dairy equipment

[dun]

I'm glad to see you've done the single best thing that can be done when getting started, getting a mentor.

dun

Okay, here is where you are all going to think, Oh My, she really is a newbie...I haven't ever hand milked a cow. About 20 years ago I hand milked a neighbor's goat for about a week while they were out of town. I remeber it being a joke for the first 2 times, then I got the hang of it. I have a couple of people around (a old dairy farmer being one of them) that are going to help me the first few times. I'm nervous about things like mastitis, but most of the posts are encouraging that it is a bacterial thing (therefore preventable?) and seems to occur more likely when more than one cow is part of the picture.

I love owning my gal and see why so many of you have made a life of it in spite of all the very hard work and lack of respect on behalf of the general public. I've always dreamed of owning a family cow and am very blessed to be at the stage of life where I can do this. This gal has already helped beef up my muscles and I'll just get the benefit of new ones while I invest in ben gay!!!!

 

[Craig-TX]

Just getting the time to read this thread. It's an enjoyable one. If you get all the cream and butter and ice cream you want, don't forget the clabber. I never developed much of a taste for it myself but remember my granddad eating it for a snack on countless evenings. His favorite way was to crumble up leftover cornbread into a tall glass, mix in the clabber and eat it with an ice tea spoon. Great memories of relaxing after hard fun days.

Craig-TX

 

[Tman]

It was not as long ago as one would think, we would ride in the back of grandma's International Harvester truck to the Ice House, crossing the railroad tracks was our favorite part of the ride. When we sped across the tracks we would all scream out in glee as we bounced into the air. At the icehouse they would fill these wooden boxes with water and shove them into a walk in room behind a large wood and metal door, once they were frozen the ice blocks were hoisted about with large tongs and set in the back of the old International Harvester. Grandma would scratch her name on a pad for the man with tobacco stained overalls standing behind the wooden counter lined with brightly colored jars of candies and cookies, I would wait anxiously for the big door to open and try to steal a breeze of cold air in the hot South Texas Summer. Once the ice was loaded we would race twice as fast back to the unpainted house were grandma was a sharecropper, standing in the corner was a real ice box. The ice in the top and an sprinkling of items in the bottom around two gallon jars of milk, we used to think shaking the jars before we would drink the milk was a hassle. Every now and again once the mules were put away after plowing we would go after one of those blocks of ice, a hammer, fresh strawberries, and the cream from the top of the milk jars, and what seemed to be 10 pounds of rock salt we would create what can only be described as heaven. The cream, as we called it, was probably finished hours earlier but there was something magical about cranking the old pewter cast handle and watching the salty brine spill from a hole in the old nail keg.

We got older and came to the realization that we were dirt poor, times change, all of our kids are in college or working, we have flashy jobs and all the things my grandma never had. Now I realize that we were rich!!! All I want to do is turn that pewter handle one more time.

Thank you for the memories!

 

[la4angus]

You weren't Poor. You were Rich.


Quote>{We got older and came to the realization that we were dirt poor, times change, all of our kids are in college or working, we have flashy jobs and all the things my grandma never had. Now I realize that we were rich!!! All I want to do is turn that pewter handle one more time.}



Todays kids are poor. They don't know what good times are.

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

Tman --- I can really relate to that. Many times during my youth I'd go with my dad down to the ice house to buy crushed ice for making ice cream. He died a few years ago but out family still makes hand-cranked ice cream 4 or 5 times each summer. We especially like to make it with very ripe bananas and also with ripe peaches picked from our own trees (the kind of peaches that really have taste, and when you bite into them juice gets all over your chin). It makes for a really enjoyable summer evening and even the little tykes look forward to turning the crank. One thing is certain though, you can darn near go broke buying the true hand crank, wooden bucket ice cream makers these days. Man, are they ever "proud" of them.

 

[la4angus]

Arnold
You are right about that but:

One thing is certain though, you can darn near go broke buying the true hand crank, wooden bucket ice cream makers these days. Man, are they ever "proud" of them.

It beats the heck out of the others running round smoking dope.
Those old hand crank ones are the best

Go broke; the kids will be richer for it. I'm busted, but rich in ways most of todays kids will never know.

 

[Tman]

LA4 and Arnold you guys are right ! I spent way to many years running away from what was good and pure only to chase what glittered.

Christina thank you for the post, I really enjoyed the thoughts and think you are right to be pleased and proud of your venture.

Enjoy it and share it !

 

[R.T.]

There is nothing like sitting on a stool hands hard at work filling the bucket when suddenly a tail full of burrs catch you on the side of your head. Now what was I day-Dreaming about....

 

[Christina]

Before I was thanking you for all the dairy equipment, milking a cow info., but now I want to thank you for something far more important. I teach 4th-6th graders here in N. AZ. I have enjoyed the treasure in all your memoriesso much that I'm going to print this thread out and share it during history with my students. You are all gems in more ways than one.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Not being a milk drinker hard for me to relate to fascination with milk, especially raw milk...that 2 cents worth aside...

Even with milk projected to be $3 or $4 a gallon...would think it would take a lot of DIY gallons to recover the cost of processing of milk safely. And, LOTS of work to milk 2+ times a day, cleaning all equipment, etc. Plus, risk of getting kicked or stepped on...lol.

On the other hand, good luck with your milking adventure!

 

[la4angus]

Not being a milk drinker hard for me to relate to fascination with milk, especially raw milk...that 2 cents worth aside...

Even with milk projected to be $3 or $4 a gallon...would think it would take a lot of DIY gallons to recover the cost of processing of milk safely. And, LOTS of work to milk 2+ times a day, cleaning all equipment, etc. Plus, risk of getting kicked or stepped on...lol.

On the other hand, good luck with your milking adventure!

Similar to going Fishing or hunting.