Happy Monday everyone!! Today I am going to share with you my first experience milking Lucy (The Jersey cow at Broadturn Farm)
I met Megan at the farm at 8:00 am and Lucy was ready!! The above picture is of Lucy getting a little annoyed that we were taking so long... she was hungry and full of milk!
When we opened the gate Lucy went right to her milking area, it was amazing! (The grain might have helped)
She stood there and let us clean her up, I am pretty sure she enjoyed this as any girl loves getting pampered.
Megan showed me how to get the milking machine ready, I am sure there is a more technical term but I like milking machine better. This thing is the coolest!!! Once all the cylinders were on Lucy's teats the milk just started flowing. I could tell Lucy loved this part as well, as any nursing mom knows the release of milk after many hours of building up is heavenly!!
These are Lucy's friends looking pretty jealous of Miss Lucy... don't worry they got some love and affection when were done milking.
After the milk is done expressing there is the fun task of getting Lucy back in her fenced in area and not letting out the calf or the sheep, thankfully Megan was there to get a nice picture of that and to help me guide her in. Megan told me about all of her fun stories she has from her many times getting Lucy back in her area. One of the stories included baby lambs and chaos, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall that day.
The rest of the time was spent giving Lucy praise and love and then clean up. I got to take home a big gallon jar of the tasty raw milk, if you have never had the pleasure of a having a big glass of fresh raw milk or putting some of the yummy cream that settles to the top in your morning coffee then you my friend are missing out!! I cannot wait to see Lucy again this week and bring home some more tasty milk to make yogurt and cheese with. I feel so lucky to have discovered Broadturn Farm and all of their awesomeness!!!
Check out their blog
http://broadturnfarm.blogspot.com/
Support local farmers, buy local milk and keep Maine awesome!!
