Stories for Sylia and Sophie, too: So that no matter where this life takes you, you remember where you came from. The week after you were born, we had the coldest weather I have ever experienced, probably the coldest weather Grammie and Pop have ever experienced, especially in Missouri. Your Daddy and Pop were busy bringing loads of hay home before the weather hit, and your Grammie, Uncle Eli, and I were taking care of our cattle at the Lewis Farm when we got a call from Aunt Emma's friend Hannah. Earlier that morning we were eating breakfast when we noticed that the calves knocked the hotwire down from around the pond. We planned to put it back up, but the temperatures were dropping, and we needed to get to the other farm to break ice on the pond so that the cows there could get a good drink. But one of our milk cows at home, decided to break her own ice. Back at home, Emma was up to the top of her legs in ice water. She noticed that one of the cows had fallen through the pond and she rushed down to the water, thinking she could help the cow get her feet underneath her and climb out. Only, it didn't work, and by the time we made it to help, Aunt Emma had been in the water for over half an hour. We didn't know she had been in the water the whole time, otherwise, Grammie would have gotten her get out immediately. I pealed my coat and gloves off and threw them on the pond bank. Uncle Eli did the same. If we were going to be soaked in ice water, we didn't need to be soaked and heavy. Grammie started trying to get ahold of Pop, but he didn't have any service on his cell phone. Uncle Eli went to get the tractor out of the barn, and we dug down in the icy mud to try to get a chain under the cow. The cow's name was Tippi. A few weeks earlier, Aunt Madelaine smashed her hand under the gooseneck hitch of the trailer. So, with one good hand, Aunt Emma freezing in the water (literally), and Uncle Eli trying to keep the tractor from sliding down the icy pond bank on top of us, we weren't making much progress. Hannah helped Grammie put some logs under the tires to keep the tractor from rolling, but every time we pulled on Tippi we thought we were going to break her legs or her neck. We didn't know whether we should scream or cry. We, ladies, did a little of both. Finally, Pop made it home, and Grammie rushed Emma to the house to warm her up. She had been in the water way too long, but in all of the excitement, we didn't realize how long it had been. Pop got here and quickly yanked the ratchet straps off of the load of hay he was hauling. The cow was either going to die in the pond, or die pulling her out, but pulling her out was the only option for saving her. Within a few minutes we had her out of the pond. Just then, our Uncle Jason and Cousin Morgan showed up to help. Grammie frantically started calling for me from the house to come in and warm up. Emma's feet were not looking good, and Grammie was concerned mine might be the same way. Emma's feet looked like they were covered in black and blue bruises. We slowly started warming them up with lukewarm water. After about an hour, she started to get coloring back, but it was several days before all of her feeling returned. We were so thankful she didn't have any frost bite. While all of that was happening, Pop, Uncle Jason, Morgan, Eli, and Hannah hauled Tippi to the barn and set up a makeshift hot box. They put two sawhorses on either side of her, draped her in tarps, and set a space heater up to blow under the tarps. The top tarp was silver, and the kids decided Tippi looked like she was wrapped in tin foil. From there, the hot box was referred to as the Baked Potato. Tippi was not in great shape. She was soaked through and shivering, unable to move her legs. We settled her in the best we could, but we didn't have much hope for her. Meanwhile, we heard stories of other farmers in the area losing cows and calves to the dangerous temps. We left her to warm up and headed on to take care of the rest of the farm chores. That night after milking, we checked on Tippi and she was bright eyed and chewing her cud. A sign that she was alert and somewhat comfortable. This was encouraging, and we headed to the house for a late dinner. Exhausted, Grammie went ahead and fixed the dinner she had laid out earlier that morning. We ate brisket in style, and finished the night with some chocolate covered strawberries that some good friends brought us. Eli's friend Caleb came to stay with us for a few days to help out with the farm work, and we decided to close the store for the week so that we could stay ahead on keeping the livestock fed and watered. The next morning, Tippi was sitting up, eating and drinking, but she couldn't stand on her own. By Monday, we decided if she was ever going to stand again, we were going to have to stand her ourselves. Pop brought the tractor up, and we put one ratchet strap behind her front legs and one strap in front of her back legs. We raised her up with the front end loader, and she was just hanging limp in the air. She looked pretty pathetic. We started rubbing her legs down to help her gain circulation, and after a few minutes she finally pushed against her back legs. She stood, with the support of the straps, for two or three minutes. This felt like a huge win. We continued raising her and lowering her every night, and after a few days we started doing it in the morning, too. Each time, she stood a little bit longer, and towards the end of the week she could stand for several hours at a time, but eventually she would flop back down, unable to stand up on her own. Pop joked that Tippi wasn't standing up on purpose because she was the warmest cow on the whole farm, and she knew once she got better she would have to go back out in the field. After a week of raising her up and getting her feet set underneath her, we were afraid she was never going to stand on her own, and we were starting to get discouraged, but every night Pop would say, "I've got a good feeling about this," and every night she would make just a little bit more progress. A week later, on a Monday morning, just after Pop got back from taking steers and hogs to the processor, he walked into the barn, and Tippi was standing there, bright eyed, and looking straight at him.
She continued getting up and down for the next day or two, and a few nights later we turned her back out with the milk cows. Her calf, Nip, had been nursing off of other momma cows while Tippi was off in the barn healing up. They found each other, and continued on like nothing ever happened. The next morning, Tippi was the first cow in the milk barn, and Pop milked her into the bucket for pig milk. We'd like to think she learned her lesson, but with her cow brain being what it is, we doubt she came out of the experience much better off, but with the effort put forth even when we wanted to give up, the rest of us learned a lot of life lessons in the barn that week.
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When you take out the middle man, you become the middle man.
In traditional agriculture you raise a crop to a certain stage, and then pass it on to the next person- the milk coop, the grain mill, stocker cattle operations, etc. Direct market farms are involved in every aspect of food production until it is in your hands. That means we have to plan for raising the livestock, scheduling processing dates, delivering the livestock to the processor, bringing them back from the processor, managing freezer inventory, and getting them marketed to you. Hours each week are spent judging supply and demand- often we get it just right, but sometimes we miss. We have processing dates scheduled on a bi-weekly basis. We leave loaded and come home loaded, dropping off the beef and hogs for the next pickup and bringing home the meat from the last drop off. It can be exhausting and overwhelming, but it can also be rewarding and freeing. We don’t farm traditionally because traditionally wasn’t working for us. Traditional wasn’t connecting people directly with their food supply. Traditional wasn’t providing any profit. Traditional wasn’t going to sustain our farm for the next generation. We believe food decisions should be in the hands of the people growing it and eating it. Those decisions require many different hats to be worn by a small group of people. Between beef, pork, and chickens, over 1500 animals will be processed off of our farm this year, and by the end of the week our goal is to have every animal on paper with a family assigned to it. We are close to that goal. The rest of the year will be spent caring for and coordinating the land, animal, and people involved in our operation. At the end of every year we ask, “Can we do more?” This year we’re operating off of “less is more.” We are expanding our hog production by 50 percent, but the rest of our energy will be spent on putting more focus and effort toward the things we are currently doing. When you become the bottom man, the middle man, and the top man you have to make sure you don’t have any gaps. That’s our goal this year- to fill in the gaps. What are some of your goals for this year? The time on the dash displayed 3 o'clock as Mom and I pulled out of the drive. I dropped a quick comment in our vendor group to let our market manager know we were on our way, albeit thirty minutes behind our arrival goal.
We had spent the day milking and choring, typing recipes for our bundles, gathering market materials, writing on chalkboards, bagging bundles, loading meat, and trying to stay cool in the midst of the excitement of the first Tuesday night market to take place with the Neosho Farmers’ Market. As we arrived, volunteers were busy setting up tents, hanging signs, marking the pavement, and working to get everything in perfect order before the opening bell rang. We hurriedly got everything set up and in place with help from neighboring vendors. The market community once again rallied together to make sure everyone was ready to welcome our guests. Standing there with fifteen minutes until the bell rang, I tried to take it all in. Behind the perfectly placed tents, the color-coded coolers, and the beautiful displays of vegetables were the hours. No, days. Actually, years of dedication and passion... I tried to put myself in your shoes wondering what your perspective is of the market. Here are a few things you might not know… You are looking at the women who turned the rows in her garden a different direction this year to try to prevent flooding, the women who tried and tasted green bean after green bean to provide you with the most flavorful bean available. She’s so proud of that fact that she’s going to share it with you as she bundles your veggies. You are perusing the baked goods of the mother who called her son on the way home on Monday, asking him to start baking. With the first ever evening market coming to our town, she was not going to let you all down. You are talking to the farmer who brought that calf in on a cold, freezing night by the fire, dried it with a towel, and kept it warm until it was strong enough to go out on its own again. For two years, he or she cared for it- providing fresh pasture, keeping mineral in front of it, and dealing with the sweat and tears that come along with raising cattle. The price you see on the chalkboard does not touch the value of the hours and passion put into that animal. The producers believe in the value of the products they are giving you. You are enjoying the hard work of a dedicated and self-less couple who for 10 years have worked to make a Tuesday evening market a reality with no compensation other than the joy that comes from bettering their community. For them, that is priceless. With that thought in mind, here are three things about our market that I believe are priceless:
The food is simple. The market growers put a lot of thought into their farming practices, and they seek to grow food their family would feel good about eating.
The food is grown to be nutritious and strengthening for your family. Healthy soils creates healthy food, which translates over into healthy bodies. Speaking for our family, our goal is to start with the soil when it comes to your family’s health.
Price is something we try not to focus on at the market, but I do think it's important to educate consumers about why the prices at markets and farm stores vary from those in a standard grocery store. One, the quality is oftentimes superior because of the farming practices and the freshness of the products. More than that, direct market farmers run their products through formulas to find out what they need to charge based on their time, energy, and input costs. That's not happening in mainstream agriculture because farmers don't control their prices. The result is a broken system where farmers are barely breaking even or completely going under; while you are being conditioned to believe food should be cheap. The products at the market are not subsidized by the government which is another reason why farmers' markets lead to greater food security. I will dig a little deeper into this idea in a later blog post. Shopping at a market requires a different mindset than eating out or shopping at a standard grocery store. Let’s break this down- the average family of four spends at least $25 going through a fast food drive-thru, but for the price of two trips through a drive-thru you can get a week’s worth of tasty, wholesome meat for your family- a week of meat. What a blessing. I like that perspective. So now I must ask, what’s your perspective? When you are standing in the middle of the market center, looking around at the individuals and families growing your food, do you see what is going on behind the tents? Thank you to everyone who came out to the Tuesday night market, and thank you to the Saturday market regulars. You are a blessing to all of us! The Tuesday night market was relaxed and refreshing. We'd love to see you all again next week! If you are not a Neosho Farmers' Market regular, you can find the market across from the Newton County Library every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon, and now on Tuesdays from 4 to 7 p.m. Follow them on Facebook to stay updated. How do we get it all done?
You’re probably asking yourself that same question. Life feels crazy sometimes, doesn’t it? Somedays our family and farm run like a well oiled machine. Most days, our life feels like a few cogs have slipped and someone jammed an extra gear in there somewhere. When everything is running as it should each gear represents one of our family members with each cog acting as that individual’s roles, responsibilities, and talents. When someone gets sick, a gear slips. When something unexpected happens, things get jammed. When the world falls apart, the whole machine goes to pot and we have to dig deep into our resources to put the machine back together, hopefully making improvements and smoothing the kinks out as we go along. That’s what happened a few months ago. Our little machine blew up, and we are still working to put it all back together. Our product demand went through the roof. Our projected output suddenly wasn’t enough to keep up with the demand. Each of our family member’s gears got taxed to the limit of what they could stand. People rubbed us until there just wasn’t any grease left to keep everything oiled and running smooth. There were times where we just wanted to shut down. • • When I was in college at the U of A, I took a required agricultural mechanics class, and it proved to be the most practical class I never thought I needed. In that class, I learned gears are actually a type of lever. When small drives big, more force is created. When big drives small, more speed is created. When Covid-19 hit and the local food demand surged, we had a big gear jammed in where a little one used to be. Our world went spinning so fast that we couldn’t keep up. Rather than just shut the machine down all together, we leveraged our resources and kept it running until we found time to make our needed improvements (we’re still working on them- continual maintenance). Dad always says, “Keep the main things, the main thing.” For us, our main things in this life are our values- our faith, our family, and our farm. What you all see from those values is our output. Underneath the surface, they are three seemingly little gears that create a powerful force. The machine doesn’t operate without all three of those values working together in that order. We’re still making improvements. We’re still finding ways to make the machine run a little smoother, but when things start running out of control we have to remind ourselves:
We hope these words can encourage you to make the improvements needed to get your life up and running again, or maybe your life is running fine, and you just needed this little reminder to keep everything operating smoothly. Wherever you are at in life, stay true to your values and use your God-given talents to be the best you can be. At the end of the day, even if we don’t get it all done, at least we can know we produced our maximum output, and we left nothing laying around in the tool box. Big, pretty eyes, long lashes and the sweet disposition of the little brown Jersey cow wins hearts over easily. Our Jerseys range in color from light brown to black (with occasional splashes of white spots), exhibit deep dished faces, stand small in stature, and weigh around 900 pounds. Jerseys are excellent grazers and are extremely efficient. They produce more pounds of milk per pound of body weight than any other dairy breed. They also produce more butterfat than other breeds, making their milk extra sweet and delicious. Big, pretty eyes, long lashes and the sweet disposition of the little brown Jersey cow wins hearts over easily. Grazing efficiency is sought after in our herd. As we are a grazing dairy we love the small Jersey cows that can perform well on pasture. To insure our cows are healthy and have long, productive lives on our dairy, we breed for traits such as strong feet and legs to carry them from fields to the milk parlor twice daily, wide muzzles to make the most of every bite they take, large barrels to store plenty of forage for them to convert into delicious milk, and strong, tight udders that will last for years in our system. However, besides selecting for traits that will insure cows have long, healthy lives, we have been selecting for specific milk traits for several years. Not only do we want cows in our herd that produce the most delicious and nutritious milk and cream for our customers, but we also have diligently been breeding for genetics that make the milk easily digestible for all our customers to enjoy. How have you done that, you may ask? What we have done is select for the A2A2 gene. Letters and numbers together in “A2A2” may remind some of you of algebra and cause overwhelming feelings, so let me break it down for you simply. Milk is composed of three parts: cream/fat, whey, and milk solids. We are interested in the solids when talking about the A2 gene. The solids contain proteins which are made up of amino acids. The beta-casein protein effects the digestibility of the milk. Many years ago, a mutation occurred in the amino acid chain which produced a peptide called BCM7. This BCM7 peptide spread through cattle mating in Europe. It is most prominent in the Holstein breed though other dairy breeds were impacted as well. Cows that carry the BCM7 peptide are known as A1 cows, and cows who lack the peptide are known as A2 cows. To put it plainly, cows WITH the mutation are A1 cows. Why does A1 and A2 matter? According to research by Keith Woodford, PhD, professor of farm management and agribusiness at Lincoln University in New Zealand, the BCM7 peptide (A1) has pro-inflammatory properties and some evidence has shown the peptide even contributes to chronic diseases that plague society, including autoimmune conditions, heart disease, and autism, as well as some neurological disorders. On a side note, the French in their culinary arrogance (or artistry) have always refused to use A1 milk in their cooking because they regard it as inferior. I wonder why... Here’s how BCM7 (A1 milk) impacts consumers. BCM7 is not absorbed greatly into the human bloodstream of people with healthy GI tracts. However, when A1 milk is consumed by individuals with sensitive or poor GI function, BCM7 may significantly contribute to worsening the disease process and causing intense GI tract disturbances. Research has shown that when milk is drunk from a cow that is A2A2 (meaning the dam and sire of the cow were BOTH A2 cattle) there are interesting results. For example, Dr. Woodford, without any change in exercise routine or diet (other than drinking A2A2 milk and consuming A2A2 cheese), experienced no digestive disturbances and saw his body “leaning” out, which is not typical when consuming milk. Furthermore, many individuals consume sheep and goat milk as it is easier to digest and does not contain the BCM7 peptide. A2A2 cow’s milk tastes no different than the A1A1 or A1A2 cow’s milk, but it has the same benefits as drinking goat or sheep milk. It is easier to digest because the proteins are easily absorbed by the body, leading to less GI tract disturbances. To clarify, when describing a cow containing the BCM7 peptide, we refer to her as A1; cows lacking the peptide are known as A2. This is a genetic distinction, a cow can be homozygous for A2 (mother and father both contributed the A2 gene) and she will be A2A2, or the cow could have had one parent that had the BCM7 peptide (A1) and one parent that did not, creating an A1A2 cow. A cow that inherited the BCM7 peptide from both parents is an A1A1 cow. Because we value our customer’s health and want everyone to enjoy our milk, we are well on the journey to transition our herd completely to A2A2. This has been an undertaking that has taken us many years, and we have only been able to do so by obtaining genetics from herds that are related to the original cattle on the Jersey Isle in Europe. On this isle, monks bred Jersey cows in seclusion and kept them unadulterated from the BCM7 peptide influence. We have obtained some genetics from these “pure” Jerseys, and for several years have been making the transition to an A2A2 herd to improve the quality and benefit of our milk for our customers. Many of our customers have not been able to drink milk in years, but on our dairy with 100% raw, mostly A2A2 milk, many individuals are able to enjoy drinking milk, nature’s most perfect food source, again. We love that. So, besides loving the little brown cows for their sweetness, we love that we are returning our herd to the original Jersey genetics that provide healthy, easily digestible A2A2 milk that our customers can enjoy. Some information was gleaned from: “a2a2milk.com”
“Madelaine, stop marketing. We can’t keep up with the demand,” was the gist of the text I received last Monday as the nation entered into panic.
There’s a full disclaimer about that statement at the bottom of this post, but for now let’s roll on. • • No, actually, we’ll address it right now because it’s a perfect tie-in to the rest of what I have to say. “Marketing” is the catch all phrase for what I do on a daily basis, but I don’t actually consider anything I do “marketing.” I build relationships, and I believe that with my whole heart. Why? Because, everything we do in life is about relationships. Our farm depends on relationships:
This week, that reality was brought home to us. There have been tears (some of us may have cried more than others). There has been yelling (we’re just being real here). There has been stress (yes). There has been laughter (it’s the best medicine). There has been gratitude (mmhmmm). There has been ecstaticism (oh yeah). Every night has consisted of late night farm planning meetings to figure out how we can increase production while staying true to our farming and food values and keeping in mind our demands at the farm, the upcoming farmers’ markets, and our whole and half beef and hog commitments. Family members have bagged meat until midnight while others have awoken at 4:30 to fire up the barn, milk the cows, and start filling jars again. We’ve dug into our personal meat supply and found ways to stretch our proteins a little thinner in recipes in order to provide for our CHD customer families. We’ve gone through two months worth of new jars in the span of two weeks. We’ve spent hours on the phone with our processor trying to fit in extra beef and pork. Mom even pulled a trailer full of livestock to the processor for you all (now, that’s true love). And you have taken it all. • • You’ve taken it with patience. You’ve taken it with grace. You’ve taken it with culinary creativity beyond the ability of most renowned chefs. Yes- life is about relationships, and we’re grateful for our relationship with you. Our biggest takeaway from the last two weeks is the importance of loyalty and the tangibility of hope. Some things will be put on hold around here for a bit. We temporarily are not adding anymore meat or egg customers as we focus on loyalty to the families already a part of our farm’s community, but we welcome additional milk customers as the spring grass comes on and more cows calve and enter the milking herd. While the rest of the world slows down, our farm will speed up to meet the demand of a simplified world, however temporary this new simplicity may be. We love the returned focus to families, the new creations happening in the kitchens, the hands held around the dinner tables, and we will be doing everything within our power to make that aspect of this “abnormal” time everyone’s new normal. Here’s what you all have to look forward to as you see that happen:
The list could go on, but those are the things coming to mind at the moment. All of those bullet points make up our continued loyalty to you. As long as you are here for us, we’ll be here for you. That’s a promise from our family to yours. That’s a promise that transcends generations. That’s a promise that goes beyond national crises. With tears in my eyes, I want to thank you all for your loyalty and your support. When you begin to recognize that our farm operates on a mutual dependency between our family and yours, you accept the reality that one of us cannot thrive without the other. What I am saying is- we couldn’t be Creamy Hills Dairy without you. • • All right, now hand me a tissue. Oh wait. We ran out. I remember as a little girl Dad pulling into the field, turning the truck off, and getting out to count the cows. I always wondered why we didn’t just count them from the truck. For one thing, I could see them better from my vantage point in the truck seat anyway. Without my prompting he would say, “If we get out and walk through them, they’ll get used to us.”
To this day, he still does this- gets out, walks through them, counts them, and then (my favorite part) he stands there and watches them. I was going to tell you how I discovered a rare cookbook in my Aunt’s kitchen the night before my cousin got married, and then I was going to explain how everyone had to pull me away from it’s beautiful pages and back to wrapping silverware and arranging flowers, but instead, I’ll just cut right to the chase.
We are here to talk about salting your steaks. I came across this section in The Food Lab cookbook when I was flipping through the pages a few months back. The timing was perfect because Dad had just laid out some steaks to thaw for lunch the next day. I scanned through the steak section reading him bits and pieces, and he said, “Let’s try it.” So, we did. Here are some interesting things you may have not known about salting steaks (At least, we didn’t know them):
If you are going to salt your steaks (which you should), here is the process Lopez-Alt recommends (and the one we have been enjoying):
That’s all folks! Have you done any experimenting with salting or marinating your steaks? What advice could you share with us all? Victoria and Taylor began their childhood romance playing cowboys and Indians in the woods of our farms.
Taylor, convinced he was a half-blood native, recently discovered, much to his disappointment, he is actually Russian. We have created all sorts of stories about his ancestors being Russian spies, but that is another story for another day. Winter Egg Production
One of our most sought after products from the farm is our pastured eggs. With the hens' diet mainly consisting of forage and an added dose of Creamy Hills' milk, the golden goodness inside the egg tastes nothing short of exceptional. The sunny yellow yolks of our eggs have been known to turn a white cake yellow, and they are a fantastic addition to breakfast or a royale burger any day. We know our customers love them because we do, too. However, certain times of the year eggs are in short supply. While this is a problem for those of us who want eggs, this cease in egg production comes as a welcome relief for hens. |
Our Farm's Voice
Hello! I'm Madelaine Paige, and I'm so glad we've met. I love mornings, milk cows, and musings. Archives
July 2021
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