, I found a few places that have seed:
Prairie Moon Nursery
Prairie Nursery
Wildflower Farm
I’m always looking for new and interesting plants to add to the garden, especially those that are beneficial for pollinators. Since this one blooms into the fall, it will be perfect. I can’t wait to spend some time looking at the websites listed above. I love reading about prairie plants and look forward to hopefully someday having a small prairie meadow incorporated into these gardens.
Have you discovered any new plants this fall you plan on adding to your garden next year?
