I am loving eating local food.  If I can buy it directly from the farmer--so much the funner. Recently, I got to feel more personally the ups and downs of being closely connected to the farmers who help me eat well.  In the process, I was reminded of the importance of looking ahead a harvest or ten.

Milk

  One of the highlights of my week is stopping by a farm on my way home to buy milk.  Jersey milk is soft and smooth and full of flavor.  And the cream! So rich with  Vitamin A it is yellow/tan.  The butter from this cream inspires me to make sourdough English Muffins. I’ve been playing with making yoghurt and a little bit of cheese. Ice cream!  Whipped cream for waffles and berries!

My milk farmer is a joy to visit. The cows, Madeline and Laura like to listen to NPR while they stand patiently to be milked, by hand.  While she milks, Susan often has something she wants to discuss: health, politics, education, cheese-making, dog-training.    Her farm is a highlight for children who can take a turn at milking, play with dogs, collect eggs, and maybe help bottle-feed the calves.  It’s a wholistic adventure, buying milk from her.

Recently, she told me she had bad news:  The cows were in heat. I didn’t get it at first.  Isn’t that what cows do?  Why would that matter?   That meant they weren’t pregnant.  (Yep, took biology, knew that)  Not pregnant means they won’t have a baby in 11 months.  (Yep, knew that, too)  Not pregnant in June/July means it’s too late to breed them for spring or even early summer babies, followed by milk. Midsummer calving puts the whole year’s cycle off and probably for several years into the future.  My milk farmer had to make the hard decision NOT to breed her cows this year and NOT to have milk next year.  If she had more cows, chances are that at least several of them would have conceived.  But then, it wouldn’t be the same experience. The milk might still be delicious and nutritious, but the whole experience would not feed my soul like it does now.

When I  find some other way to get milk this coming  year, I’ll appreciate it all the more, since I understand a little bit better the ups and downs of farming and of feeding me.

Garlic

My own garlic harvest was a disappointment this year.  I could have reverted to grocery store garlic, but having my own for most of the past decade made that seem less than wonderful.  I asked around and found Eric and Joanna Reuter of Chert Hollow Farm, who would be happy to sell me some garlic--both for eating and planting.  A lovely drive later, I met my neighbors. 

Eric and Joanna grow lots of produce.  From the way they treat their garlic, though,  you might think that’s all they do.  11 varieties.  Carefully labelled and hanging in their living room like art.  They know their varieties and have great fondness for a few of them.  They taught me a lot about garlic--growing it and eating it.  I left with a sac of allium excellence, a load of advice,  and a re-ordered priority:  plant the best and eat the rest.  It’s an investment in the quality of next year’s harvest and the next. . .