The idea of a cow share was new to me until two weeks ago when Lucas and Danielle Martin, our friends from Barefoot Wholefoods, invited the kids and I to visit their lovely shared Jersey cow, Milly.
Milly has five families and lives on Lucas’s parents place about 15 minutes out of Orange. At the moment – in the thick of winter – she produces about 10 litres of milk every day and each family takes it turns to milk her daily. Every last drop is kept for personal use, with the participating families using their quota to make homemade cheeses, butters and yogurst, as well, of course, as drinking the beautiful milk itself.
Danielle tells me all about their prized and shared family member as she brings Milly up to the small yard for milking. She cleans her hands (and Milly’s teats) then rests her head on the cows’ warm side and begins to milk; “It’s like a morning meditation,” she says as the milk begins to ping into the metal bucket.
Lucas comes over to chat as Danielle and Milly do their thing together; “committing yourself to a process that must be finished, cannot be rushed and requires mindful handling and observation of such a large animal is both stimulating and humbling,” he says.
The Martins had been wanting to source their own raw milk for a while but with two kids and a business in town (the wonderful health food shop and Juice bar, Barefoot Wholefoods), they realised it would be tricky to get out here to milk Milly every day.
“Then we started chatting to one of our customers in the shop,” Lucas says, “we mentioned we were interested in starting a dairy cow share and found we instantly had a confirmed partner. From there it took less than a fortnight and we had five families ready to go.”
The group’s members all share common motivations for being involved, and of course, have their own individual priorities and interests. For Lucas and Danielle, it’s about finding ways to remove as much processing (and large industry) as possible from their food, controlling the ethical treatment of their livestock and maximizing the quality of the food they eat. But another shared motivation amongst the group is to provide their children with a clear understanding of where their food comes from.
The physical and financial management of Milly is equally shared by the five families and daily milkings are divided among the group by means of an online roster.
“Milly’s calf will be raised for slaughter,” Lucas continues, “though when that is has yet to be decided. This is as much for the sake of demonstrating to our children the realities behind eating meat as it is a way for us to know how the welfare of the animal that becomes our meal has been maintained.”
Danielle’s Jersey milk and clotted cream loaf
Note from me – I don’t usually post recipes here without an image but we’d already consumed our beautiful Jersey milk by the time Lucas sent this recipe and I haven’t had a chance to give it a go yet. That said, these guys are seriously good cooks and I know it’s going to be beautiful so will be baking it this week and adding a picture after.
Note from Danielle – This is a slightly sweet loaf (almost like a brioche). It didn’t last long in our house but it would be a great loaf for French Toast.
Sponge (another term for a pre-fermentation technique)
225ml Jersey milk
50mls clotted cream (I just scraped off the cream that formed on top of Milly’s milk)
175gm bakers flour
1 tspn yeast
Bring milk and cream to boiling point and set aside until tepid. Top up with warm water if you need too to bring the liquid volume up to 275mls. Combine the yeast, and flour together in a large bowl, make a well in the center and stir through the milk and cream. Let sit for 2-4 hours or until the mixture froths and collapses in the middle.
Dough
1tbsp raw honey
200gm bakers flour
1tspn salt
Add the honey to the sponge & beat well. Add the flour and salt and mix to form a sticky dough. Knead the dough by stretching to work the gluten then set it aside in a warm spot for 15 mins. Repeat the kneading. Set aside for another 15 mins. Knead again then cover and leave for another 30 minutes. Roll dough into rectangle, roll up tightly and place seam side down in tin. Cover and leave until increased in size by half.
Preheat oven to 220C. Add a tray of water to the bottom of the oven to create steam (this will give a fantastic crust). Bake for 20mins then reduce heat to 200C and bake for a further 20-25 mins.
Sounds like such a wonderful idea sharing a cow and therefore you get to experience the process without a huge commitment. All your stories make me want to live in Orange….(that won’t happen but it sounds so lovely). Regards Kathy A, Brisbane, Australia
Hi Kathy, thanks so much for your comment. Maybe you can come and visit us here one day! Sophiex
Magic. I would love to do this one day. Hopefully one day soon. I love the idea of sharing the work and product, too. How special.
Heidi xo
Hi Heidi, isn’t it the best idea? I tried Milly’s milk too and it was amazing with the best cap of cream up the top. Yummo.
Sophie
This is an amazing concept Sophie, I love it. We have often thought about a milking goat just for our own use. The idea is yet to become reality! This recipe sounds really good too…I would love to see a photo if you bake it x
Hi Jane, will definitely post a pic as soon as I get to baking that loaf! Maybe you can find somebody to share a goat with over your way!!! sophiex
Thank you for the post Sophie. Hopefully it will inspire others to find creative ways to reconnect with their food.
I love your blog Sophie. Thanks for the inspiration. Light, happy….enriching.
Em
It sounds very dreamy and creamy. How do you talk to your kids about how Milly’s baby – there is no milk without a calf being born and then taken from its mum, all so that humans can drink the calf’s milk??? I think about this with my kid. It just sounds so mean every time I imagine having that conversation. And so unnecessary or greedy… Thoughts? Also the slaughter of the unwanted calf – don’t the children see the hypocrisy of it? They are kids with a mamma. I think the death stuff is quite abstract to children, but getting down to doing it is all too real. De-boning and cutting off a head etc. I am struggling thru these dreams of homesteading, and the reality of it all. I want cheese and sausage but it sounds so gross to kill just for the taste of certain food when there is plenty of other choices of things to eat, and not all so violent. Help!
Hi Shannon
This was one of our primary objectives in getting Milly. Milly hasn’t had her calf separated from her (for the first time in her life!)as there is more than enough for her calf and our families. We don’t see it as being greedy & currently if we stopped milking her she would undoubtedly end up with mastitis. Yes, the calf will be raised for meat when he is of suitable age & size. The kids aren’t of the age to understand any hypocrisy associated with this but it does give them an opportunity to evaluate the situation. They’ve seen many animal carcasses over their short lives & the time may come where they decide not to participate in eating meat.
In the meantime we’re trying to instil a more ethical way to eat meat. When asked the question in The Omnivores Dilemma, animal activist & ethicist, Peter Singer, could not see a reason not to eat meat if the animal was raised in a situation where that animal was allowed to behave as it would in the “wild” & slaughtered in a quick & humane way.
A lot of domesticated animal species would no longer exist in our modern world if it weren’t for farming & our consumption of their products, so Peter Singer posed the question that is it better for that animal to exist in an ethical environment than to not have existed at all? If an animal is raised in an unethical environment, such as caged chickens, then it is not in the best interests of that chicken to exist. And there’s obviously a loooong way to go with regards to that but for us that was part of the incentive to remove ourselves from industrial food production. It’s not always easy and people’s philosophies change & grow over time. This is what we feel we can do at this time to address the ethical issues of the dairy industry.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply. A dilemna indeed, and I am still living and eating on the hypocritical side of it all. It’s real nice to hear Milly and calf haven’t been separated. Grateful to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks again.
I LOVE the idea of a shared cow. Perfect for busy families. I hope one day to do something similar. In the mean time I’m lucky enough to pop into a local dairy to sneak raw milk. But doing the milking myself would be lovely – and having to do it only once or twice a week would be even better 🙂
Gorgeous pictures Sophie.
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Just popping over here from Manger. Love yor place and your posts and looking froward to coming back! I am in Massachusetts, USA
I love this idea! We had farm stay visitors here recently who really wanted to buy raw milk and we had explained we couldn’t sell it to them because of the rules. But if they own a part of the cow or goat …what can the authorities say, after all you allowed to consume your own raw milk , just not sell it.
A good solution to what is actually a common problem for people wanting to consume good food- just getting around the authorities.
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