Back in July I got to visit a small farm in Lake City Florida, called Shepherd’s Hill Farm. I have been buying raw dairy from this farm for awhile. The farmers are kind enough to drive all the way to Jacksonville every Wednesday and deliver fresh food to their customers. I read on their blog that they allowed people to come and tour their farm, so I decided I wanted to go and see how everything was done!
A really cool thing to mention is on their website they talk about how they started their own farming experience. It all started with health issues (go figure) and a doctor telling them “if you don’t change something, you will be dead in two years”. They ditched soy milk, white flour, white sugar and processed foods. And started growing their own food. They believe real food can heal and it has!
This is Tiare!
First things first right when we arrived, it was time to milk the cows. We got to experience the entire milking process. Each cow lines up and waits her turn to be milked. They have a whole process for this and the cows have to be milked every…single…day! They cleaned the utters with soap and after they finished milking, with iodine. Or maybe it was the other way around. I'‘m not exactly sure haha. In my mind, I was expecting that they had to milk each cow by hand, but they had these special milking machines to do it for them.
They told us the cows eat a natural diet of grass and are supplemented with alfalfa, molasses and apple cider vinegar. How amazing is that! You can tell the cows are grass-fed because for one they were lean and not overweight like grain fed cows and secondly their milk was a beautiful yellow color, not a pale white like most conventional milk you find in stores. No grains, no antibiotics, just the way it should be! REAL, raw, nutrient dense milk straight from the cow!
This is Ella!
After milking we went into a parlor and had some of the most amazing homemade Kombucha. I have never been a big fan of Kombucha, but this was ice cold and it tasted better than any other kind I have tried. It was super refreshing as we were pretty thirsty!
Next up- labeling the milk jugs and bottling the milk. I was in charge of the labeling and my fiance was in charge of filtering the milk and bottling. We made 19 gallons! This is definitely hard work, especially having to do it every day!
After the cows, we got to tour the rest of the farm and we got to see their new baby chicks, baby ducks, sheep, chickens, dogs, all the other cows out on the pastures, a huge garden and chestnut trees. It was really an amazing experience to see how everything is done. And it really makes you appreciate the farmers. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t have all this amazing food. Especially these small farmers who do everything the right way and work with nature, not against it.
Look at how GREEN their grass is!
They have this chicken coop on wheels so they can move it around to different pastures.
I really think everyone should find a local farmer in their area and get on a farm direct list. For instance this farm sends out an email every Sunday evening with a “what’s in our larder” (pantry). So every week I know what food they have to offer. I’m actually reserving a pasture raised turkey for Thanksgiving!
www.realmilk.com and www.eatwild.com are great resources to find local farms in your area or that deliver. It’s as simple as that! This is how you find ORGANIC—-REAL—NOURISHING food and upgrade your health!
Until next time….STAY WILD.
