Where cheese comes from (or should)
I went out to the farm store in New Jersey this weekend. Saturday and Sunday I just sold cheese, bread, and meat in the shop. We were slammed. Between fall foliage tourism and apple/pumpkin-picking tourism, we had more customers than we could handle. Thankfully, it was a blur, and my time was bookended with awesome food.
Yesterday, the shop was not open and I helped milk the cows. I lived next door to cows all through middle and high school but had not worked with them until yesterday. I got up at 6am to have some food and tea, and by 7:00 we were getting things ready in the barn. The next step is to actually get the cows to the barn. You do this by going to where the cows are and essentially chasing them at slow speed. So you get behind the entire group of cows (opposite from where you want them to go) and loudly say creative things like HIYUP and COME ON, GIRLS and they go in the opposite direction of the noise--away from you. Once you finally get them to the barn, you attach the milkers to the cows and make sure everything comes out okay. If your cow's still full of milk and none is coming out, you massage her udder until she releases it. Some cows take more coaxing than others. The milk gets pumped into a large stirring vat, to which the rennet will be added when the milk is at the right temperature.
I didn't actually wind up making cheese, because I had a party to help set up, but I did feed pigs (
) and wash up. There is so much washing required in cheesemaking. Like now, I'm washing the pants I had on yesterday because I got cow shit on them. Just a little bit. And it has not come out with one washing...
Cows. This is a picture of Brunhilde, an Ayrshire who likes to wiggle.
I went out to the farm store in New Jersey this weekend. Saturday and Sunday I just sold cheese, bread, and meat in the shop. We were slammed. Between fall foliage tourism and apple/pumpkin-picking tourism, we had more customers than we could handle. Thankfully, it was a blur, and my time was bookended with awesome food.
Yesterday, the shop was not open and I helped milk the cows. I lived next door to cows all through middle and high school but had not worked with them until yesterday. I got up at 6am to have some food and tea, and by 7:00 we were getting things ready in the barn. The next step is to actually get the cows to the barn. You do this by going to where the cows are and essentially chasing them at slow speed. So you get behind the entire group of cows (opposite from where you want them to go) and loudly say creative things like HIYUP and COME ON, GIRLS and they go in the opposite direction of the noise--away from you. Once you finally get them to the barn, you attach the milkers to the cows and make sure everything comes out okay. If your cow's still full of milk and none is coming out, you massage her udder until she releases it. Some cows take more coaxing than others. The milk gets pumped into a large stirring vat, to which the rennet will be added when the milk is at the right temperature.
I didn't actually wind up making cheese, because I had a party to help set up, but I did feed pigs (
) and wash up. There is so much washing required in cheesemaking. Like now, I'm washing the pants I had on yesterday because I got cow shit on them. Just a little bit. And it has not come out with one washing...Cows. This is a picture of Brunhilde, an Ayrshire who likes to wiggle.
aphexplotz:
moooooooo