Tonight C and I discussed whether it not to have a milk cow on the property. Here is what we came up with:
Pros: fresh milk every day. Fresh butter, cream, we could make cheese. Lots and lots of fresh yummy dairy goodness.
Cons: This is where it gets interesting…
C: we would have to get up and milk that sucker every day
Me: you know, I wouldn’t mind that so much, I think I could do that possibly. My issue is, we would have to do something with that milk every day, and I’m just not sure we are the people to do that
C: ya, but it’s really not that much. It’s what like 1-2 gallons of milk per day? I think we could handle that. Why don’t you look it up.
Me: (while looking at my phone) according to Midwest dairy “Most dairy cows are milked two to three times per day. On average, a cow will produce six to seven gallons of milk each day.”
C: SIX TO SEVEN GALLONS A DAY!!!! That’s insane. What would you possibly do with six to seven gallons a day?!?!? That’s like an entire 50 gallon drum a week. Christ how did the pilgrims starve to death?!?! All they needed was a freaking cow.
At this point I am laughing so hard I am in tears.
C: (in a much calmer voice) maybe we should just find a friend who has a cow.
I read an article by mary jane (who has many amazing books out about “backyard cows” as well as a very informative magazine) She talked about how its perfectly healthy to milk a cow just once a day, even tho most suggest otherwise. And with one milking, it would be a significantly less amount of milk to deal with. More manageable! You should check out her book, milk cow kitchen! It has a ton of recipes for cheeses and other dairy products, and a ton of information!