November market square market

Come to the Farmers Market tomorrow!

9-2 pm at Market Square

I will be selling milk tomorrow,

my last market for the year!

Autumn

This Tennessee Fall weather is wonderful.

Today, on this lovely Autumn day, my folks and I took a little trip down the road to Asbury. Asbury is the community where my father was born and raised.. just a hop, skip and jump from our dairy farm, but far enough away that my father misses the place he calls "home."

Going home..

My father talks about Asbury everyday.. milking cows in Asbury. Asbury is where he fell in love with milking cows and the idea of bottling milk.

Barn door to the milk barn where he started milking cows as a very young boy..eight years old.







I never knew so many memories could be a wall.

This Oak Tree is about the same age as my father, 66.. he is showing how small it was when he was 8.

We also looked at the spot where the house stood that he was born in.

Back home in Riverdale.





I was very happy to see Harry Pickel made it to church today. Mr.Pickel is my dear friend. He owns the H & H Service Mart in Riverdale. As a child, that was the one place I could talk my mom into buying me some bubblegum.



Mr.Pickel turned 94 this week. Happy Birthday Mr.Pickel!

French Broad United Methodist Church

I can see our cows from the church stairs.. it is nice living so close to church.

To market to market

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An August evening on the farm

Our beautiful Jerseys grazing

The Guineas and their young preparing to roost

The King rooster

The hens finding their last bite before they roost

Food, Inc. .. a must see

My mother and I were able to see Food Inc. today, and it was better than I anticipated.

Food Inc. is very educational and entertaining!!

Food Inc. is showing at Downtown West Regal Cinema in Knoxville.

I encourage you to go and take friends and older children.

This film helps to explain our food industry today saying, "The way we eat has changed more in the past 50 years than the past 10,000."

Now, that is something to chew on.

Happy 3rd Birthday Jack and Jake!

These two cute cowboys turned 3 on June 28th, and even more exciting.. they are expecting a baby Brother!! Congratulations Justin and Frances!

Sunday Afternoon and We Are Homeward Bound

On Sunday afternoon we headed out of NYC through the Lincoln Tunnel, back to Lancaster County Pennsylvania. On our drive we planned to stop at the historic Milky WayFarm in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania. We called ahead to arrange a tour and learned that no tours were given on Sunday. When we told Farmer Sam, the owner, that we were dairy farmers from Tennessee just passing through, he said, "Come on, I'll give you a tour." And what a tour it was.

Milky Way Farm is an historic and unique dairy farm complete with centuries old stone barns and the newest of dairy innovations. Their Holstein cows are milked by a robot, not by humans. The robot is made by the Lely company in Holland, and Dad wants one of his very own. Dad can't get over how much fun it was to watch the robot milk a cow. He has milked cows since he was a boy, and this was a dream come true. According to Dad, the robot actually does a very good job and with the help of a computer manages the health and well being of a dairy cow very well. In other words, Farmer Sam loves his robot, but his cows love the robot too!

Dad and Farmer Sam hit it off right away. They talk the same talk. Besides cows, Milky Way Farm boasts a beautiful ice cream parlor, and their delicious ice cream is made by family members from the milk produced on the farm. While we were visiting, many families wandered over the farm, petting the cows, and eating ice cream cones. It was a beautiful day and clearlymuch fun for everyone.

Come dinnertime, you guessed it, we were invited to join the family for dinner. Who knew we would find "real" Southern hospitality in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The food was so delicious, the family a delight, and we left around sundown thrilled to have visited this most wonderful dairy and friendly farm family.

Saying goodbye to Milky Way.

Check out their website:

http://www.milkywayfarm.com/

~

We arrived home early Tuesday morning June 16, and quickly got back to work pasteurizing whole milk and light milk. We thought that meant the vacation was over, but it turned out New York wasn't through with Dad.

On Wednesday June 17, 2009 at 6:45 am radio host JOHN HOCKENBERRY of PRI, Pubic Radio International and host of the WNYC FM morning show "THE TAKEAWAY", called my Dad to talk to him about our buttermilk! John even sampled our buttermilk on the air! Guess what Mikey, he liked it!

Here is a link to the "Takeaway" interview, a video made opening night of the New York City Food Film Festival, and Joe York's film Buttermilk: It Can Help. Enjoy all three.

www.thetakeaway.org/stories/2009/jun/17/b-u-t-t-e-r-milk-baby/

Buttermilk arrives in NYC

Earl made it to New York..first time to the Big Apple.

Pennsylvania: first buttermilk stop

Kreider's Dairy in Manheim

Nevin Boll and Earl

The Amish Country in Lancaster

Mrs. Lapp at Lapp Valley Dairy Farm