Link to the original article by Sarah Smith on the Raw Milk Institute website.

Did you know that the science of producing safe raw milk was flourishing way back in the late 1800’s? Read on for an interview with Dr Edward Tindall DVM, who worked at the Walker-Gordon Certified Raw Milk dairy in New Jersey.

Certified Medical Milk

Humans have had a long and successful history with raw milk for at least 10,000 years. Ancient peoples who consumed milk had a competitive advantage over those that did not have a steady source of readily available food, such that the reproductive capacity and/or survivability of ancient raw milk drinkers was substantially increased compared to non-milk-drinking populations.

After numerous millennia flourishing with raw milk, mankind’s relationship with raw milk took a wrong turn. By the mid-1800’s in America, some raw milk production had shifted away from farms and into highly-populated cities. Big cities did not have pastures or clean water, and the cows in city dairies were kept in filthy conditions with poor nutrition and poor animal health. Many of these cows were fed byproducts from alcohol distilleries, leading to illness in the cows. Raw milk had become a source of deadly diseases such as tuberculosis, typhoid, diphtheria, and scarlet fever.

In the late 1800’s, it was recognized that raw milk being produced in these conditions was dangerous, and two solutions were proposed. Pasteurization was ushered in to address filthy conditions and unhealthy cows in cities. It answered the question of how to commercialize dirty milk, rather than spending the time and energy it would take to produce clean milk from healthy cows. The other solution was to actually produce the milk in hygienic conditions with healthy animals.

It was known that raw milk was a superior source of nutrition for infants and children, so the American Association of Medical Milk Commissions (AAMMC) was established in the late 1800’s by Dr Henry Coit to ensure a supply of safe raw milk. The AAMMC was in operation for nearly a century, certifying medical raw milk for use in hospitals and for feeding infants and children.

“The requirements of the New York Commission at that time were: ‘That the milk should contain 4 to 4.5 percent fat; that it should be free from pathogenic germs; and that the total number of bacteria should not be excessive. The milk was to be delivered in bottles and not over 24 hours old. It should be from healthy cows.”

~Walker-Gordon: One of a Kind

Walker-Gordon Dairy and Dr Edward Tindall DVM

The Walker-Gordon dairy farm was a preeminent source of Certified Raw Milk for over 70 years. Edward Tindall’s father worked at the Walker-Gordon farm, and he himself worked at the farm for several summers. Edward went on to become a practicing veterinarian in New Jersey for nearly 40 years, and also developed implantable microchip technology for animals. The Raw Milk Institute is pleased to have Edward Tindall DVM on our Advisory Board.

In the late 1990’s, Edward co-authored a book about the Walker-Gordon farm titled Walker-Gordon: One of a Kind. Edward was kind enough to share more information about this extraordinary farm in a written interview.

Written interview with Edward Tindall:

1. Can you tell us about what made Walker-Gordon dairy farm so special?

Walker-Gordon was never intended to be just a dairy. The actual name was Walker-Gordon Laboratory Company, imprinted on their bottles and responsible for numerous innovations in the field of dairy. Among these were the first rotary centralized milking parlor, milking 1650 head. 50 cows were milked at a time (every 12 and a half minutes or one revolution) on the ʻRotolactorʼ.

The milk was immediately refrigerated, and if intended for the Philadelphia, New York or Boston market, shipped within hours from a refrigerated box car of the Pennsylvania Railroad on a siding adjacent to the milking parlor.

The cows were attended 24 hours a day by herdsmen in 50 cow barns with constant attention to keeping the cows bedded on fresh peanut shell bedding and groomed, with ever present fresh water on demand, fed grain and excellent alfalfa hay year-round.

Other innovations were the addition of irradiated yeast to feeding regimens to enhance vitamin D (prophylaxis against childhood rickets), production of acidophilous milk for enteric health, harvesting crops at prime time for storage regardless of weather conditions, use of byproducts (fecal waste) for garden fertilizers, artificial insemination, crop production by cooperative farms under control and supervision of central organization, and extensive record keeping of health and productivity of each cow.

2. What production and milking practices were used to keep the milk safe for people?

Cleanliness was ever a constant protocol. The cows were pre-washed with warm water prior to entering the milking parlor. There they were toweled by attendants in white uniforms, attached to sterilized stainless steel milkers, and the milk fed to Pyrex glass containers and delivered through stainless steel pipes to the bottling plant adjacent to the milking platform.

All milking personnel had weekly examinations and throat cultures by the local physician. Milk was routinely cultured in an on-site laboratory for bacterial counts and pathogens.

3. Since you were employed there for a time, tell us about what you did and what it was like to work there?

My employment was several summers working on maintenance and the storage of alfalfa hay. During haying season the crop was harvested at prime time regardless of the weather. Chopped in the field, blown into stake bodied trucks and delivered to the massive dehydrators, it was compressed into 110 to 130 pound bales around the clock. Starting a 7:00 am, the hay was stored in large barns, often in 120 degree summer temperatures.

4. What kind of milk did this dairy produce?

Walker-Gordon produced Grade A, whole milk, unpasteurized of the highest quality the industry has ever known, from its inception in the earliest years of the twentieth century until it stopped production in 1971.

“For those of us who grew up with the taste of fresh, really fresh, whole milk, unadulterated in any manner except to chill it ice cold, today’s milk is a sad replacement…

The unequaled taste of an ice cold half pint of milk, the cream layered on the top, after working several uninterrupted hours in excessively hot temperatures… I have yet to equal that flavor…”

~Walker-Gordon: One of a Kind

5. Who were the usual customers for this milk?

The customers were the general public locally, with home delivery, and public markets from Washington, DC to Boston, Ma. A renowned quality product hailed for freshness and longevity, it had a very loyal consumer base. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, when traveling abroad by ship, insisted that Walker-Gordon milk and cream be available, on board, for the trip.

6. What was the safety record of this dairy that operated for about 8 decades up until 1971?

The safety record of Walker-Gordon milk and milk products was above reproach and I can find no instances (nor have I heard of any) of any untoward or adverse instances of health problems or lawsuits. Safety of personnel was extremely good. Farm accidents are ever present and WG had some, but fewer than would be expected.

“Cheaper milk from the heartland of America, increased labor costs, higher taxes, wages, and insurances, difficulty in attracting farm labor, the sky-rocketing value of land, and pressure for housing for an increasing and increasingly affluent population all contributed to the demise of farming in general, in New Jersey and elsewhere, and in particular to Walker-Gordon with its emphasis on high quality, first and foremost.”

~Walker-Gordon: One of a Kind

7. What future potential do you see for raw milk dairy farming?

Prognostications of the future of raw milk dairy farming is fraught with the same magnitude of variables as the future of the country. I would like to believe that the future is positive, for indeed, I can think of no more beneficial product than clean, wholesome, properly handled raw milk that is fresh from the cow and unaltered by pasteurization or other untoward handling.

The vicissitudes of government and the legal profession, swayed by propaganda and functioning under ignorance of biology and a mindset that excludes information that does not align with biased public opinion is a very large hurdle to clear. As long as there is a discerning public with the economic wherewithal to acquire a quality product, the market is assured. I admire the efforts of individuals such as Dr. Joseph Heckman and Mark McAfee that take up the torch, live and advocate the premise, and forward such a noble cause.

</interview end>

Paving the Way with Safe Raw Milk

The Walker-Gordon dairy was certainly an exceptional dairy. Walker Gordon’s eight decades of safe raw milk production are an imminent example of what can be achieved through dedication and innovation. At its peak, the Walker-Gordon dairy was producing 6,500 gallons of milk daily. Through hygienic practices and regular bacteria testing of its milk, Walker Gordon dairy was able to provide safe raw milk for thousands of people over several generations.

The last Certified Medical Milk dairy in the USA was Alta Dena dairy in Los Angeles, California. Alta Dena produced its last quart of raw milk in May of 1999. With the end of the American Association of Medical Milk Commissions and their certification of raw milk dairies, there was a great need for leadership in safe raw milk.

The Raw Milk Institute (RAWMI) was created to fulfill this need. RAWMI teaches well-established scientific principles and good production methods to assist farmers in producing hygienic, safe raw milk. Through its LISTING program, RAWMI assists farmers in developing risk analysis and management plans (RAMP) for their unique farms. RAWMI’s Common Standards have set an international benchmark for bacterial testing of raw milk.

Edward Tindall’s book, “Walker-Gordon: One of a Kind” is available from Covered Bridge Press, 39 Upper Creek Road, Stockton, New Jersey 08559 at $25 dollars per copy, plus USPS shipping. Covered Bridge Press can be reached at 908-625-6527.

Become a LISTED Raw Milk Farmer - If you’re a raw milk producer interested in RAWMI listing, learn more about the process here.

Disclaimer: With the use of risk management strategies, raw milk can be a low-risk food. However, there is no such thing as a perfectly safe food. Pasteurized milk is not perfectly safe, either, and is implicated in foodborne illnesses and outbreaks every year.

The Raw Milk Institute provides information for educational purposes only. Raw Milk Institute does not assume any responsibility or liability for the use of this information.

Raw Milk Institute, 7221 South Jameson Avenue, Fresno, CA, 93706, United States559-710-2077contact@rawmilkinstitute.org

While this saddens me because we’ve developed a lovely friendship, I’m excited for her. This is my dream for everyone, that you find local farmers who can provide for you. I’ve always tried to keep that mission front and center even though I dearly love delivering real food to you all. I have made so many friends!

Follow Carbon Cowboys on social media, they have wonderful content! All about local regenerative farming practices.

Why?

I’m not a farmer and no yen to be. I don’t like to cook and recipes look loooong and hard. I’ve asked myself many times why I love this so much. I would still be doing this for free except the deliveries got so big along with expenses, that in 2019, Hal finally said, “You have to figure out how to make this venture at least pay for itself.” I called John Moody who started the Louisville Wholelife Buying Club, asked a TON of questions, called my long time friend Max Kane who started FarmMatch and KFIC was born.

So why? The closest I come to that answer is because the absolute best four years of my life (grades 3 through 6) were spent on a dairy farm in Greens Fork, IN. My stepfather owned it and I fell in love with the tenant farmers, Virginia and Charlie Brown. I followed them every minute I wasn’t in school! Got kicked across the milking shed a couple of times, and was too short to muck thru the deep manure in the milking pen where the cows waited in line twice a day. Got stuck trying to climb over the electric wire ONCE, lol. Rode Virginia’s great big horse, Red. Wish I had pictures, but no cell phones in the early 60’s!

Plus all that lovely raw milk! We drank LOTS! I have always loved farmers and good food. So there it is :)

PS. $

I don’t take a paycheck from the club although it pays for all club expenses: gas, car insurance, car maintenance, a portion of the car payments when we get a van (I will also use it personally), a portion of utilities, miscellaneous equipment (freezers mostly), office supplies. Beth is paid when she delivers (currently one day a week of the three delivery days). I get real food at cost, plus we are supporting several local real food farmers. What’s not to love???

News Bites

AZURE STANDARD We now have a wholesale account with Azure Standard! It’s not a huge discount but it’s something, and you get Azure’s products through the club for only slightly more than you’d pay by going to Azure directly.

If you don’t know about Azure, check it out! They offer only non-GMO and organic foods in single serving or in bulk. Tons of options!

There is an Azure drop everything month in Lexington. John has one at his club in Louisville and I think there are a couple more in KY.

If you want to join our drop, go here and search “lexington ky” — you’ll find the Evermore Farm drop. It’s a lovely gathering of like-minded friends every month at the Lexington Ice Center.

When you find something you’d like the club to carry, let me know and I’ll put it in the catalogue. Just hit reply to this email or comment or text me 859-550-3862.

FEEDBACK PLEASE! Click here and tell me what’s working, what’s not, what you’d like to see offered. It’s anonymous and I’m listening!

Share

xo Sally

I found 3 excellent articles to share on the amazing benefits of raw milk, two from RealMilk.com and one from this website.

The first is about the raw milk cure. Yep, raw milk is that amazing! Lots and lots of people do a raw milk fast once a year. In fact, raw milk is so nourishing, you can live on it! You can read all about it here.

The second article details the many benefits of raw milk, particularly when it comes to immune health! Click here for that article, although you can read the bullet points right here:

🥛 Raw Milk Benefits for Allergies & Immune Health

• Children who drink raw milk are:

  • 50% less likely to develop allergies

  • 41% less likely to develop asthma

• Contains probiotics, vitamin D, and immunoglobulins (antibodies) that:

  • Support the immune system

  • Reduce allergy risk in both children and adults

🧬 Nutritional Superiority

• Grass-fed cow milk has higher levels of:

  • Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA)

  • Essential fatty acids

  • Fat-soluble vitamins (like A, D, E, and K)

• Pasteurization reduces:

  • Vitamin C, B6, and bioavailability of vitamin A

  • Important minerals like manganese, copper, and iron

  • Beta-lactoglobulin, which helps absorb vitamin A

🌿 Digestive and Absorptive Health

• Raw milk has:

  • Higher enzyme activity, making it easier to digest

  • Intact natural fats aiding absorption of nutrients

  • Beneficial bacteria, which support gut health

🐄 Source Quality Matters

• Milk from grass-fed, pasture-raised cows is:

  • Richer in nutrients

  • Free from hormones, antibiotics, and industrial contaminants

• Factory-farmed milk must be pasteurized due to:

  • Unsanitary conditions

  • Antibiotic use

  • Illness in cows from unnatural diets

🌞 Ethical and Natural Farming Practices

• Cows raised on pasture:

  • Eat their natural diet (grass, hay, silage)

  • Get sunshine and fresh air

  • Live healthier, less stressed lives

The last article is about keeping the “cold chain”. It’s important to keep your milk COLD from first chilling after milking to your (COLD) fridge! Click here to read.

Keeping raw milk cold has to do with taste and longevity, not safety. When raw milk is properly handled at the farm, it’s safe to drink any temperature!

KFIC Catalog UPDATES

Good news! You’ll see a bunch of price drops, some small, many significant: sourdough bread, organic cheeses, several of the beef cuts, milk down a tad :) We are determined to hold the line on burger and egg prices!!!

Organic beef is BACK IN STOCK :)

You’ll have pastured broilers, breasts, wings, and leg quarters back in stock end of June — that’s coming right up! I have missed those leg quarters, y’all!!!

No need to return your egg cartons — we can’t use them. Seems a shame, I know. At our house, we use for fire starter and crafts when we can.

Did you know that you get a $5 referral credit when a friend joins KFIC? You can send them to the site for basic info www.farmmatch.com/kfic or give them my number (859) 550-3862 and I can fill them in. Everybody needs raw milk and real food, right? Thank you!

🥳 RECIPE: Skillet Ham Steaks with Honey Mustard Glaze

So simple and we loved it!!!

Ingredients:

• 2 Heritage Red Wattle fresh ham steaks

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 1 tablespoon honey

• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Optional: fresh herbs (rosemary or thyme)

Instructions:

1. Heat oil or butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Season ham steaks lightly with salt and pepper.

3. Sear the ham steaks 3–4 minutes per side until golden brown.

4. In a small bowl, mix mustard, honey, and vinegar.

5. Lower heat and pour glaze over steaks. Cook 1–2 more minutes, spooning glaze over the top.

6. Serve hot with roasted veggies, mashed potatoes, or over a bed of greens.

Sad News.

Many of you know that I lost my husband, Hal, on March 23rd. We were together 36 years, married 34 and it’s very hard to adjust to life without him. I’m so grateful for my wonderful son and his girlfriend, Hal’s brother and his wife, our amazing grandchildren, our compassionate friends, and you all, the food club members. I get lots of hugs and hearts and I appreciate you all so much.

Special love to Beth Powell, our new driver. She started delivering a day or two a week, then Hal got sick and she freaking just took over, did all the deliveries. I don’t know what we would have done without her!

His obituary is here. I was still very, very angry and sobbing pretty much all the time when I wrote it. Thank goodness for all the love and kindness I received and keeping so busy. I’m better now, almost functional.

Like many of you, I’ve lost loved ones before and it’s the worst. Walking thru such intense grief is one of the worst parts of this journey. I’m hoping THE worst… Incomprehensible. But it looks like it’s just part of the deal. I wouldn’t trade a minute of my life with Hal to avoid this.

See you next week. Blessings!

You know, the snow is still fun, and weather is all the same with the right clothes. But ice? No. Big. Fat. NO. Our 20yo surrogate grandson came twice this month and spent several hours breaking up all the ice on our 300’ gravel drive, then shoveled it out of the way so we could escape!

We were not prepared. It’s one thing for a normal KY snowfall which melts in a couple of days, occasionally a week, and life goes on. Quite another for weeks of below freezing temps. We learned the hard way that smart country people park their cars at the end of the driveway next to the road when snow and ice are predicted. Duh.

Every. Single. Day.

Like any outside job, farmers still gotta milk the cows 2x/day (in an unheated milking barn), feed the chickens, get the eggs (before they freeze), move the livestock around the fields, water the troughs, haul the hay, repair the fence… Thank heavens for our farmers who work all year to feed us such good food!!!

We are upgrading our winter preparedness situation stat:

• definitely better tires for the front WD delivery Corolla

• fixing the bad tire on the mower that has a tow hitch so we can move the trailer in the snow without having to drag it. Turns out, everything is heavier in the snow.

• And a wider driveway this spring for sure ✓

How is your winter going so far? What do you wish you had done to prepare?

Frozen Eggs

Speaking of which, we’ve never dealt with this before either. Temps below freezing are usually few and far between during KY winters. Since early December, I have moved so many dozens of eggs around the property trying to keep them from freezing. At one point, I had 30 dozen in my living room, lol!

If you get a frozen egg, it’s still good unless it’s cracked. If it’s cracked, toss it. Otherwise, safe to eat — click here for more about frozen eggs. Let me know if you get inedible ones, even if it’s just one, you get a credit!

Fabulous & Not-so-fab Egg News

We finally have plenty of eggs available! The summer was rough, sometimes we had no eggs from all those finicky chickens, while waiting for pullets to start laying. Pretty sure those egg-less days are behind us!

We also now have a provider for eggs from chickens (and ducks) fed an organic corn-free soy-free feed. This makes them PUFA-free, something that has been requested for a while.

The not-so-good news is a $1 price increase on the eggs. I’m sorry. If I were in charge of the world, all food would be free and everyone would have two chickens, a dairy cow and a garden. But we aren’t there yet!

BEEF is back.

We are loaded up again: burger, steaks, roasts, stew meat, bones (including some split marrow). Burger also got a bit of a price increase but hopefully the line holds there till at least next year! Maybe longer.

Why are eggs and beef prices going up? I believe it’s because the USDA has ordered millions of layers and thousands of beeves killed for fear of bird flu. As supply dwindles, prices increase because demand is still high. Hopefully, the killing has stopped and the bounty will return!

Real Food News

🐝 Why humans drink raw milk: wonderful post!

🐝 Are you a farmer looking for ways to market your foods? Consider putting your foods on FarmMatch — foodies can find you via a zip code search and you can sell right from the site! FarmMatch was created by Max Kane, it’s hosted on his servers so very private, and you can target customers anywhere in KY or nationwide. If you need help getting set up, I can do that. Go here to take a look and let me know any questions!

🐝 Do we need to be saved from cow farts? Click here to read CHD article.

🐝 Do you know what’s sprayed on your produce at grocery stores? I thought it was just water but it’s not… Unfortunately, the club is not able to carry produce, it’s not logistically possible without a cooler truck. Occasionally one of our regular farmers will have an abundance of an item — tomatoes or garlic or potatoes — and you’ll see that on the order site. Otherwise, a farmer’s market or Good Foods Coop is your best bet for clean local produce!

A Little KFIC Housekeeping

KFIC = Kentucky Food Independence Club, website here.

Please note that we deliver EXACTLY what is ordered. If you ordered a half gallon, you get that in a half gallon jug. If you ordered a gallon, you get that in a GALLON jug. Please don’t take 2 half gallons if you ordered a gallon, because then the members who ordered a half gallon won’t get their milk. They will text me saying there are only whole gallons left… Thank you!!!

Quarts & Pints: See the difference? We thought about labels for Qts and Pts but the Amish farmers already have so many labels to deal with, we would rather not add to the work!

Do you have any mom friends or family needing a healthy formula? Try the WAPF raw milk formula, recipe here. Our grandgirl, Lake, drank this from age 4 months to 2 years and she thrived on it. She’s now 8, very strong, lots of vitality, super smart and funny! (WAPF = Weston A Price Foundation)

Referral credits are back! Thank you for sharing the food club with friends and family. You will get a $5 credit for your referrals who join :)

Have questions or concerns about the food club or finding real food in your area? Do you have feedback? Please ask/share, either in comments or hit reply if this came in your email. I’m happy to answer all!

xo Sally

PS. Do you all know about Azure Standard? They are a company in Utah that specializes in bulk organic and non-GMO foods. They deliver to Lexington once a month. Take a look at the site and consider joining us. Membership is free, shipping is very reasonable, and it’s very fun to hang out with like-minded friends for 30 minutes or so once a month! And if you can’t make the drop, there’s a FB group where you can ask a fellow traveler to pick up for you ♥

AFFILIATE AD :) Are you looking for clean, healthy living products, including makeup, protein powders & nutrition supplements, plus amazing skincare? Take a look at Arbonne and let me know what you think. I’ve been using their products since 2017 and still loving them all, I think you will, too!

AFFILIATE AD:) Recently, a good friend turned me on to a Coriolus Versicolor mushroom immune support product. This line started for pets, but the results were so amazing, humans wanted in on the healing! I’ve shared my link with other friends who are seeing relief from all manner of health issues — both for themselves and their pets! We just started using so no miracles to personally report, but I am excited since hearing from close friends. Lots of good info on the site, you can click here for more. Yes, my affiliate name is Tinkerbell.🧚‍♀️

Where’s the beef? In other people’s bellies!!!

The club’s amazing long-time beef farmers are selling out at farmer’s markets lately so we’ve been having trouble filling club orders or even referring friends to farmers who sell by the 1/4, 1/2 or whole beef!

In a way, this is actually very good news because it means people are waking up to the difference between locally raised clean food and what you get at the supermarket. Which means that foodies are looking for locally, sustainably raised meat which means that more and more “real food” farmers are selling their products to happy consumers and keeping our KY farmers in business. YAY!!!

Found the Beef

Just this past weekend, I found a wonderful farmer who can supply the club! Grass-fed, grass-finished, mix of Wagyu/Angus, no vaccines, no hormones, no steroids. I’ve actually known this farmer for 2 decades but did not know how he raised and sold his beef.

We are working out the details of pricing, pick-up, etc. BUT we should have a good assortment of beef choices back in the club within the month!!! I’ll get the details out ASAP — I’m very excited and relieved about this! Let me know your favorite cuts, what you’d really like to see offered.

BTW, are you interested in a 1/4, 1/2 or whole beef? Hit reply and let me know, the farmer is happy to sell that way, too.

Speaking of having cows around…

Where’s all the EGGS???

Pastured eggs known as the “gateway to real food farming” and for a few years, we had them available in abundance. Well, in the last couple of years, some of the bigger farmers decided to focus on other products and dropping the egg biz. Plus, it seems like coyotes have been over-producing!!! Predators are an issue.

Fortunately, we have a friend starting up with eggs on her farm, plus our regular supplier has added to his flock so we should get some relief with the egg crisis shortly.

All of the layers we use are pastured on actual grass (not raised in a barn with a patch of concrete so they can say “cage-free”) and supplemented with non-GMO grains, no vaccines, no steroids or hormones

RECIPE: Simple Chocolate Syrup

Nothing beats a sweet treat like chocolate raw milk!!! Makes approx 2 pints. I usually double the recipe and seal the extra jars with a jar sealer (I use this a LOT!)

Ingredients

• 1 Cup cocoa

• 2 Cup sugar

• 2 tsp espresso powder

• 2.25 Cup water

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 2-3 tsp vanilla (optional)

Instructions

• Combine cocoa, sugar, salt, espresso powder in a small saucepan (no heat).

• Add water, mix until smooth.

• Turn on heat, bring to a boil for 1-3 minute, mixing pretty constantly (I use a small metal whisk). **be careful this does not over boil**

• Remove from heat

• When cooler, add vanilla, mix well

Got a late food club order? Go ahead and place the order, then text me and I can change the delivery date to the current week. It may be too late to order some items like sourdough bread (because I’ve already sent that to the baker), but I’ll get everything I can. Honestly, if I weren’t taking the orders, I’d be late every week!!!

Blessings to you all, xo Sally

PS. If you live near Lawrenceburg, KY, stop by Oxbow Meats and check out their offerings. They are a new USDA processor and have a farm store on site as well. Ask for a tour — they are a family-owned business and ready to serve!

We just got back from the Weston A. Price Foundation’s 23rd Annual Wise Traditions Conference and IT WAS AMAZING!!! Click here for the lowdown on speakers and info — goodness, it was information overload.

Fortunately, they sell the recordings — I can’t wait to get mine so I can hear all the seminars I missed. We’ll also be holding meetings this year, starting in January covering all the topics. Notifications will go out via this email list, I hope to see you there!

The very best part? Being with actual health experts and 1500 like-minded participants! You didn’t have to whisper your thoughts on the last 3 years, medical freedom, the breakdown of the ConMed system, or about the nasties being added to grocery store “food”. Everyone said it ALL right out loud, often into a microphone!!! It was inspiring and so empowering.

If you are eating food from your local farm, you are on the right track to a sustainable supply for you and your family! In fact, Sally Fallon Morell, WAPF President, asks us to pledge that 50% of our food dollar be spent at a local farm! Can you do that?

It’s not immediately available to everyone and can be challenging to find, but if you want help finding a local farmer, hit reply and let us help you find good clean food!

Here are food security tips from a previous newsletter!

Notes from the Farm

• Buy in bulk when you can. It’s cheaper and helps ward off scarcity! We like the 7-cu.ft size chest freezer. I use hard-sided boxes (like a kombucha box) or crates to keep items separated. You have to lift those to get to what’s underneath, but it’s not such a big freezer that it’s a problem. We have 3 freezers right now. They are $200 new and anywhere from $50 to $150 used on Marketplace or a used appliance store.

Need appliance repair in Lexington? Use Woodie’s — they are top notch, we won’t use anyone else. Plus 10% discount for cash. No affiliation :)

• Got veggies? Grains? Fruits? If we’re not able to find it locally, we order from Azure Standard*. We have a monthly drop in Lexington and there are a couple of other drops around the state. You can go here to check out the offerings and see where the closest drop is to you. Everything is at least non-GMO if not organic. They are a family run business, plus they did not participate in mandates. We get coconut oil, aminos, some juices, oranges, mangos, some cheeses, laundry & dish soap… Lots of good stuff there! *That is an affiliate link, not sure how much I earn but everyone automatically gets an affiliate link.

• Join my Wellness Wednesday list! One text a week on a health topic. Text “ww” to 859-715-1400 and we’ll add you.

IP Chicken Soup

So good and really easy because I’m a lazy cook :)

Sally's Real Life

IP Fast & Yummy Chicken Soup

We make this soup once a week in the winter, keeps us going. Well, temps are going down to 20 degrees tonight so it is officially SOUP WEATHER! Here’s me making the soup in a video (2 parts), all details below that. Honestly, y’all, soup does not get better than this…

Read more

3 years ago · 2 likes · 2 comments · Sally Oh

A Chicken Farmer’s POV:

One of our club members asked about buying chicken breasts in bulk, wondering if they bought a bunch, could they get a better price. So I asked my farmer. Here’s what he said.

You can buy significantly more chicken buying whole vs parts. The boneless skinless breast is the most valuable cut on a chicken and is “easily” sold. If you buy in bulk, the farmer still has to move legs, thighs and wings.

It’s tough as a grower to offer a bulk discount on the most sought after cut. A lot of direct marketers price the breast to pay for the whole chicken. By just buying breast, you are subsidizing the legs, wings, thighs and carcass. If you are going to pay for it you might as well get the whole thing.

How to Cut Up a Broiler

@mommatoniiI went years doing this wrong. Thought I would share and maybe help someone out. I still haven't mastered this yet 😀 #chicken #hack

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Food Club News

Yes, there’s a food buying club with 6 drops in the central KY area, Morehead to the Bluegrass Airport. You can check it out here: www.farmmatch.com/kfic

If you live in another area and want to start a food buying club, I can help!

Feedback is how I know what’s working and what’s not. You will endear yourselves to me the more you complain, honest! You can share the good stuff, too :)

Have a lovely weekend, enjoy your raw milk! xo Sally

We discovered WAPF when living in Costa Rica. We were low-fatters thinking that was healthy, ignoring the fact we were fatter than we’d ever been. Talk about cognitive dissonance, right? In 2009, we happened upon a gringo ice cream store and there was a brochure on table that said “Butter is a Superfood”. That was all it took: permission to eat butter! Our diets and lives took a complete 180 and here were are today, 100 pounds lighter between us, no meds (the average American our age takes 7+ meds a day) and upright. The only real difference between then and now is the quality of our food!

The WAPF is dedicated to teaching people about real food grown/raised as close to nature as possible. The 3 days of the conference were overflowing with like-minded people and so much good information. The vendor area was overflowing with info and fascinating healing products.

Catherine Austin Fitts was the keynote speaker, Dr. Kelly Brogan, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride (created the GAPS healing diet), Dr. Andrew Kaufman, Dr. Tom Cowan, Chris Masterjohn… well, click here to read up on the speakers. I plan to play the recordings at future meetups so YOU can get lit up too!!!

PS. Courtney Byron and I are the only WAPF KY chapter leaders at the moment and we are always looking for more of you. If you might want to be one, it’s SO EASY! Hit reply and I can fill you in!

PSS. When you join WAPF for $30/year, you get 4 quarterly journals, each over 100 pages, full of scientific and historical health information.

Is it FINALLY time to buy a freezer?

I don’t know about you but I’ve been “warned” about the coming TEOTWAKI food shortages so many times over the past couple of years, I’m NUMB. But here’s the thing: FOOD SHORTAGES COULD HAPPEN. So maybe it’s time to buy a freezer?

You can still get a good size one used at Mako Appliances in Lexington at 1995 Harrodsburg Rd or Danville. I have never regretted a freezer purchase. Then, each week, buy an extra pound or 2 of burger or sausage or a broiler. If you are looking for a 1/4-1/2-whole beef or hog, let me know and I can help you find it!

Food Club News

FRIDAY delivery this week — don’t forget! If you are picking up at Newton’s Attic, it’s a crazy Keeneland weekend so be prepared for traffic on that 2 mile stretch!

Where’s the Beef? Sorry I could not resist. Just updated our beef inventory so take a look and get an order in. Her beef goes fast at market (there are still a few going on) so please order asap and I can reserve for next week’s delivery!

Turkey Time! If you pre-ordered a turkey, we are almost there. When you placed your order, you paid for 12 pounds but they will likely be BIGGER. Last year they were 15 to 21 lbs and there’s just no way to know ahead of time… you can’t tell turkeys to stop growing. (Butterball can process anytime so manage weights that way.) But they were a huge hit — DELICIOUS! If you haven’t ordered, NOW is the time!

Delivery Thanksgiving week:

• Turkeys will be delivered Thursday the 17th.

• Thanksgiving orders are due Saturday before because…

• Thanksgiving food delivery is Tues the 22nd!

PRICES - S’all good! All freeze-dried foods are marked down 20%. PLUS some prices have been adjusted DOWN over the last couple of weeks so take a look at your favs.

For info on the club, click here :)

Thank you for being part of our Real Food KY tribe! It gets a little serious out there now and then and it’s nice to know there are friends around these parts :) Stay fed!

xo Sally

Thank you for joining with us to eat delicious, wholesome food grown & raised in the Commonwealth. Supporting our local farmers is how to have food security. THIS is farm to table, THIS is sustainable. You are making a difference in your health, and in keeping our farmers growing good food. Blessings :)

You are invited to Farm Day this Saturday!

Join us at Aaron and Rachel’s Milk & Honey Farm in Carlisle this Saturday October 1st from 9 am to 12 noon! Meet the Jerseys who provide your milk, see how your chickens are raised, MEET EACH OTHER! Possible hayride, definitely delicious refreshments provided. Bring boots just in case :)

Click here to RSVP (so our farmers know how much food to prepare!) I will send you directions — it’s just about an hour drive from Lexington, very simple to get there.

FarmMatch Founder featured on The Highwire!

Max Kane is what I’d call a hardcore real foodie. For instance, he was almost sent to prison for selling raw milk on the streets of Chicago. The feds finally gave up.

What drives him? He may not be alive today without raw milk and real food. After decades of debilitating gastrointestinal issues, Max discovered the incredible health benefits from consuming raw dairy, specifically kefir, and made a complete recovery.

Max and I became real food friends at a Weston A. Price Conference in 2012. I immediately opened a FarmMatch account but then forgot about it as life rolled on. Then, when the club idea was hatching, a friend who manages a food buying club in OH and uses FarmMatch reminded me about it… KFIC jumped on board and made it our home!

Hear Max tell his amazing story of healing a 20-year battle with a debilitating auto-immune disease with FOOD. How lucky that we can use a service provided by such a dedicated like-minded real food friend??? Lucky!

Did you know we have a podcast?

Max is gonna be on it. If you are a real food farmer or foodie or alternative health expert or just have some good KY stories to tell, I’d love to talk to you — hit reply and let’s see about getting you on the show.

Click here to listen — only one episode so far but she’s a doozy!!!

We need this in KY.

Maine’s constitutional amendment declares that “all individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being.” Brilliant!!!

Joel Salatin on the Perfect Chicken

Enjoyable and informative article as usual! This caught my eye because we bought 25 chickens from McMurray about 3 years ago, all breeds that I liked looking at and that promised to be good foragers: Americanas (easter eggers), a few reds, browns, a couple of black astrolorps. Within a year most of them had gone home with a coyote (while my Great Pyrenees lazily watched).

Well, today we still have the two Astrolorps!!! I guess they are invisible to a coyote? Whatever, they are still hanging around and we still get eggs, about 4 a week.

Here’s the main thing: we haven’t fed them except for old milk products occasionally. They are amazing foragers, full crops all the time and the eggs we get? BRIGHT dark orange, even now at their age. If and when we get chickens again, I’m sticking with the astrolorps!

How to Find Real Food Near You

#1 Join a food club, hub, co-op or group:

• If you live in the Morehead to Lexington area, join the KFIC club.

• In the Dry Ridge area, join KFIC hub!

• If you are in the Ashland area, hit reply and I’ll share Kamilah’s number with you! She gets milk from our farmer :)

• If you are in Louisville, join the Louisville Whole Life food club.

• If you are in Northern KY/Cincinnati area, join the Highland Haven food club

• Are there other food clubs serving KY?

• Want to start a hub or club in your area? Hit reply and I will help you get it going!

#2 Find a local farmer:

• Find the closest farmer’s market to you and shop there, get to know your farmers. Like, don’t just buy a rutabaga and walk away… Ask about their farming practices, admire the goods, shake hands, take a card, give one of yours.

• Ask at your local health food store, surely they will know real food farmers.

• Check FarmMatch, eat wild, get the find real food app, local harvest, the real milk site — these are all places to find farmers and other real foodies!

• Join our Facebook group Real Food KY and ask in there: “Hi, my name is Janet, I live in Podunk, KY. Is there a raw milk farmer around there?”

• Grow some food — it’s very motivating! Anything. An herb in your kitchen window. A Chicago hardy fig tree. If you have a backyard and you are “allowed”, get a couple of chickens. They are completely entertaining and pop out an egg almost every day. Or quail which pop out a tiny egg every day :)

#3 Check here to see if there’s a “vetted” real food farmer near you. If you know a farmer who produces clean food, ask them to fill out this simple questionnaire and get on the list! You can share the link: bit.ly/realfoodfarmers — Thank you!

WAPF Conference in 4 Weeks!

The Wise Traditions Conference sponsored by WAPF (Weston A. Price Foundation) is close to us this year: it’s in Knoxville!!! Check it out here. The speaker list is UH-mazing. The food is always so so yummy!

Hal and I will be there with a few KY friends. Who on this list is going? Let’s be sure to meet up!

The KFIC (Ky Food Independence Club) has freeze-dried foods on the site now! Plus goat’s milk, bath bombs, quail eggs, and LOTS more beef, pork and chicken offerings! Check it out here.

Curious About Raw Milk?

Read all about it on the Real Milk website sponsored by the Weston A. Price Foundation. Did you know that you can live on raw milk??? Yep. That’s how nutrient-dense it is! Have to throw in a pitch for the raw milk formula: it’s a fantastic option if you can’t breast feed! My grand girl thrived on it for over 2 years.

Bits ‘n Pieces

• YouTube and FB are shutting down prepper, homesteading and real food pages and groups. Insanity reigns. Join us on MeWe (click here). We’re not very active there but it’s a precautionary move :)

• Got food club/hub feedback? Click here, to share what is excellent, and what is not. Completely anonymous. I SO APPRECIATE YOUR FEEDBACK!!! I can’t fix what I don’t know is broken.

That’s the real food news! Don’t forget Farm Day — put it on your calendar and we’ll see you there!

xoxo Sally

Jen is awesome, her farm and animals are amazing! I love visiting all the birds (there must be 200 roaming around), talking with Jen and packing home some of her wonderful food.

PS. If you are a real food farmer or foodie or alternative health expert or just have some good KY stories to tell, I’d love to talk to you — hit reply and let’s see about that!

Tips for Getting Started on Food Security

#1 Stop listening to the doomsayers on TV & social media who are reporting on the future in the scariest way possible. We KNOW what’s happening, right? Don’t need to be any more scared. That helps nothing.

So here’s what we foodies gotta do: support your local farmer starting now before there are any serious food shortages. Keep in mind our farmers have their families to feed in a situation, so get to know and support them NOW.

HOW TO FIND LOCAL FARMERS:

This was the toughest part of being a new Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader: how do you find farmers? I’ve learned a few things over the years, here’s what I do.

• Find the closest farmer’s market to you and shop there, get to know your farmers. Like, don’t just buy a rutabaga and walk away… Ask about their farming practices, admire the goods, shake hands, take a card, give one of yours.

• Ask at your local health food store. They should know farmers.

• Check FarmMatch, eat wild, get the find real food app, local harvest, the real milk site — these are all places to find farmers and other real foodies!

• Join our Facebook group Real Food KY and ask in there: “Hi, my name is Janet, I live in Podunk, KY. Is there a raw milk farmer around there?”

• If you live in our food club’s service area (Morehead to Lexington), join the food club, let us do the heavy lifting.

• Join or help me start a food hub near you. Just hit reply and I’ll be in touch to get the ball rolling. (In fact, the first KFIC Hub is open at Bean’s Cafe in Dry Ridge!)

• If you are in Louisville, join the Louisville Whole Life food club. If you are in Northern KY/Cincinnati area, join the Highland Haven food club. Are there other food clubs serving KY?

• Grow some food. Anything. An herb in your kitchen window. A Chicago hardy fig tree. If you have a backyard and you are “allowed”, get a couple of chickens. They are completely entertaining and pop out an egg almost every day. Or quail which pop out a tiny egg every day :)

• What can I add to this list?

Got Seeds, Got Soil, Got Piglets?

Just do it. Once you get started, it’s empowering to grow your own food, to buy real unprocessed food from your local farmer. Suddenly, your food supply is out of the system and not totally dependent on what happens in the rest of the world.

WAPF Coming Up!

The Wise Traditions Conference is close this year: in Knoxville!!! Check it out here. The speaker list is UH-mazing.

Hal and I will be there with a few KY friends. Who on this list is going? Let’s be sure to meet up!

ICYMI

John Stossel is his usual smart alec self in this short video: “Where’s The Beef? Ask The Feds!”. We need that Prime Act asap!

Speaking of which, Ky farmer and Congressman Thomas Massie now has two bills on the table to help farmers and foodies gain better access to good clean food.

• The first is H.R.3835 PRIME Act which expands the exemption of custom slaughtering of animals from federal inspection requirements. We need this one asap, particularly in light of the shortage of slaughterhouses.

• The second is H.R.4835 Interstate Milk Freedom Act which prohibits federal regulation of the interstate traffic of unpasteurized milk or milk products packaged for direct human consumption under specified circumstances.

FD = Freeze Dried

The KFIC (Ky Food Independence Club) has freeze-dried foods on the site now! Plus goat’s milk, bath bombs, quail eggs, and lots more beef, pork and chicken offerings, too. Check it out here.

Featured Photo

This is Sheri Quinn’s backyard garden! Please share your farm & garden photos — we’d love to see them. Who doesn’t like looking at pictures of food, livestock, gardens, compost — whatever is growing on a farm :)

PS. New to Raw Milk? The most important step in keeping your milk as fresh & sweet as possible for as long as possible is mastering the “cold chain”. Details here! Ice, ice, baby :)

Weston A Price Foundation Chapter Meetings

We used to have fairly regular meetups a few years ago, even before March 2020, and we are itching to hang out with like-minded friends! If there’s a topic you are particularly interested in, hit reply and let us know. We want to hear from you, then hang out with you!

Food Clubs ‘n Hubs

Are you aware that you have access to a fresh farm food club picking up from local farmers and delivering Morehead to Lexington? The KFIC (Ky Food Independence Club) has 6 pick up locations now — check it out here: www.farmmatch.com/kfic

PLUS there’s now a KFIC Food HUB in Dry Ridge with a farmer meetup on Saturdays at 10am. Details on that here: www.farmmatch.com/kfichub

Our next food hub location is Bardstown and we’re aiming to have that open in August.

If you live outside the club delivery area (Morehead to Lexington), hit reply and we’ll get you set up with a food hub in your area!

FOOD CLUBS

• ASHLAND My friend Kamilah Asafa has a food club in Ashland, KY. Connect with her at (606) 615-0498

• LOUISVILLE John Moody manages the Louisville Wholelife club, click here for details

• CINCINNATI AREA Morgan Phelps runs the Highland Haven Farm club at www.farmmatch.com/highlandhavenfarm

What’s New in KFIC?

LOTS! We now have certified organic pork and chicken products (they are clearly marked) and fun all-natural Bath Bombs! Inventory is stocked on everything except for cheese (and you’ll have more the first week of August). Let me know what you have a hankering for and we’ll see if we can get it :)

Got Quail Eggs?

They are adorable and excellent food! The grandkids (3 & 6) loved them on sourdough toast! They each ate 8 eggs every morning for breakfast!!! And that was sunny side up, runny yolk and all. No way would they eat a chicken egg that way.

Quail eggs are in the food club catalog and you get 18+ quail eggs in a container for $6. We can usually fit 20 in there unless a couple are particularly big :)

PS. Plus quail chicks are always available — lots of people buy quail to keep. IMO, quail are the perfect homesteading/SHTF “livestock”. Small, easy to care for, simple to process. We can help you get set up!

Bits & Pieces

• Stuff happens! If you get something that you are not happy with, please let us know — stuff happens. We will work it out so you are happy. This ain’t Kroger.

• Join us on MeWe (click here). YouTube and FB are shutting down prepper, homesteading and real food pages and groups. Insanity reigns.

• Got food club/hub feedback? Click here, to share what is excellent, and what is not. Completely anonymous. I SO APPRECIATE YOUR FEEDBACK!!! I CAN’T FIX WHAT I DON’T KNOW IS BROKEN.

That’s it :) When you have any questions or concerns, reply to this email or text me at 859-550-3862 or on Signal.

xo Sally

PS. To refer someone to the food club, give them my number 859-550-3862. Once they are members, YOU BOTH get a $5 credit!

"Real Food" Farmer Criteria

Our focus is Wellness Agriculture, which means:

• non-GMO feed for livestock

• pastured, free-range animals, no CAFOs

• non-GMO seed for plants

• no glyphosate (Round-Up) used on property

• herbicide/pesticide free (with some exceptions)

• no growth hormones or prophylactic antibiotics used

• organic certification not necessary

• organic practices encouraged

Can you join us?

Please click here & use the form to tell us as much as you can!

You’ll be listed on our spreadsheet which is available to consumers. (If you want to remain anonymous, that is fine, too!) Thank you for all you do!!!!

Farmers and consumers in transition to clean food, welcome! While Monsanto will not be speaking at any meetings, we aren't purists and nobody's perfect. We've all run out of the good feed... The goal is wholesome, real food going into healthy bodies and lifestyles. Real Food Ky aims to be a supportive network for farmers, businesses and consumer sharing the same values.

• This means that your milk cannot get above 38°F, even in your car on your drive home from pick-up in 90-degree summer heat. Keeping the COLD CHAIN consistent makes a big difference in fresh milk’s longevity and, obviously, taste.

• Consider using something to cushion the jars inside the coolers, maybe a blanket or cardboard.

• Freezer packs save you money in the long run — bagged ice is expensive! We use these freezer packs. Keep a bunch frozen and ready to go.

• A good quality cooler is essential for transport. Our Extreme cooler (bought at Kmart for $50, fits 4 gallons which is 8 half gallon Ball jars) keeps ice frozen for 3 days, so the milk is safe! I like that.

• TIP: If you already have a cooler that is too big for the milk, get a soft-sided freezer bag, put the milk in that with ice, then in the cooler. My soft-sided freezer bag does not keep my milk cold enough for my long drive home in the summer! To clarify: I don’t need both, I use my large cooler. I’m making this suggestion in case you already have a large cooler. If you put 4 bottles in a cooler that holds eight, you are either going to be buying a LOT of extra ice and/or your bottles will move around and break.

• TIP: If you fill your own jars at the farmer’s house, take your jars cold so the farmer’s cold milk goes into a cold jar!

How to Store Raw Milk at Home

• Check temp of fridge; should be 35°F, that is perfect. Milk also decreases in quality if it is too cold. You don’t want ice crystals in your milk. And you don’t want your salad to freeze. Ours is 35 degrees and we have no troubles.

• Store milk in the coldest part of the fridge possible.

• Use the door shelf only for the bottle in current use.

• May need to place ice packs next to milk in fridge if you are having spoiling problems, especially for milk that will be stored the longest.

• If thawing meat or frozen leftovers, put them around your milk jars to help keep your milk super-cold.

• Promptly return bottle(s) to fridge after pouring from them.

To Freeze Raw Milk (on purpose)

• Use plastic (to prevent shattering) and leave 1 in. headroom.

• Freeze as quickly as possible (the coldest part of your freezer) and shake periodically during freezing to keep cream and cold distributed evenly.

• To use, thaw slowly at room temp until there is just a small chunk of ice in the milk.

• Shake milk often during thawing to keep it cold throughout.

• Fast thawing will result in curdling and/or separation of cream from milk.

What To Do With Leftover, Soured or Curdled Milk

Here’s the fascinating thing about raw milk: it NEVER goes bad. It just becomes another food. At least, it’s never gone bad for us and we’ve used it in food and cooking for us and our pets, never a single burp! That’s our experience. So how do we use it? Like this:

• Here’s how to get four foods from 1 gallon of raw milk past its prime: part 1 is here, part 2 is here.

• Your dogs, chickens, and pigs will love curdled milk: we mix it with their regular food, they eat it right up.

• If you don’t want to separate it, simply shake the curds and whey back together and use in your bread making for a sourdough taste. Or in pancakes, muffins, whatever you are cooking that needs liquid. Think of it like buttermilk. It can be substituted in lots of basic recipes.

That’s what we know so far. All tips and suggestions welcome!

If you are looking for info on the food club, visit www.farmmatch.com/kfic or text Sally at 859-550-3862.

Kentucky agriculture remains the foundation of our culture: raising/growing nutrient dense food for home and/or market, maintaining strong family ties, respect for property, and a strong work ethic.

Our Mission

…is to connect Kentucky’s “real food” farmers to educated consumers. Real health begins with clean food and a clean planet. As more and more of us wake up to this fact, we see an increase in consumers wanting to leave behind unhealthy practices and jump in with local farmers!

We live in exciting times. Perhaps ESPECIALLY since Covid broke onto the world scene in March 2020. Since then, our real food social media groups and friends — and our food buying club — have seen tremendous growth.

What’s a real food farmer?

By “real food”, we mean NUTRIENT DENSE food raised and/or grown as close to the earth and as naturally as possible.

Real food farming practices include:

• non-GMO or organic feed

• at least soy-free and hopefully corn-free — this is difficult right now because soy & corn free feed is crazy expensive. Consumers realize this and every budget has a ceiling.

• pastured livestock on unsprayed fields

• grass-fed cattle - GRASS-FINISHED IS AWESOME BUT NOT REQUIRED as long as the grain is non-GMO and the cattle continue to live on pasture so the grain is supplemental and the sun is shining on their backs

• pastured milk cows - supplementing with non-GMO grains while milking to keep the cows happy and standing still is a common practice

• unsprayed hay

• organic gardening practices (you do not need to be certified organic but just farm organically)

• regenerative soil practices

If you have questions about any of this, comment below and I’ll reply!

Food Buying Club

The KY Food Independence Club (KFIC) is a private membership food buying club featuring healthy food provided by Ky farmers. It’s like an online grocery only all the food is REAL & healthy. Nutrient dense foods like…

• farm fresh milk & dairy products

• goat’s milk when available

• pastured eggs & chicken

• grass-fed, pastured meats

• baked goods

• local honey 

• organic sourdough bread

• home made soaps & tinctures

• local CBD products

• organic* fruits & veggies

• all feed non-GMO if not organic

• prepared foods all using organic/non-GMO ingredients & cultures

• prepared salves, syrups, lotions using organic/non-GMO ingredients

• + traditional supplements

*organic means either USDA certified organic or grown/raised using organic practices

Members order online and pick up their food once a week at their closest drop location in the Lexington – Bluegrass area.

If you’d like information on KFIC, please text Sally at 859-550-3862.

If you are on social media, please friend me — I’m @lysanderswife everywhere. Then I can invite you to our real food/farmer groups!

Oh, don’t have the yard, neighbors, or rules for chicken raisin’? Enter quail!

Hal and I are long-time chickenistas. We got started in Costa Rica in 2009 with 3 chickens. When we moved back to the states in 2010, we got backyard chickens right away. Honest, you get addicted to having them around! All they really do is eat, poop and lay eggs, but they do all that with a quirkiness that is endearing.

Yeah, you grow to love your chickens. Tiktok has some hysterical examples…

@mommyfarmerNothing like a herd of goats to get involved in something that they shouldn't #chickenwars #goats #goatsoftiktok #farmanimals #farmtok

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Since then, we’ve had chickens wherever we lived: city, country, city… now permanently country since 2014. We’ve raised them for eggs and meat. For three summers, we did the chicken tractor thing and processed all our own meat birds. Good lessons learned! In today’s world, you want to know how to raise and process your own food.

Honestly, you process every animal the same basic way: kill, de-feather/hair, gut, freeze. You’ll just need bigger equipment for bigger animals :) Excellent video here.

In February 2022, we watched the last of our hens get carried away by coyotes while Lilah, the sweetest Great Pyrenees ever, napped nearby. We did great with chickens for years but I guess the coyotes found us.

We were loathe to keep feeding coyotes… then got intrigued by quail. In our usual fashion, we did some basic reading, then bought a cage and some quail. I guess we like learning on the fly.

We discovered that there are indeed advantages to raising food in a cage. It’s not entertaining in the least, but hugely efficient. We also found that we love quail eggs waaaaay more than chicken eggs!

So let’s talk about the basic differences, pros and cons, from birth to death, when it comes to Quail and Chickens.

Birth: hatch or buy?

• Chicken

  • If you have a rooster, you’ll have baby chicks.

  • Chicken mamas are wonderful. They sit on the eggs, only getting up occasionally to eat and drink. Once babies are hatched, mama protects them as best they can, and keep them warm.

  

  • If you have pets, you’ll probably want to keep the chicks & mama safe in a caged coop until babies are too big for your pet.

  • No rooster or just getting started? There are lots of good hatcheries where you order chicks online. You can get unvaxxed chicks and at least one hatchery offers non-GMO chicks from a line of non-GMO hens.

  • Buying from a local store is VERY risky, ask anyone who’s done it. We bought 6 last year, 4 died within 48 hours. Turns out that’s a common story.

• Quail

  • Quail are so domesticated, they don’t sit on their eggs or nurture in any way. Gotta buy eggs and incubate, or buy chicks, lots of sellers.

  • You’ll need an incubator, a large bin for the chicks

Incubating

Incubating is fascinating and simple. For the pro, there are a million detailed steps like candling, checking for fertile eggs, etc. For a basic homesteader, put the eggs in the incubator, check temp and humidity every day, you get quail chicks in 18 days, chickens in 21.

We own 2 large incubators from Farm Innovators and 2 small ones: a Brinsea and a Nuture Right. They all work great.

Temperature

Chicken and quail are much more in danger of overheating than of being cold! They pant in the summer, their body temperature is over 100 degrees. In winter, ours have survived in -22 degrees. I have a picture of one of our black astrolorps sitting in the snow during our last snowstorm. Happy as can be. When she got up, there was a warm melted spot under her! They need to be protected from harsh winds, that will hurt them. Cold temperatures will not.

Breeds

• Chickens: there are breeds for every need: good foragers, good layers, good for meat, pretty, show chickens… gotta know your chicken goals!

• Quail: there are two basic breeds.

  • Bobwhites are for hunting and you need a license to breed them.

  • Coturnix are the quail that the rest of us raise.

    • There are jumbos and regular mixed run.

Equipment

• CHICKENS coop where they will be protected from predators at night, yard for foraging, waterers or a bucket that you fill, feeder that is rodent-proof, sandbox or access to a dirt pit for bathing

  • Ideas for coops — there are millions of coops and ideas here and on youtube — so fun!!!

  • You might possibly need some of these:

    

    @chickenorbChicken Orbs the foraging enclosure for gardeners.let your chickens in the garden without all the flickin" chicken mess. Www.chickenorb.com #orb #gardening #chickenorb #chickenorbs #hens #chicks

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• QUAIL cages, waterers, feeders, sandbox — millions of ideas here (and on youtube!)

Roosters

Do you NEED roosters?

• PROS They are good protectors for the chickens, you can have baby chicks

• CONS They can get big and mean. They are loud and they can’t always tell time. They will scratch the feathers off the hens’ backs… if you don’t have enough hens to roos, you will have chickens with naked backs! Roos are relentless…

Predators

Basically everything likes chicken, quail & their eggs! Hawks and coyotes in the field. Owls, raccoons, opossums, snakes, RATS… you want to learn your predators and how to protect against them. HINT: hardware cloth is essential!

How many birds for how many eggs?

Both chicken and quail produce 5-6 eggs a week. Some breeds produce more, some less, but we’ve found that to be a reliable number.

Four quail eggs = 1 chicken egg. Hal and I can eat 20-24 quail eggs for breakfast easy. So that’s a dozen quail minimum if we want eggs everyday. We freeze-dry the extra eggs and make quail egg powder.

Quail eggs have more yolk to white ratio and taste richer. We have grown to love quail eggs much more than chicken. So do the grandkids.

Resources

• Facebook groups

• Backyardchickens.com, they also have a quail section

• Storey’s Guide to Raising Chickens which also has a quail section

• We bought all the quail books and NONE of them had any substantial info, there’s more in this one post. Some had outright lies, lol. We learned much more from FB groups and backyardchickens.com!

• Quail Con

• YouTube

  • MyShire Farms

  • Sow & Tare

  • Slightly Redneck

  • Dexter’s World

Don't let this happen in KY. Ain't nobody coming to save us, we're just gonna have to protect ourselves. Join MAFAKy.org (that's just subscribing, it's free, and the entire goal is to grow our voter database so our legislators do what we want). You can find your KY legislator here.

I got an email today from Miller's Organic Farm and am so disturbed AGAIN by what is happening there. The FDA & USDA have been harassing this farm for several years now. During Amish Sam's trial, Amos (Miller) called me to discuss what was happening at the farm (the Miller's are Amish as well).

Seems government bureaucracies don't like private membership associations which are exempt from some bureaucratic manhandling. I'll be frank here: I hate them. Rand Paul wrote a book called Government Bullies. That is all they are: bullies who hide behind "keeping the food supply safe".

They are failing miserably at that and the proof is in the GMO pudding. Since we've had an FDA and a USDA, Americans are fatter and sicker than we've ever been.

Here's most of the original email, I edited a bit and added formatting for clarity.

It’s a busy time of the year here at the farm. Spring is always a favorite time of the year with the grass growing at its peak. 

We would like to stock up on our grass-fed beef, chicken, turkey, etc., but USDA is aggressively hindering us from doing that. This week Paul Flanagan, USDA, was here again and detained approximately 3,000 lbs. of our fresh corn & soy free chicken, beef & pork, which many of our members have long been waiting for. They are actually hindering us from supplying you with citric acid free fresh meats.

This is extremely disturbing. Never before has your support been more important than it is now to preserve your rights for nutrient-dense foods. USDA is giving us two options if we want to continue to supply your needs.

OPTION 1

One is to take our animals to a USDA certified facility which is no longer giving us the option of natural citric acid. Many of our members are sensitive to citric acid and how it is manufactured. We at the farm only want to provide you with the best chemical-free meats possible. We need your support in this regard.

OPTION 2

Option number two that they are giving us is what they call the custom exemption facility, which we could process here at the farm but the animal has to be completely spoken for. This means that every cut of meat has to be sold before the animal can ever be processed. This means that the animal is being divided to a group of people, meaning each family would need to take approximately 10-40 lbs. of meat at a time. This also means that if nobody from that group wants the liver, heart, etc. that would have to be thrown out and discarded. We would like to know how many of our members could work with this option. 

Miller outlines two other options.

OPTION 3

Option number three is to stand together and exercise our private rights to our private membership association. How can the USDA say there is nothing like a private sale when our $1.00 bill or $10.00 bills actually have written on them “this note is legal tender for all debts public & private”?

OPTION 4

Option number four is to close our meat facility.

Let me write about something that happened in my grandfather’s time, around the 1950’s or so, when they did not agree to send their children to public school past the eighth grade. They felt the need to keep them home at the farm where hands-on learning skills can be very important. This created a big conflict between the government and the farming community, but they did not give in. They stood strong with their beliefs. They actually got arrested and put in jail. Other people paid their fines. This happened more than once. They finally got a Supreme Court ruling in Wisconsin that they have a right to have their own private schooling. 

Are we ever grateful that my grandfather and their community stayed strong. Our farming community has stayed strong for many years because of this.

Let me tell you the rest of the story.

In the past 10-20 years, rules and regulations have been getting more and more strict and enforced, making it impossible for the small farm to make a living on the farm, especially animal farming. I cannot tell you how many farms went out of business in our area this past year because of the rules and regulations that are being enforced. Our private rights are being taken away. As the saying goes, No farms, No Food.

If we as nutrient-dense, raw foodist consumers would like to have access to these nutrient-dense, chemical [free foods], we will ALL have to stay active in reserving our natural food freedom. 

IF YOU WANT CONTINUED ACCESS TO NUTRIENT DENSE FOODS, you must get involved!!! Nobody is coming to save us.

On the contrary, there are very powerful, well-financed forces coming to enslave us and force their unhealthy nutrient-less foods into our bodies!!!

• Support your local farms: buy one item, two items, buy your entire menu from your local food club or farmer's market or roadside stand! Stop in at your local farm and ask if they sell anything direct to consumer, then buy some. If you don't eat that, give it to someone who will. (Me, we eat everything!!!)

• Contact your U.S. Senator and U.S. Congressman and request that they intervene with the USDA & FDA and make them STOP INTERFERING with your access to nutrient-dense FOOD!

• Contact your local Commissioner of Agriculture and any farm-related committees in your legislature and request that they intervene with local "health" & ad boards and make THEM stop interfering with your access to nutrient-dense food!!!

PROS for Grain Finishing Beef Cattle

• Because grains make cows fat and fatty meat is tastier

CONS for Grain Finishing Beef Cattle

• Cows aren't designed to eat grains. They can eat them and as long as they have access to grass or hay alongside the grains and aren't forced to rely SOLELY on grains, it's fine.

• In a CAFO (confined animal feeding operation), cows are forced to eat only GMO grains so they get as fat as possible as fast as possible. Inhumane and unhealthy.

• When cows eat GMO grains, the fat they produce is higher in Omega 6 fats which are very unhealthy to consume when unbalanced by Omega 3 fats.

Best Practices for Grain-Finishing Beef

• 60-90 days seems to be the sweet spot for adding a little fat to the beef

• Keep the cows on pasture while feeding grains -- they still need fresh grass and sunshine

• Feed only soy-free non-GMO grains

That's the skinny on fat cows :) Questions? Please ask, my contact info is at the top of every page!

Hi there! My name is Sally Oh and I'm a passionate real foodie!!! I'm one of the weird ones that LOVES nutritious food, loves to eat, hates to cook, loves farmers and farms.

I met a wonderful YOUNG Amish couple wanting to leave commercial dairy and get into the raw dairy business. It was so good, I started delivering their milk to friends in 2017 as a side gig...

By 2020, it was a full-blown real food club with TONS of KY real food goodies available to anyone wanting to eat clean!!

I'm a Weston A. Price Foundation chapter leader since 2010, a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and diving into emotional healing for 2021.

There's something in short supply right now. ❤

You can find more at my blog here: Sally's Real Life. Or friend me on Facebook (yes I'm still there...). Or just stick around here!

I look forward to meeting you in person one day soon!

Please ask your questions, I’ll answer & add them here!!!

GLASS JARS

If you want your milk in glass jars, you’ll supply those to the farmer. For each gallon of milk, you need 6 half-gallon jars/lids in rotation. The picture is 2 half gallon jars and you can use metal lids or plastic.

You can get at Walmart, Tractor Supply, sometimes Kroger, Meiers, Target. They are available on Amazon for an arm and a leg. Seriously, $$$. Try to get locally!

Wash and let thoroughly dry, then leave at your drop (with the tops on so nothing gets in there). I’ll pick up the following Thursday and take to the farm (I only go to the farm once a week). Your milk will be in glass jars the following week.

So the first two weeks, you’ll get your milk in plastic, third week they are in glass! Every week, when you pick up your milk, leave your clean jars at the drop (you’ll see where to leave them). I pick up all clean jars when I deliver the milk. It’s a little confusing at first how this works, but you get the hang of it after a bit of doing it! If you need clarification on anything, please ask!!!

SALT

Misty Hollow only uses Redmond’s Real Salt — that’s what we use at my house, too. If you have a concern about a particular product, please ask and I will find out!!!

CHICKEN FEED

Is non-GMO and soy-free. It is not corn-free or organic but that would raise the price significantly. And chickens LOVE corn plus it helps them stay warm and PRODUCE in winter!

BEEF GELATIN

This WAS used in the plain yogurt. It is beef, also grass-fed/finished. BUT the farmer now uses a store-bought organic yogurt as her starter, 7 Stars brand (which is what I get if I need to buy store bought!)

ORGANIC INGREDIENTS?

They use organic as much as possible and always non-GMO at the very least. Again if you have a question about a specific ingredient or product please ask.

Well, guess what?

This is a photo of a color wheel. For what, you ask?

It’s used to determine how much marigold powder to put in CAFO chicken feed per ton to make the yolks darker yellow.

To TRICK you into thinking their caged animals are producing eggs that are nutritionally equal to pastured eggs.

You simply cannot make this stuff up.

When it comes to raw milk, we’re all sticklers about squeaky clean glass milk bottles! Why? Because if you want your milk to last as long as possible, you need a super clean bottle. Any dirt or bacteria in there, and your milk will start to sour before you’ve finished the week.

So, if you want squeaky clean glass milk bottles, here’s how to make that happen!

Most farmers use the wide-mouth 1/2 gallon Mason jars.

When it comes to cleaning, they can’t be beat! Easy to clean in a dishwasher or by hand with a brush or sponge. My hands are little so I can get ’em in there and reach every surface.

The biggest challenge with any milk bottle is that they have to be COMPLETELY DRY before you cap them. Just a few drops of water, even a teensy tiny little bit of moisture in there and, after they’ve been capped for couple of days, it smells like a swamp when you open it. I discovered this the obvious way.

So here’s how to clean and dry milk bottles:

1. Rinse emptied bottles immediately with cool-to-lukewarm water so as not to “set” the milk protein. Hot water will set that protein! My friend Christy calls this “milk glue” and it can be really hard to get off the inside of your bottles!

2. Plan to wash two days before milk pick-up day so you have plenty of drying time.

3. Wash in hot, soapy water, using a good bottle brush (if you can’t get your hand in there). Getting a long enough handle seems to be the trick! (See next section for brush suggestions.) One friend uses salt to clean for a little “grit” with the brush. I thought that was a great idea, especially if you have old milk in a bottle.

4. Rinse well several times, then give a final rinse with hot water to speed drying. Drain upside-down TILTED on a rack, then cap. Drying straight upside-down does not allow the inside bottom to get dry. And it seriously needs two days.

NOTES ON DRYING: Make sure air can get back up into the bottle when set upside down to dry! Placing your bottle on a dishtowel flat on the counter will not allow the inside to dry completely: air needs to be able to get back up into the bottle to dry.

Nor will letting it sit right-side-UP on a counter… unless you have a few days drying time (and no humidity), there will always be a drop or two of water in the bottom. Just a drop or two of water in a capped bottle will bring on the swampy.

One friend rigged up a drying rack in her windowsill which accomplished sun drying/sanitizing at the same time.

Brushes for Cleaning Glass Milk Bottles

Finding decent, good-sized bottle brushes has been a challenge.  I love the OXO brushes. They are long enough and good quality!

Sanitizing Glass Milk Bottles: 4 Methods

To tell you the truth, I don’t sanitize anymore. I just wash and dry and am very comfortable with that. If you would like to sanitize, here are four methods. The only thing I would caution about is, if you use the H2O2 or Iodine (or vinegar as one person told me she was using), make sure you rinse thoroughly so that your milk is not tainted with residue! Not sure what harm that would do but it might cause an off taste.

• HYDROGEN PEROXIDE: Food-grade H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) is perfect as a disinfectant because its by-product is plain water. (More on this in the next section.)

• IODINE: I used to use this method. A couple of drops of iodine (Lugol’s solution which can be found on ebay here — this is NOT iodine tincture) in my final rinse water. If some remains in the bottle, it’s never bothered us. We supplement with Lugol’s so safe to ingest. Just might make the milk taste funny if there’s too much residue.

• SUNLIGHT: Air dry in direct sunlight.

• HEAT: Place drained jars in a warm (less than 150°F) but turned-off oven. Obviously don’t include the plastic lids. I have done this with our milk bottles that have the hard plastic handles, nothing melted!

Details on the H2O2 Sanitizing Method

• Need funnel and approx. 2 oz HP for 4 bottles

• Wash and rinse bottles. Then set still-wet bottles alongside lids/caps in the sink.

• Pour an ounce (2 Tbsp or 1/8 Cup) of 3% HP into a bottle, then cap (which will also sanitize the cap) or cover it with your hand and shake for a minute to distribute the liquid.

• Using the funnel, pour this slightly-used HP into the next container and set the first aside to drain. Repeat on all bottles.

• When you have used HP on all your bottles, hold them up to the light. Any remaining organic material will show up as foamy white bubbles. Repeat the hand washing/HP rinse until no foam appears on contact with HP.

• When all containers have been treated, rinse well to remove any traces of chemical stabilizers* from the HP. Dry as usual.

• *Not all HP has stabilizers added to it. It should say on the bottle of HP if other ingredients have been added.

• To deodorize a bottle that has had milk curdle in it, fill with a stronger solution of HP and filtered water and allow to soak overnight.

• HP is preferred to bleach because it’s more environmentally friendly and many people believe it is good for their health. Plus, if you see any bubbling, you know you need a do-over!

Transportation Tips and the “Cold Chain”

“A fundamental tenet of handling fresh, unprocessed milk is to maintain what California Organic Pastures dairy farmer Mark McAfee calls the ‘cold chain’. This aspect of risk management begins with the immediate rapid cooling of milk after milking and continues through all the steps of dispensing, transport and storage. The ideal goal for home storage is to hold milk between 35°F and 38°F. There must be no break in the cold chain.”

• This means that your milk cannot get above 38°F, even in your car on your drive home from pick-up in 90-degree summer heat. Keeping the COLD CHAIN consistent makes a big difference in fresh milk’s longevity and, obviously, taste.

• Consider using something to cushion the jars inside the coolers, maybe a blanket or cardboard.

• Freezer packs save you money in the long run — bagged ice is expensive! We use these freezer packs. Keep a bunch frozen and ready to go.

• A good quality cooler is essential for transport. Our Extreme cooler (bought at Kmart for $50, fits 4 gallons which is 8 half gallon Ball jars) keeps ice frozen for 3 days, so the milk is safe! I like that.

• TIP: If you already have a cooler that is too big for the milk, get a soft-sided freezer bag, put the milk in that with ice, then in the cooler. My soft-sided freezer bag does not keep my milk cold enough for my long drive home in the summer! To clarify: I don’t need both, I use my large cooler. I’m making this suggestion in case you already have a large cooler. If you put 4 bottles in a cooler that holds eight, you are either going to be buying a LOT of extra ice and/or your bottles will move around and break.

• TIP: If you fill your own jars at the farmer’s house, take your jars cold so the farmer’s cold milk goes into a cold jar!

How to Store Raw Milk at Home

• Check temp of fridge; should be 35°F, that is perfect. Milk also decreases in quality if it is too cold. You don’t want ice crystals in your milk. And you don’t want your salad to freeze. Ours is 35 degrees and we have no troubles.

• Store milk in the coldest part of the fridge possible.

• Use the door shelf only for the bottle in current use.

• May need to place ice packs next to milk in fridge if you are having spoiling problems, especially for milk that will be stored the longest.

• If thawing meat or frozen leftovers, put them around your milk jars to help keep your milk super-cold.

• Promptly return bottle(s) to fridge after pouring from them.

To Freeze Raw Milk (on purpose)

• Use plastic (to prevent shattering) and leave 1 in. headroom.

• Freeze as quickly as possible (the coldest part of your freezer) and shake periodically during freezing to keep cream and cold distributed evenly.

• To use, thaw slowly at room temp until there is just a small chunk of ice in the milk.

• Shake milk often during thawing to keep it cold throughout.

• Fast thawing will result in curdling and/or separation of cream from milk.

Misc. Glass Milk Bottle Tips

• Did you know that farm fresh milk dries almost clear, so it is not always apparent where it has not been removed? Me neither. You have to wash thoroughly and check in good light.

• Containers that are properly washed and dried “keep” clean for several weeks once capped.

• If you are washing half-gallon wide-mouth canning jars in the dishwasher, you might want to rinse afterwards to remove any dishwasher soap residue. Sally Fallon suggests using minimal detergent in the dishwasher and putting that soap only in the first wash cup (the pre-rinse cup) so the regular wash becomes a thorough rinse cycle.

What To Do With Leftover, Soured or Curdled Milk

Here’s the fascinating thing about raw milk: it NEVER goes bad. It just becomes another food. At least, it’s never gone bad for us and we’ve used it in food and cooking for us and our pets, never a single burp! That’s our experience. So how do we use it? Like this:

• Here’s how to get four foods from 1 gallon of raw milk past its prime: part 1 is here, part 2 is here.

• Your dogs, chickens, and pigs will love curdled milk: we mix it with their regular food, they eat it right up.

• If you don’t want to separate it, simply shake the curds and whey back together and use in your bread making for a sourdough taste. Or in pancakes, muffins, whatever you are cooking that needs liquid. Think of it like buttermilk. It can be substituted in lots of basic recipes.

That’s what we know so far. All tips and suggestions welcome!