Hello, We're James and Eileen

After over 1.5 years of writing blog posts under our offal pseudonyms we finally came to the conclusion that it's time to use our own names. Hell, it's almost Spring, why not start it off with a bang?

Back when we had jobs in the city and no one knew our true aspiration to become farmers (gasp!) it seemed more prudent to keep our names under wraps. We didn't want to cause any trouble for (or with) our employers, as many of you can understand. But at the same time we wanted to share our experience and thus came the monikers of Scrapple and Sweetbreads.

It's been a wonderful experience and we've met so many incredible people through the blog. We're looking forward to continuing down that road and now, finally, also having the opportunity to form some face-to-face friendships with our local customers this coming year! 

It's been a joy writing the blog and interacting with so many wonderful readers on a daily basis. We look forward to continuing the story under our real names.

And now back to our regularly scheduled farm posts...

 

Due Dates and Baby Bumps

It is almost time! Ever since we bred the goats this past October, I've been counting down to their due dates. The anticipation has increased many fold since drying them off early in January. For the past few months our schedule has been wildly different than our previous days on the farm. My twice a day treks out into the pasture to collect the herd and intimate one-on-one milking time with each goat has been reduced to our once daily visit when we check on the herd, give fresh water, and feed hay, sprouted grains and minerals. The luxury of drinking the milk from our own herd and eating the cheese we make from it has been suspended until our goats are back in milk this Spring. The return of these enjoyable pieces of our farm life will be accompanied by something I'm looking forward to just as much as the milk (maybe more) - baby goats!

By mid April we should have anywhere from 5 to 16 kids bounding around the farm. You may be thinking "5 to 16? Huh?". Well...

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Questions To Ask Your Raw Milk Farmer

Fresh, raw milk cow cheese, made in a similar fashion to Chevre (commonly known as Goat Cheese)

As a follow-up to the first post on raw milk (Buying Raw Milk in Tennessee), I thought it would be useful to provide a list of questions that we feel are prudent for consumers to ask prior to buying raw milk or participating in a herd share. These are questions that, in our opinion, customers should be asking their raw milk dairy farmers. (If additional quesitons come to mnind, I'd love it if you left them in the comments.)

Before we get into the list of questions, it's important to make sure the farmer will give you the time to ask questions in the first place. If a farmer is going to sell you raw milk, a share of their herd, or a raw milk product, he/she should give you ample time to ask questions. If they don't, then don't buy their milk. That's the first warning sign.

Also, if you get a bad vibe from the farm, or you sense the farmer is lying to you or avoiding answering your questions, move on. Don't hesitate. Trust your gut, or your gut may pay for it later. Raw milk is great and it's wonderful to have, but don't risk buying contaminated raw milk. It could make you very ill, and in extreme cases it could be lethal. We've been to a number of raw milk farms where we wouldn't dare drink the milk. We've also been to plenty where we would drink the milk. Knowing the difference is critical and I hope these questions help you identify a high-quality raw milk farmer in your area.

Ok, on with it. This is written from the perspective of someone buying raw cow's milk, since that is by far the most common raw milk available. We have dairy goats and so do lots of other dairy farmers. Raw sheep's milk is also an option. These questions can be substituted for raw milk from any type of dairy animal, it's not cow-specific.

Questions To Ask Your Raw Milk Farmer

 

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