Got Milk

Weaning day has come and gone and we're all starting to settle in to a new routine of milking morning and night. Although we've only milked four times so far this season it all feels pretty familiar and we're getting right back into the swing of things. Including the 5AM wake up.



Our seasoned milkers from last year know what its all about and have been excellent so far. They hopped right up on the milking stand because of course they get a bowl of grain all to themselves up there. The newbies are doing pretty well too - although they're a little wary of going up the ramp to the parlour having some "mentors" to follow up seems to do the trick.

Heading out to the barn for the first milking

Mamas waiting to head up to the milking stand

So far our milking efforts have proven pretty fruitful and we already have over 45 litres of sweet tasting milk. By the time we make cheese tomorrow for the first time we will have about 70 litres to work with! That is a big jump from the small amount we had last year so we will be keeping busy.

We have a "big" bulk tank that holds 60 gallons of milk; this tank size is actually very small by dairy standards and was imported all the way from Slovenia where milking smaller dairy animals is more common. The bulk tank cools the milk to 2 degrees celsius in less than 20 minutes where it is stored until we have enough milk for a batch of cheese. This was a big purchase for us last year that we had help with from some grant money so we were excited to try it out for the first time.



We're spending the day today prepping the cheese kitchen to make our first batch of cheese tomorrow morning. We figure we'll start with something familiar and make a few wheels using our "tomme" recipe that we had good luck with last year. We're hoping for similar results this time around!

Go Time

Henry & Winston enjoying each other's company (finally!)

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity here on the farm. Since lambing finished we've been pushing to get everything ready to start milking and all of the last minute prep to have our facility ready for the first batches of cheese.

We've had the health inspector out for a tour and as of last week are officially able to legally make and sell cheese using our own milk.

Eleanor & her lamb spend their days in the shade of the barnyard as she recovers from mastitis

The milking parlour is set, the sheep are trained to go in and out from pasture and the lambs are being weaned as we speak. Tonight will be the first milking of the year. We are excited and nervous - looking forward to the start of the season but trying to anticipate anything that might go wrong.




We have a few last minute jobs to take care of before we milk tonight but for the most part we'll take a bit of a break for the day and keep a close eye on the lambs. They aren't too pleased to be away from their mamas but over the next day or two will quickly learn to enjoy their freedom. On the other hand, the mamas seem pretty relaxed about the whole thing and seem glad to pass the responsibility for their lambs on to us.

No doubt the first milking will be a challenge. Half of the ewes have been milked before and are old pros at the milking routine. For the other half though this is their first year milking so we will certainly need to do some convincing. Hopefully though it won't take long for them to figure things out - especially since they get a treat of grain while we work!




Starting in the next few days we'll spend two days a week in the cheese kitchen making wheel after wheel of sheep's cheese. We will continue to perfect our "tomme" recipe that we worked on last year and have a few new recipes to try out. On the list as well are feta and manchego, both classic sheep's cheeses.

Once July rolls around and the cheese has aged at least two months we'll have the first taste - and will certainly need some volunteer taste testers!

Oh, Henry!

This past Sunday on a beautiful sunny afternoon we welcomed this handsome fella to our flock. The now familiar trailer arrived from Best Baa Farm and off he came. Henry is one year old and is the same age as our "teenagers" who he will be spending next fall and winter with.

Henry will be proud papa a year from now to our second generation of lambs (grandchildren to Winston and our original flock of 10 mamas). Maybe when they're mamas our first six lambs born in 2011, now teenagers, will officially "grow up".





So far we know he likes a good scratch and a bite of grain and isn't shy to tell us he would like to join the flock already! For now, at least for a few more days, he is bunking in the pen next to Winston so they can meet each other through the gate without any pressure.


Nice to meet you, Henry!