Lovely Farm Day recap with pics and videos. And the sour milk debacle. Our milk really does last.
Despite a little rain and chilly weather, this year's Farm Day event was simply lovely. Thanks to everyone who came out!One family reported, "This is better than Hershey Park!" Another family reported that they're very selective with the natural foods they eat, and that can be a challenge at parties and events. The best part for them was that they could say "yes" to every food that was there. And we heard from a lot of people that the Farmer Panel Discussion was extremely educational. Many thanks to our farmers! They said we could have simply done that the entire day, and maybe I'll take that tip for a new event next year.Here's a short 1-minute video recap of the event: Honestly the food was incredible. We served a smorgesboard of snacks. Our vendors were giving out samples. And there was a hot lunch of smoked brisket, chicken leg and thigh, a loaded salad bar, baked beans, potatoes, and veggies. Here are some pics of the food: We had lots of fun activities, too. A mini petting zoo, making flower crowns, milking a cow, and wagon and pony and camel rides. Here are some pics of that excitement: We also had a Farmer Panel Discussion. We had Aaron representing his two brothers, our raw dairy farmers. We had Daniel, who raises our chickens. We had Lamar, who's our beekeeper. And finally Raymond, who's one of our egg farmers. Here are the first 7 minutes of the panel. It's the intro, before we got into the nitty gritty questions. Overall, Farm Day went off without a hitch. There was one issue --> the Sour Milk Challenge. You see, raw milk naturally sours as it ages. The living microbiology that's inside the cow ferments the milk, breaking down the lactose (milk sugar) and turning it into lactic acid (which is sour). The warmer it is and the longer it sits, the more sour it gets. Drinking sour milk is not a safety issue, it's a palatability issue.I put milk aside way before Farm Day. One was 25 days old, one was 15 days old, and one was 8 days old. It was simply sitting in our cooler. The day before the event I tasted them, and all of the milks tasted the same! They all tasted fresh!!How could I have a sour milk tasting with no sour milk!? I had to think fast. So I put one milk in the culturing room (at 98F) overnight. Another I left on the counter overnight. The one in the culturing room did get a little sour. But, the challenge overall was very difficult (dare I say impossible). Here's what the challenge looked like: This really made me think about how important our milk safety standards are.I mean, given the amount our farmers clean when milking, there's zero manure or urine or dirt in the milk. There's no external bacteria or yeast mixed in.Most raw milk farmers don't do what we do (and pasteurized milk farmers definitely don't). It's kinda gross when you think about it. But, having any manure or urine or dirt or residue from equipment in raw milk definitely makes it sour quickly. It also made me think about temps for storing raw milk.Our cooler is kept at 35F. It seems that this nearly stopped the fermentation. Compare this to a regular home fridge, which is usually 40-42F. Those 5-7 degrees matter! It makes me want to get a separate mini milk-only fridge at home that I keep colder.Anyway, I digress. Farm Day was amazing!!! If you came, we'd love for you to leave your comments below. We'll be attending a few more events this fall, and we'd love to see you there! Healthy Food, Healthy Body. An Event for Healthy Living.October 19, 1-4pmTenafly NJWise Traditions ConferenceOctober 25-27Orlando, FLDocumenting Hope ConferenceNovember 15-17Orlando, FL
