Posted: 2/20/2011 11:27:17 AM EDT
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Its illegal in many places to buy raw milk but with some research, I discovered its possible to buy shares of a cow. Found a local place to do it..$25.00 to start and $3.00 per week/gallon.
Cows are mostly grassfed, no hormones and no antibiotics unless they're sick. I can buy milk for slightly less now at Krogers but she assures me the price is good until I want to quit buying. I mostly want it for milk products. Can't wait! :) |
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Go for it!
It may be a few pennies more a gallon but supporting local agriculture makes it worth it, IMO. You might as well get in on it while you can. I wouldn't be surprised if the milk Nazis figure out how to prohibit the shares-in-a-cow approach in the not too distant future. 
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I saw your post last night, and moments later, saw an ad for milk and honey shares on craigslist.
First I'd heard of it! Kids had two of our Nubians bred, so won't be too long for milk here, plus, froze a couple gallons before they dried them off, so use that for lots of stuff. We have sold/bartered fresh goats milk, but I assume folks are feeding it to their cats, or using it to make soap. 
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If anyone is interested, look around..the prices seem to vary quite a bit on these, from $3-12.00 per gallon..probably want to look at the process, too, and make sure its sanitary.
For $3.00, I'm getting whole milk including cream for butter and butter milk. Roughly $150.00 for the year for milk, yogurt, butter and cheese isn't a bad deal and covers me for inflation. |
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Quoted:
If anyone is interested, look around..the prices seem to vary quite a bit on these, from $3-12.00 per gallon..probably want to look at the process, too, and make sure its sanitary. For $3.00, I'm getting whole milk including cream for butter and butter milk. Roughly $150.00 for the year for milk, yogurt, butter and cheese isn't a bad deal and covers me for inflation. You only use a gallon of milk/milk products a week? We go through a pound of cheese, 2 gallons of milk for drinking with meals, and my wife makes yogurt with another gallon, not to mention butter. |
| Mrs. Feral adds: Barbara, do you have set days or times for making your dairy products? What does a typical dairy-making week look like for you? What are you using to make your butter? How long does your butter take to make? How do you handle temperature changes (where do you put your in-process butter or yogurt when it's really hot in the house?)? How are you handling sterilization, or is a really good scrub sufficient? Are there any websites/books/articles you would particularly recommend? |
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Quoted:
How's this arrangement working out for you? I'm thinking of asking my neighbor if he'll sell me a share in one of his cows. Any tips on how that arrangement look look? (He's a conventional dairyman and may raise an eyebrow at this proposal.) Any chance he would just sell you bulk from the tank if you provide your own jars? This is the way it this worked for almost everyone until the government made some changes. The changes have not been well received by all farmers though. Currently if we were to do this, we would be paying $2.50 a gallon using our own jars, or trade eggs or other produce depending on season. Sweet corn and tomatoes would be the current trade items. |
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Quoted: Quoted: How's this arrangement working out for you? I'm thinking of asking my neighbor if he'll sell me a share in one of his cows. Any tips on how that arrangement look look? (He's a conventional dairyman and may raise an eyebrow at this proposal.) Any chance he would just sell you bulk from the tank if you provide your own jars? This is the way it this worked for almost everyone until the government made some changes. The changes have not been well received by all farmers though. Currently if we were to do this, we would be paying $2.50 a gallon using our own jars, or trade eggs or other produce depending on season. Sweet corn and tomatoes would be the current trade items. This is what we have available to us. 2.50/gal straight out of the tank, BYOB of course. Its a pretty great deal and the tank gets emptied daily. So you always get fresh milk. |
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Any chance he would just sell you bulk from the tank if you provide your own jars? Dunno if he's do that or not but that'll definitely be my first request. I'd rather avoid the whole silly "shares" thing if possible. I'd be perfectly happy to pay by the gallon. |
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Sorry, missed this. Yep, it's working good. I don't have kids at home, but the time is pretty minimal. I usually get 2 gallons very 2-3 weeks. I usually pick up Thursday night and make yogurt on Sunday. The milk really needs to sit for a few days. I use the 1 gallon glass pickle jars..I got them from a local bar and it makes it easy to see e cream. Butter has been up and down..often, it takes a long time and it's grainy.
I usually make yogurt, butter, butter milk and soft cheese. I you let the yogurt sit longer, it gets tangier, like sour cream. |
| Dam shame the goverment has to micro manage every fascet of our lives. To get raw milk here in Ohio you have to get a milk share where I go that is $40.00 for the share and then $20.00 per month for maintenance for your portion of the Herd . The Farm where I get it is run by an Amish feller is clean and 100% organic . The Milk is from grass fed Jersey cows with lots of cream that we make our own butter with, the taste is just amazing , there is no way that I could ever go back to the commercial store bought shit. To make butter just put the cream in a mason jar and start shaking it in about 1/2 hour or so you got butter just add a little salt and enjoy. |