Behind the Scenes with Raub-Rae Farm in Brown City – Part 2
Teenage Chickens & Their Little Eggs
Did you know chickens just starting to lay eggs, lay smaller eggs than their mature sister hens? These eggs are called pullets. They also lay them all over the place instead of their nesting trays. It makes gathering eggs a little more like a scavenger hunt!
Check out the size difference.
Here at the farm the chicken lay eggs in refinished trailers on wheels so they can be moved around the garden and fields eating bugs and fertilizing the soil.
Fresh Asparagus & Spinach Salad
Did you know Asparagus takes 3 years before it’s ready for selling? It makes growing asparagus quite the commitment! Here are pictures of part of the crop after being harvested the day before. Look how thick some of those stocks are?! The next night at dinner we debated which are more tender, the thick or thin ones? Which do you prefer?
Talk about farm to table! For dinner on Tuesday night we had roasted asparagus and my mother’s spinach salad made with bacon, eggs, bean sprouts, and homemade thousand island dressing! The asparagus, spinach, bacon, and eggs were all from the farm! Mmm mmm! It doesn’t get much better than this J
The obligatory farm cat picture.
There are always a mix of cats around to help keep the mice out of the barns.
It’s not visit to the farm without getting stuck driving behind a tractor, on a dirt road.
Back to milking cows after 50 something years!
My Mom grew up on the farm when they had their milking operation. I don’t know why my Grandpa stopped milking and switched over to beef cattle. It could be the extra time spent or low profits. But, my cousins Phil and Jesse have taken on a new challenge! Only just last week, they bought around 20 organic Holsteins and Jersey cows. 2 were pregnant and gave birth days later! Look at these 2 sweet ladies! They are quite soft and fuzzy and their big ears and eyes melt your heart. The black and white one is a Holstein and the brown one is a Jersey. Their names change depending on which of Phil’s sons you talk to, but I think they are going with Honey and Rosie.
They get bottle fed twice a day with their mother’s milk. It is more yellow in color and has all the good stuff they need.
Phil and Jesse bought the cows from an Amish farmer who treated them like family. They all have names and are quite comfortable around people. Phil laughs at himself because he was just going to go by their numbers, but now only knows them by name. Their names are written above the number on the tags in their ears. Unfortunately I didn’t get a clear picture here.
This Holstein is quite large and is being a little stubborn about getting into place. She produces substantially more milk than some of her sisters and fill up the milking pale each time with 35 lbs of milk, a little more than 8 gallons!
Since their operation is still so new and requires some more steps they need for certification, they cannot sell the milk yet. For now, they give a lot to the pigs and have to throw the rest away. It’s such a shame, but soon they will be producing for Organic Valley Farms. They treat their farmers well and give them fair prices. The next time you want to purchase organic milk, think about Organic Valley because you’ll be supporting farmers like my Cousins!
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.