Here’s how a cow works:
First, she has to have a calf. Then she makes milk.
But that doesn’t make her a perpetual milk-making-machine. If you can relate to the function of making milk for a babe, as many of us can, you know that eventually, you won’t make a ton. But having a new baby resets the process. So that’s what happens with dairy cows.
They have a calf every year. Then they make milk for about 11 months, either for the family, the calf or a sharing arrangement. Then we dry them up. We started in January, moving to milking once a day. Now, it’s every second day. We’re only getting a litre or two per milking. (When she is in full production, we were getting 15-20 litres a day, since she only makes milk in half her udder- story for another day.)
We’ve started schlepping 6-8 jugs of milk home from the grocery store each week. We might have to cut that down :)
And the butter! Since when is it $6 a pound?? We brought out our last butter from the freezer this week. It was made in December, so it’s pretty pale. Compare with the jar of ghee in the photo.
But it’s raw. And it has Real Salt in it.
So good.