We moved out of the city and started our pasture-based farm in order to eat real, unadulterated food and bypass the doomed industrial food supply as much as humanly possible. We are excited about now being able to offer animal boarding, maintenance and care to herd share members, so that they, too, may enjoy the privileges of ownership. The animals graze and forage the way nature intended, on chemical-free pastures with fresh air and sunlight. Heritage-breed chickens run around, scratch and break down the cow and goat manure, efficiently spreading and distributing it for natural fertilizer and plucking out the bugs and worms for their own nutritious dinner. This translates into nutrient-dense, deep-orange egg yolks. The chickens' supplemental feed is 100% organic and free of soy and canola. We work diligently to keep GMO's off of our farm and away from the animals (and humans), and regularly treat them to organically grown greens, vegetables and scraps from the garden and kitchen. We're also starting to do our own large-scale sprouting and will soon able to provide the animals with something fresh and green year-round, no matter how much snow is piled up outside.
AVAILABLE TO MEMBER-OWNERS:
As an owner of a dairy animal, you are entitled to consume the milk she produces. Amounts will be determined by the number of shares purchased. If you purchase one share and pay for a percentage of the boarding, maintenance, shelter and care of the cow, you will receive that percentage of the milk she produces as a privilege of ownership. One share amounts to approximately 4 litres of whole milk. If you'd prefer to obtain your share of milk in another form, such as yogurt, for example, arrangements can be made.
Free-range eggs, by the way, are not limited to share members; anyone is welcome to purchase them. But please note that eggs cannot be shipped; they are just available for local pick-up.
SHIPPING AND PICK-UP:
Share members who have their dairy yields shipped can specify whether they would prefer them to be sent fresh or frozen. Depending on your location and the time of year, frozen might be a wiser option. The texture of the cream does change and become grainy, but it is still delicious. There is a small degree of vitamin and enzyme loss in the freezing process, but you will still enjoy a fabulous-tasting, nutritious product from your own cow.
We will ship with cold packs and provide plastic bags to avoid leakage in transit. All shipping costs are to be paid by the share member. Milk and cream will be shipped in #2 HDPE non-leaching containers. Please recycle when empty. We buy these containers in bulk and receive a bit of a price break, so we can pass the savings on to you when we factor in these costs for your weekly yields that are shipped. Unfortunately, the supplier doesn't offer a price break on shipping them to us! The 4 litre jugs are about $1.40 each (bulk discount accounted for, plus shipping from supplier to us). Anyone who would prefer to provide their own (non-glass) containers for local pick-up is welcome to do so. For local pick-ups we will also provide the same, non-leaching containers. We'd briefly considered offering glass mason jars for local members, but the breakage potential, coupled with the time and energy involved in dishwashing, not to mention trying to keep track of who's returning what for re-use, changed our minds in a hurry.
TO FREEZE OR NOT TO FREEZE:
Unlike the world of pasteurized and UHT products, shelf stability is not the name of the game with raw milk. Often this milk will be fresh-tasting and drinkable after 2 weeks or more in the refrigerator, and other times maybe a week; it's unpredictable. You can use soured milk in baking, mix it into smoothies with honey and fruit, or simply pour it into a bowl for your dog or cat, who will be ecstatic at the offering. If you realize that you will not be able to finish your jug of milk, the HDPE containers will freeze beautifully. Simply leave an inch or two of room at the top, date the container and freeze for later thawing and use. We've frozen raw milk for as long as 2 months and it still tasted great when defrosted, though we know that some nutrient content gets compromised in the process.
SKIPPING TOWN:
If you will be out of town or on vacation and will not be able to make your usual local or mail pick-up, please notify us at least a week in advance. We can freeze your share of product until you get back if you'd like, or perhaps turn the milk into yogurt for that week.
RAW DAIRY INFO:
We assume that if you're interested in our herd share and have read this far, you are aware of the "risks" of consuming raw dairy products. For those who have been living on a diet of sterilized, pasteurized foods and are looking to make a change, we support you. But bear in mind that it is probably best to begin with small amounts and work your way up to consuming raw dairy products exclusively. Your system might need some time to adjust to the millions of (healthy) bacteria being introduced to it. Many people, ourselves included, transitioned seamlessly; but there are always some that need extra time. If you suspect you might be one of them, make a gradual change and gauge any detox reaction or discomfort you may initially experience. Many lactose-intolerant people have no problem with raw milk, as the lactase is still intact and has not been destroyed by pasteurization (lactase is the enzyme that breaks down lactose, the sugar in milk). But pay attention to your own body's signals.
Those who are sensitive or allergic to casein, the protein in milk, will still experience symptoms with raw milk. We ask that if casein sensitivity is a problem for you or someone in your household, you do not choose to own a share of a cow, as the consumption of your share of her milk could cause an unpleasant reaction. You might prefer to purchase a goat share instead (not yet available, and will be very limited) as the casein in goat's milk tends to be more easily tolerated. Please speak to an open-minded healthcare practitioner about this, as everyone's system is different. For more discussion on the subject of casein, lactose intolerance and All Things Raw Milk, please visit the Weston A. Price Foundation web site (www.westonaprice.org). Their board members include experts on raw dairy and other nutritional subjects, and they offer hundreds of reliable, well-researched articles and features. If you appreciate what they have to offer, please consider joining and supporting their organization, as we are proud to do.
We keep the animals and milking equipment clean, filter the milk prior to bottling and don't expose the animals to drugs or chemicals. We will do our best to ensure a consistently healthful environment for your animals. We will also send raw milk samples to a lab in Guelph on occasion to determine bacteria counts, and will provide the results for our share members.
CYCLE OF LIFE STUFF:
Wild Thing will bear the cost of AI (artificial insemination) for the dairy animals, and will retain ownership of all calves and kids. The cows and goats must, of course, bear an offspring each year in order to stay in milk production. It is necessary to "dry them up" for about 3 months prior to giving birth, so we will stagger their pregnancies in order to maintain a steady supply of milk for share members. Still, there will be times when production is down, perhaps due to occasional reduced water consumption or winding down from lactation. This is understood to be a part of farm animal ownership, and will be borne equally among all share holders. Every now and then a cow will be in a testy mood (like any human), and kick the milk pail while milking is in progress, thereby ruining that session's supply. We take events such as this into account when determining the number of available shares to distribute to share members, so it shouldn't cause a problem.
The animals are healthy and strong, but if there is a life-or-death situation (such as a difficult birth), we will not hesitate to call upon a vet (and rest assured that ours is not a pill pusher) to administer an antibiotic or other medication in order to save the animal's life. The milk of the animal in question will be taken out of the rotation until her health is fully restored and every trace of the medication has left her system. We would only offer medication of any kind in an extraordinary circumstance. Absolutely NO antibiotics, hormones or soy products are given to the animals housed here, and our land is free of chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, etc.
In order to maintain the health of our land, we will rotate the animals regularly to different fields (except in winter, when we're snowbound and they are eating hay), providing them with fresh pasture and assuring that all fields will be fertilized equally. The chickens follow the cows and goats, breaking down their manure and munching the grasses that the goats and cows have voraciously trimmed down for them.
THE "ORGANICS" IN WILD THING ORGANICS:
We include the word "organics" in our company name in order to express our values concerning how we treat and feed our land and animals; in the original, undiluted sense of the word. But our practices exceed current organic standards, and we have incorporated many biodynamic principles in tending to our farm. After much deliberation and debate, we decided against organic certification for several reasons:
1. It is prohibitively expensive and laden with bureaucracy; this expense would have to be tacked on to our farm services in the form of higher share and maintenance prices.
2. Sadly, it has become so watered-down in recent history (as in "Wal-Mart organic"), that requirements for animal feed, pesticide and chemical usage don't reflect our own standards, and allow toxic substances and practices to enter the ground, feed and animals. Monocropping is common practice, and we don't agree with it.
3. Certifying organizations are becoming increasingly beholden to big business and do not fairly or adequately represent the small, independent producer. They don't share our values or concerns and we don't want them determining what we can and can't do, while paying them for the privilege of restricting our independence and forcing us to agree to a reduced standard that is in place simply to be met by big corporations that have anything but our good health in mind.
4. The dilution of standards hurts small producers by sharply reducing their profit margins, as they get undercut by the low-balling and "corporatizing" of organic foods. Thousands of small producers go out of business each year because of it. Most consumers don't have a clue what's going on, and are simply happy to get their "organic" products for a lower price. We prefer to see small farmers, ourselves and anyone else, deal directly with the consumer (or share owner, in this case) and make a decent profit while engaging with their communities and ensuring the best care for their farmland and animals.
SELF-SUFFICIENCY:
Other than not growing our own alfalfa hay for winter feed for our boarded animals, and grain for supplemental chicken feed (and we're actively looking into both), our farm is a self-contained system. What the animals and garden take from the earth, we replenish. We recycle what we can and practice composting. We refer to what we do as traditional, integrated, pasture-based farming, organic in the original sense of the word. It's a little cumbersome for a business card, but you get the idea. We're always learning new things from others who have done this a lot longer than we have, and constantly strive to make improvements. We try our best to stay awake and alert and learn from our mistakes.
We're currently investigating alternative forms of energy, and plan to be completely off the grid before the end of the year, as funds permit. Starting our herd share will enable us to move forward in that direction.
THE LEGAL:
Strict regulations here in Canada determine the parameters of our herd share agreement. Please note that we are NOT in the business of "selling" raw dairy products, which is forbidden by law. We simply board and maintain the animals for our share members, and as part owners of the animals, you are entitled to a portion of the products that come from them. Your quarterly payments cover feed, maintenance, shelter and care for the animals. The milk, cream, etc. that issue from this relationship are not bought and sold: they are simply a privilege of farm animal ownership. And since most people can't make use of the 5+ gallons a day of milk a Jersey produces, it makes sense to offer shares that enable many individuals to own a percentage of the animal and take the corresponding amount of milk production. The more shares you purchase, the more of the animal you own, and the more milk you are entitled to take home. Since we have the land and facilities, we will board and care for the animals for you.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Doing this is admittedly hard work, but it's far more rewarding and satisfying than living in a big, polluted city and working for unstable mega-corporations with questionable ethics (been there, done that). And the animals, feisty and high-maintenance as they can be, make us laugh every day. We like being able to cut out the middlemen and be closer to our food and nature's cycles (although I'm really tired of all this snow). And we're excited to be able to board and house animals for those who don't have the land or time to do so. Like you, we demand to know exactly what goes into the food on our table and what has or hasn't been done to it. Please consider joining us if these things matter to you, too.