Do you know the saying, Water Water Everywhere, but not a drop to drink? That’s how I feel lately.
Well, not about water so much, we have plenty to drink. It’s about milk. I live in a tract home in a fairly rural area. If I drive 5 minutes in almost any direction from my house, I will see cows grazing, horses running, and goats chasing each other trying to escape their fences. But somehow, I can’t seem to find any local raw milk! Right now, I drive a half hour to pay an arm and a leg for raw milk that comes from several hours away. Unfortunately, my raw milk source raised their prices, so I have been trying even harder to find a local source of milk.
I ask people who live in the country or on farms. Most don’t know anyone, but I have had a couple leads for raw goats milk. I’ve never drunk goats’ milk before, but if it’s raw and less than $8.88 for a half gallon, I’ll take it!
The trouble is, no one will sell it!
They are afraid I will one day get sick and sue, or that some one will come find they are selling milk and come after them. I don’t want to cause any trouble; I just want some milk!
The last woman I talked to said that she drinks it, but her mom tells her not to sell it to anyone else. "If the goat was sick or something, you could get sick," she said. “But you would know, right?” I asked. “Well, yeah,” she said, “but I still don’t think I should sell it.”
So, here I am, living by all these cows and goats, but I can’t get any milk. If only we could fit a cow in our backyard…
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I know the feeling. Until recently I was driving over an hour one way to another state to buy milk, since it's illegal to sell it in our state. We just found a new source about half an hour away, where they sell it labeled "not for human consumption." I don't think it's against the law for us to consume our "pet food" once we get it home :D
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could get one of your neighbors to stick a label like that on their milk and sell it to you?
I just found this out, if http://www.organicpastures.com/ doesn't sell in a store or farmer's market near you, they will UPS it to your house (if you live in CA.) Lucky for me, its sold at a Sprouts about 2 minutes from my house and also at the farmer's market on Sat. though I usually go on Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteThere are some dairy goat co-ops you can buy into. The only one I know of is in Temecula area.
We're really lucky because there's a great farm offering raw milk close to us in SC (I live in NC)...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.scmilkywayfarm.com/where_to_buy.htm
Not sure where you live, but they may ship. It's $4 a gallon if you order it from the farm and then more if you get it from one of the retail locations that sell it for them.
I hope this helps...we're starting to make our own butter and buttermilk...so good (:
thanks! I will look into those options and see what I can do!
ReplyDeleteI thought for sure that trader joes sold goat milk. Maybe it's not raw? not sure? Good luck on your raw milk contest!
ReplyDeleteSo, I looked into these and thought I'd let you know what I have found. Organic pastures does deliver via UPS, and they only charge $5 for a half gallon, but guess how much delivery is?!! $25!! Per half gallon! I can try to organize a milk buying co-op here through them, which I'm going to look into a little more.
ReplyDeleteMilky way farm delivers only along the I-85, and since I'm in CA, it's a little too far:)
TJ's does sell goats milk, but unfortunately it is pasteurized!
You stated that your backyard is to small to have a cow. Have you ever considered raising goats?
ReplyDeleteYes, I have. But here's a quote from my husband, "We will never have a goat." But I take never to mean, "maybe someday." :)
ReplyDeletelol, about the goat! BTW, a goat, like a cow, doesn't lactate unless she has a baby. You'd have to breed the goat every year and find something to do with the 1-4 babies she would have every year. So keeping a goat for milk is a lot more involved than keeping chickens for eggs. And pastuerized goats milk is by far the nastiest thing I have ever tasted.
ReplyDeleteCheck out Sprouts.com and see if there is a store near you, or if a future one is planned. They sell the Organic Pasture's whole raw milk for $8/half gallon. At my local farmer's market it is $7.