Who's defending our raw milk farmers' rights?

Step into someone else’s muddy boots for a bit. Imagine you are a small dairy farmer (if that’s the case, your father was probably a farmer, too). You made the choice to produce a product that you believe in – nutrient-dense raw milk. It’s what your customers want for optimal health, and you can hopefully break even every year (most farmers don’t make much or are in debt). You raise naturally healthy cows on a natural diet of grass. Your milk is clean (and you know it, because you have it tested regularly). One day, seemingly out of nowhere, someone writes you a letter or comes to your farm. They say what you are doing is wrong and threaten lengthy legal action. With little money (if any at all), what do you do?

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A brief history of the raw milk debate

Raw milk is a highly contested issue in modern history. Is it a healthy nutrient-dense “cure-all” for nourishing your body, or is it a dangerous vector for spreading life-threatening disease? The two camps are split. It is a complicated issue with mixed battles of bad science vs. personal testimony, morals vs. politics, education vs. advertising, and big agri-business vs. small farms.

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Healthy cows means higher prices.

You may have noticed that the price of milk went up this week. The reality is that it’s expensive to produce wholesome nutrient-dense milk, especially when you need to buy in feed. The farmer pays close attention to his cows’ diet and health. In the warmer months, this is fairly straightforward and easier to control. Plant the right crops and make sure the cows eat them at precisely the right moment of freshness. In the colder months, when the herd’s diet is supplemented or fully on hay, it becomes more difficult to make sure the cows are getting what they need.

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We NEED fat, good fat is good.

I have been liberally spreading tallow balm on my skin this week, 3x per day, and it got me thinking about fat. Fat, especially saturated fat, has been vilified in the US since the 1960s, when the low-fat craze started. It has really done a number on our cooking and our health as a society, because not all fat is bad. In fact, we NEED fat for so many basic bodily functions.

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Should you freeze cheese... or anything else for that matter?

We have many customers who freeze items they get from us. I heard from a couple customers that they even freeze cheese, so I had to try. I froze a block of Swiss for about 2 months and then defrosted it in the fridge. The texture changed from a chubby bouncy cheese to one that was crumbly. The taste was still great. Why? What does freezing do to food?

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The Saddest Part about our Amazing Cottage Cheese

It’s no secret. Our bestselling raw cottage cheese is freaking awesome. It’s a special recipe developed by the farmer’s wife that crafts a super creamy, small curd, spreadable soft cheese. Our cottage cheese is perfect for smearing on bread, piling on top of a bowl of fresh fruit, enjoying as a dessert with some dark chocolate hazelnut butter, or simply spooning into your mouth on its own. There are endless mouthwatering possibilities.

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Sour Milk and Clabber

Last week, my family ended up with some sour milk. So... I decided to make some clabber (for those who may not know, clabber is raw milk that has naturally clotted or curdled). I divided the milk amongst two 1⁄2 gallon mason jars, topped them with a clean cloth, and secured the cloth with a rubber band. Then, I put it on the kitchen counter and promptly forgot about it.

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Kefir Second Fermentation

Kefir is fermented milk. But, did you know that you can ferment it a second time to make a creamy, fizzy drink? Some call kefir the "champagne of dairy" for this reason. And, with a second ferment, it can become more palatable and nutritious, too. What you do is take kefir (doesn't matter if it was made from kefir grains or a freeze-dried culture) and add something with sugar to it. It could be fruit (like blueberry or strawberry puree) or a sweetener (like honey or maple syrup). Then, you let it sit on the counter for a short second fermentation (kefir ferments at room temp). Adding sugar gives more fuel to the fermentation process. The second fermentation is key here and changes the kefir in a variety of ways: Allows the milk kefir to further break down and become even more digestible. Increases the bacteria and yeast counts, making it more probiotic. Reduces the lactose content.Improves the flavor by making it less sour and taking the sharp taste away. Added vitamins and minerals from the fruit or sweetener.Increases certain B vitamins, like folic acid, and makes the calcium and magnesium more bioavailable, which means that your body can take it in and use it immediately.  Basically, a second ferment helps to "predigest" the kefir and packs it with great stuff for your body. I’m thinking of ordering some plain kefir to experiment with my own second fermented flavors at home. I’m thinking orange, vanilla and cinnamon, cocoa and maple syrup, and maybe even onion and garlic for a savory option. I will serve it to my family straight up as a drink with breakfast, as a dip with a snack, as a marinade for a main dish for dinner, or as ice pops for dessert. If you have any ideas for other flavors, please pass them along!

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Why and How Kefir Exists?

The farm’s grain kefir is particularly special, because the grains used to make the kefir have been passed from farmer to farmer for generations. Kefir is fermented milk. To make kefir, you need kefir grains, living organisms that come from nature. The kefir grains live off of the lactose and other nutrients in milk. They produce acetic and lactic acids (and other small by-products such as alcohol) that give the milk its new flavor and thicker consistency. Kefir grains are pretty mysterious, as no one knows exactly where they come from. It is said that the local people of the Caucasus Mountains of the former USSR discovered kefir several thousand years ago, believing it was a “miraculous gift" exclusively for them. The grains were treated like precious jewels in each family, because of their ability to preserve and enhance milk. To this day, it’s considered a staple food in Russia. The word 'kefir' comes from the Turkish language and means 'long life' or 'good life'. This is because kefir is extremely good for your body. It’s much more potent than yogurt, containing over 30 strains of bacteria and yeast. It is a dynamic source of probiotics that promotes a strong immune system and a healthy gut. Kefir is an acquired taste, like sardines or stinky cheese. It is pungent, with undertones of hay. You can, of course, add fruit like blueberries or a sweetener like maple syrup to make it a bit more palatable to a newbie’s taste buds. Besides being a powerful drink, kefir can be used in many ways. You can use kefir to make a salad dressing that’s poured over a plate of baby spinach, red onions, and blueberries. You can soak grains in kefir overnight to make blueberry pancakes the next morning. Or, my family’s favorite is to make popsicles with blueberry kefir, diced peaches, and honey. PS: You may be wondering about the difference between our grain kefir and powdered kefir. The grain kefir is made from living organisms passed down for generations. It produces a variable product with a strong taste. The powdered kefir is made from a lab-created freeze dried culture. It produces a milder tasting kefir that is very consistent week to week. Both preserve milk, are packed with probiotics, and are great for your body.

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Why and How Yogurt Exists?

According to many historians, yogurt dates back to the Neolithic peoples of central Asia around 6,000 BC. Now that’s a traditional food! Herdsmen would milk their animals and store the milk in containers (animal stomachs). The natural enzymes in the raw milk would cause it to curdle, essentially making yogurt. This allowed the milk to keep for a long time without refrigeration. It is also thought that people preferred the taste. Our yogurt is made in a more tamed way so that we can offer you a consistent product (although I highly recommend trying to make some wild yogurt at home for fun... a great experiment if you have some sour milk). We use two ingredients: raw milk and freeze dried powdered culture. The milk is warmed minimally, to about 100-110 F, creating a nice environment for the culture to flourish while still preserving the milk’s enzymes and probiotics. Then, the cultures are added, and it sits overnight, for at least 8 hours.  The secret to drinkable yogurt is that it is stirred before it completely sets, making it a smooth, drinkable consistency. Once made, fruit may be added for a flavor boost. For Greek yogurt, the whey is strained to make it thicker and spoonable. The end product is a super healthy food. You get a great dose of protein plus a variety of vitamins and nutrients like calcium, vitamin B-2, vitamin B-12, magnesium, and potassium. On top of that, our raw cultured yogurt is packed with probiotics (“friendly bacteria”) and enzymes (preserved in our raw dairy products). This living microbiology helps you fully digest the yogurt, maintain a healthy gut, and build a strong immune system. I personally go through a couple quarts of yogurt every week, and my babies love drinkable yogurt. I have these cool mason jar lids with a hole for a straw and some silicone smoothie straws. I bring them on the go for an easy and healthy snack for the kids (and me :).

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