The valley was dressed in full autumn colour when I started writing this month's Moo's–Letter, but now most of the trees are bare, and the only autumn colour left is the golden needles of the tamarack (larch) trees.
I cut into this gorgeous wheel of Cheddar that I made during the cheesemaking class I taught on August 14th. Cheddar needs to be aged for a minimum of 2 months before eating; this wheel is 2-1/2 months old and was extremely mild (as I expected). It tasted delicious, but since I prefer medium/aged Cheddars, I will cut the rest of the wheel into quarters and reseal the wedges to age for longer.
There are two spots left in the online Gouda cheesemaking class that I'm teaching on November 20th. Gouda is ready to eat as early as six weeks after making it, so if you'd like to serve a homemade Gouda on your cheese and charcuterie board as you ring in the New Year, join me for this hands-on class.
Summertime calved on September 27th with a heifer calf. I named her September Sunrise, and she is the fifth heifer calf born this year (out of six calves).
I was getting ready for a shift at the cheese plant when Ben texted me that Summertime was in labour. I ran out to the barn to check on her; she was definitely in active labour, but I figured it would be another hour or two before she calved. The last time I watched one of my Jerseys calve was for Caroline's birth on November 20th, and I was feeling a little sad that I would miss another one because I was at work.
I ran back to the house to finish getting ready and decided to take a quick peek at Summertime before I left, even though it had only been 20 minutes since I'd checked on her. Well, I missed the birth alright...because Summertime had calved during the 20 minutes that I was in the house eating my breakfast!!
I have another cow and a heifer due to calve in November, so there's still a chance that I'll get to watch at least one calf being born this year.
While I often share about the highlights of farm life (like the birth of a new baby calf), I rarely talk about the hard parts. But the truth is, life on a farm is not all sunshine and lollipops. Years ago, a mentor of mine passed on a piece of advice an old farmer gave her: "Sweetheart, if you're gonna have livestock, you're gonna have deadstock."
The day that Sunrise was born, I had to make the heartbreaking decision that it was time to send my sweet girl Jasmine off on the truck (sell her for beef), and she left two weeks later.
You may remember that Jasmine calved with her first heifer calf, Mountain Heather, at the end of July, and I was ecstatic. In a post announcing Mountain Heather's arrival, I wrote, "I have waited nearly 5 years for this day—Jasmine finally had a heifer calf! 🎉🎉"
Jasmine had a fantastic udder with minimal edema, and everything looked great. But then, about two weeks after she calved, we noticed that she'd 'blown her udder.' (That's a term we use when a cow's median suspensory ligament, the primary udder support, fails.) We still have no clue why it failed, but it did.
I knew that a blown udder would shorten Jasmine's productive life, but I still planned to keep her and hopefully get another heifer calf or two from her before her udder started causing problems.
But then she stepped on her front left teat (this happens when the cow goes from lying down to standing up and is a risk for cows with low udders), and injured teats significantly increase the risk of mastitis.
Jasmine got a minor case of mastitis that cleared up quickly, but then she got a second case of deadly coliform mastitis. We hit her hard with antibiotics, and I think that's the only reason she survived, but we didn't cure the infection, and she got so sick that she completely dried herself off.
When I evaluated the situation—a blown udder ligament, a teat injury, severe mastitis damage, not producing any milk for another 9+ months, plus the high hay prices due to this summer's drought—it didn't make any sense (except sentimental) to keep her.
I still miss Jasmine and Grace and all the other cows I've said goodbye to, but I always remind myself that:
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
Naomi
Online Gouda Cheesemaking Class
Saturday, November 20th from 10:00 am–2:00 pm
Tickets: $59.95 per device
Join the Modern Milkmaid™ for this hands-on cheesemaking class and make a traditional Gouda that's ready for your New Year's Eve cheese and charcuterie board! We'll cover everything from culturing the milk and cutting the curd to pressing your cheese and options for ageing.
Online Traditional Cheddar Cheesemaking Class
Saturday, January 29th from 9:00 am–5:00 pm
Learn how to make Traditional Cheddar and fresh squeaky cheese curds with the Modern Milkmaid™, including how to properly cheddar your curds. While this is an 8-hour class, you will not be hovering over your pot the entire time as there are several long gaps in the cheesemaking process where you can do other things.
~ New cheesemaking classes and dates for 2022 will be announced next month. ~
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