Saponification Sunday...Easter, Eggs and Tiger Stripes

Well. Amy Warden  has done it again. Challenging soap makers around the world. she drives us all towards being the best we can be.

Once again, I failed.

Not miserably, but enough to feel a little soaping shame.  The first challenge in this round was the "Tiger Stripe" The technique is well demonstrated on Amy's blog and appears simple enough but simple is as simple does. Whatever that means. Sure, it doesn't look too bad from a distance but proof is in the (close-up) pudding.

 

  I chose two contrasting colors. Alkanet powder infused in olive oil, hoping for purple, and Annatto seed hoping for orange. Hope is not the same as skill. I split my batch in half, colored each and added a combination of Lemon Eucalyptus and Tangerine Essential oils.

I followed Amy's directions and began pouring soap. My "thin trace" lasted all of 15 seconds. I blame the Annetto powder as the soap portion colored with it got thick fast. One thin line became a thick line.

But I was still able to pour one line within another line as she had demonstrated. But they were thicker than I wanted. That is when it dawned on me that large  20 cc syringes would probably work very well for this. I'll use them next time.

By the end of the pour the Alkanet colored soap was thick but still pourable but the Annetto batch was globular, meaning thick as globs. I decided to let the whole batch gel under towels but the top got too hot so threw it in the frig which gave me a very ugly partial gel.

YIKES!  To add insult to incompetence, the bottom began to chip when I cut the soap this am.  Strike three for this soap. Oh wait, the EO's proved too strong and smelled more like Murphy's wood soap than the light and airy forest scent I was aiming for.

Strike four.

But...I did love the blue color I got with the alkanet and I did love learning another technique. I'll try the Tiger Stripe again later this week and share what I hope will be improved results. In the meantime, I am posting this batch on Amy's Blog just to make the others look even better.

Because I'm all about Martyr Soaping, that's why

Lap Dog

At just 5 months of age it is obvious new South Pork Ranch inhabitant, Ashland, has outgrown the possibility of regular lap dog. With his 3/4 German Shepard and 1/4 Husky genetics he runs around the house like TWO bulls in a china shop. His favorite "snack" is the 5 year old GK's lego's. He also chewed off the back of my good Wellies brought back from County Clare in January and THAT almost got him kicked outside for good.

Raw Milk Monday (Tuesday)

Please note: If you are new to my blog you can catch up on the reasons for my raw milk passion and the struggles our own farm have experienced, by reading any of the previous posts on the topic I have written over the last 3 years . To do so, simply enter "Raw Milk" in the search bar under the picture of our house, on the right.

Yes, I am aware it is Tuesday but modems don't care. They crash when they crash. But the new one is up and running and so am I. Two days late and way more than a dollar short.

So, last week I left you with virtually nothing on the raw milk front in Illinois. The WEEK BEFORE I informed you of the Raw Milk Steering Committee put together by IDPH and the proposed rules. This week, prepare to be overwhelmed with information.

The proposed rules are numerous and although Molly Lamb  the Division Chief of The Food Drugs and Dairies Department of The Illinois Department of Public Health told me in one of two extended phone conversations she and I have had, that the rules are not new just a reorganization of older rules...that is indeed not fact.

Previously in Illinois you could sell raw milk as long as the consumer came to the farm with their own container. And you were not supposed to advertise but we know how hard it was to get anyone to verify the existence of THAT law. The new proposed rules are:

1. Raw Milk Sales shall only be obtained physically from the premises of the dairy farm

2. No Person who, as a consumer, obtains raw milk shall be entitled to sell or redistribute the raw milk.

3.Cow share agreements or any other similar contractual agreements or exchanges are prohibited.

4. All dairy farms selling or distributing raw milk shall be required to obtain a Grade A permit from the regulatory agency.

5. Only unsolicited sales are allowed. The sale or distribution of raw milk from the dairy farm shall be limited to no more than 100 gallons, regardless of species, per month.

 

6. Records of these transactions shall be kept on a department approved log and shall be submitted on a monthly basis by the 15^th of the following month. Will include date and volume sold.

 

7. Advertising, which includes but is not limited to signage, print ads, social media sites and websites, of the sale and distribution of raw milk is prohibited.

 

8. Individuals shall bring their own milk containers to the dairy farm for dispensing of the raw milk. The dairy farm shall provide a sanitary method for dispensing the raw milk in the consumer’s container.

 

9. The dairy farm shall provide a label for the container of raw milk. The label shall read “WARNING: This product has not been pasteurized and therefore, may contain harmful microorganisms that can cause serious illness in children, women who are pregnant, and in persons with weakened immune systems.

 

10. At the point of dispensing the dairy farm shall post the Following 8 by 10 sign “NOTICE: Raw milk does not provide the protection of pasteurization”

 

11. The dairy farm shall have their raw milk tested for

Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, E. Coli , somatic cell counts, bacteria, coliform, temperature, and drug residues, on a monthly basis

 

12. The Coliform will be less than or equal to 10 and bacteria less than 20,000 and SCC: 750,000

 

Obviously...IDPH has changed the rules a bit.The argument could be made that the Raw Milk Steering Committee of IDPH created the new proposed rules but since I was not invited to attend the committee until AFTER the first two mtgs, I really have no idea who created which rule.

 

 But I do know this. The rules are very obviously set forth if not to make raw milk sales in Illinois illegal, to at least make them, impossible. The 3 most stringent are A. The prohibition of Cow Share agreements, B. The Grade A Permit requirement and C. The limit of sales per month at 100 gallons.

 

I'll tell you why.

 

Cow share or similar contractual agreements are private, between the farmer and the consumer. It provides a certain safety net between he who produces the milk and he who drinks it. By leasing the cow to the consumer they are merely drinking product from the animal they are renting from the farmer. The milk in essence belongs to the consumer , not the farmer. The farmer is just providing a service by taking care of the animal. Many Chicago area raw milk consumers, but a few in our area as well, participate in cow share agreements. Prohibiting such could eliminate the availability of wholesome raw milk to literally thousands of consumers.

 

The requirement of a Grade A Permit is another potentially crippling requiremement. For those of us who were Grade A permitted in the past it would take very little for us to be ready to be inspected again, to meet the Grade A standards. We never wanted to give up that Grade A License in the first place, but when we told IDPH three years ago we were only going to sell raw milk direct to the consumer and no longer to the co-ops they said they saw no need to survey us. They took the license from us even though we had no deficiencies. As far as they were concerned we did not exist. .

 

Suddenly, we exist again.

 

For raw milk farmers with just a few cows or a few goats, building a Grade A Facility would cost a minimum of $20,000 with the requirement of concrete floors, expensive pipe lines, stainless steel bulk tanks etc...All that for a farmer who milks 3 goats and sells raw milk to 5 customers ?!? Now couple that with the third most disturbing proposed rule..

 

Limiting the monthly raw milk sales to 100 gallons of milk per month. With raw milk being sold for an average of $8 per gallon per month ( ours is $6, much higher in Chicago area) with the 100 gallon limit I would make $800. Now which bank is going to lend a farmer $20,000 for a Grade A Dairy Construction when his monthly raw milk income is just $800 MINUS EXPENSES.?

 

The other proposed rules in and of themselves are not entirely out of line but why is the state of Illinois, that has NO MONEY even suggesting adding layers of bureaucracy, increased inspector wages, increased documentation monitoring when they don't have the funds to oversees the current rules they have in place?

 

And why now? With not a single verified raw milk illness related to raw milk obtained from an Illinois farmer since 1999, why would IDPH want to start "fixing" something that is clearly not broke? In fact the current system of obtaining raw milk in Illinois has been working so well it's not even nicked, or marginall scarred, let alone broke.

 

So, now what? Well, I got to work. First order was to notify all the raw milk farmers I knew of the proposed rules. Emails, phone calls and FB messages were sent. Then it was time to call in Farm to Consumer Legal Defense. FTCLD notified the farmers they knew and directed me towards other actions such as included the Chapter Leaders of the Westin A Price Foundation.  Conference calls were conducted. On March 15, I organized a meeting of Illinois Raw Milk Farmers in Normal, Il.

 

THAT was an amazing meeting. Farmers with spouses and small children, farmers with large cow herds and some with just a few, farmers with goats, farmers with cows, farmers who drove 3hours one way after chores and then had to drive 3 hours home before doing shores again.

 

And we, this small but passionate group made a decision. We had a message for IDPH. The message was "NO"

 

We did not feel we could negotiate on any of the proposed rules without cutting off the legs of some raw mik farmer somewhere in Illinois. If we said yes to the Grade A Permit who knew how many farmers would be forced to close their barn doors? If we agreed to the 100 gallon limit most of us in the room would go bankrupt. If we said yes to the Cow Share prohibition we'd take raw milk out of the hands of so many in the big cities who had no way to travel to the farm to get their milk.

 

So we said "NO"

 

The group asked me to contact Molly Lamb at IDPH with our response and our request to leave the rules for raw milk, as is. No changes. I made that phone call on March 19. The conversation was professional and polite. She listened to what I had to say. I listened too.

 

But she saw no reason to stop the process. She was, however open to having more raw milk advocates on the committee. Names have been submitted. I hope she contacts them because the process has no validity if indeed both sides of the issue are not well represented.

 

Next step. IDPH's Raw Milk Steering Committee meets again May 1st. The place, Illinois Agricultural Association Building 1701 Towanda Ave, Bloomington, Il  10am. This is an open meeting. It is crucial that those of us in Illinois who believe  raw milk accessibility should not be restricted, make their views known by attending this meeting.

 

In the meantime you can write letters to the editor of your local newspaper, contact your Representatives, tell the farmer you buy raw milk from and make sure they are aware of IDPH's actions, write a letter to Molly Lamb. Make it personal. Tell her why limiting access to raw milk in Illinois is not a good idea. Tell her how it would affect you, your family, YOUR farmer. Her address is

 

Molly Jo Lamb

Division Chief

Department of Food Drugs and Dairies

Illinois Department of Public Health

535 W. Jefferson St. Springfield, Illinois

62761   ph  217-782-4977

 

Please help us take action NOW before these proposed rules become permanent ones.

 

 

To see all the raw milk issues in Illinois as they develop please go to THIS WEB PAGE . Special thanks to our raw milk customer Ernest Rando for developing this all inclusive web page.

 

 

 

 

Saturday in the Farm Store

Nothing to do with todays post, just one of my favorite pictures. Grandaughter
Allana (7 years ago) with her Papa, my hubby Keith.

Today, like every other Saturday, is Farm Store Day. We're open all week closed on Sundays all traffic can be steady any day. But Saturdays...are Farm Store Days.

Starting early the cars, trucks and vans start cruising up our long driveway. They take their time checking out the Ennis the horse and Doolin the jackass donkey on the left, Mad Max and his harem of fat pig sows on the left.

They stop to let a group of ducks pass and slow awhile a peacock chooses to walk up the lane right in front of their car. When they get to the Y in our drive we can tell all we need to know. If they speed up and Head straight for the barn...they're a regular. They will fill their jugs with milk, rinse the spigot and wash off the rubber mat.

If they head towards the store and promptly get out they are also a regular. They will get their meat and eggs, soap and flour, leave money or checks in the cash box pet the Great Pyrenees on the head and head home.

But if they go right at the Y and curve towards the house, it's a newbie. A customer who heard about us and thought they'd finally make the trip. Sometimes they are from Chicago (2 hours north) or Campaign (1 hour south) or Bloomington (1 hour south west) or Indiana (1 hour East)

They are rarely from our howe town of Chatsworth, just 1 mile away.

No we're not offended. We have a couple regular customers from close by but not many. Folks are weird that way. Always thinking the eggs and meat and flour and milk is better on the other side of the fence.

People.

Thus, the reason for my commitment to shop local for the other stuff I need, even if I pay a little more or get less in the way of variety. Small towns quickly become ghost towns when we think its better to spend more in gas to get less in the way of customer service and product guarantee.

And where else can you get a little parade of 6 week old piglets to run alongside your car as you come up a farmers lane?  So thanks all of customers who came by today wherever you came from. These two farmers are extremely appreciative.

Fence off

New fence good fence.

Last summer, in a fit of fealous jage, (if you don't know who Peter Sellers is you're too young for my blog..Get off.) I decided unilaterally to purchase new fencing for my horses.

One of my previous horses had gotten spooked and ran through our old two strand smooth wire electric fence and cut her leg. I was furious. At myself ,because I knew it wasn't the best kind of fencing and I should've done something about it years earlier.

So after taking care of the horse (yes, she came out fine after a few weeks) I did about 10 seconds worth of research, called some guy who came with his guys and put up new fence. Nothing too fancy or expensive but certainly better than what we had. I chose a poly tape, 1/2 wide, white, that is not near as good as a nice wide planked polyurethane board fence  but still a couple steps better than the smooth wire that can't be seen well by man or beast.

Corners are made of steel t-posts while supporting posts up and down the pastures are lightweight fiberglass poles. Simple to use handles make it easy to get in and out of pastures.

Keith was mildly concerned (he voiced his concern after my temper tantrum as he is clearly brilliant in that manner of self protection). He feared the new fence would not hold up to the high winds we get here on the prairie.

But I asked the guy who came with the other guys who said Naaaaaa. This fence does fine in high winds. So I said in my best mafia voice "make it so"  and they did.

And over the winter, the wind blew and the ice fell and the snow swirled and the fence...came tumbling down.

Yeah, I'm aware the pic is sideways. My Kodak software seems to be melting down. Just tip your head to the left OK? 

Here and there, bits and bobs came loose, broke off and fluttered on the breeze and the ground. Seems the man of few words husband was once again in the know. And when the fence broke and broke again and broke still another time he very patiently worked with me as we learned how to fix it.

Turns out it's not so hard. If you can use a pair of scissors and you can tie and knot, you can fix this fence.

And it is easier to see when it is broken as when the smooth wire was down I might not have noticed it until I manged to roll up about ten yards of it in the riding mower. So all in all I am happy with my purchase, except on those occasional windy days, that come about every other day.

Special delivery...Semen

Mad Max. Still not Famous

Let me be honest here. I've had many job titles over the years, some I've even been able to talk about publicly but semen collector will not be one of them this year.

The SVF Foundation  of Rhode Island along with the University of Pennsylvania is offering classes in the collecting of Heritage Hog Semen, storage and transportation so that other heritage hog breeders can have access to the genetic material of these fine creatures. They say the class will teach the "hands on skills" needed. (Lucky Boars) Classes start next month. I was honored that they asked me to attend.

I know, I know, if anyone could do it it would be me. My thoughts exactly. But timing is everything (as I keep saying) and in the midst of all we are involved in on our farm and with raw milk issues, I had to accept the fact that traveling back to the East Coast where the classes are being offered next month, is just not feasible.

But just think about it. Our local post office already gets a big kick out of the soap I've been shipping all over the country. It makes all of us feel so special in our tiny town. Imagine the swelling pride we'd all experience if when at the post while asking the usual questions "is there anything in here that is liquid, flammable, or of a questionable nature?" I could actually say YES!

It is Mad Max Semen, if you must know, and of course it must be insured.

Well, that was my dream, but it's been crushed. Keith says we have work that must be done here, another trip out East will be too expensive, take too much time, ....etc. I think he's just trying to protect his wife's reputation and the inevitable teasing I would have to endure within our upper class social circle.

Midlife Semenwife

That's not so bad, is it?

Raw Milk Monday

At the risk of sounding all Spy Movie of The Week and under the radar stuff, I have to say I have lots to share but the timing is not quite right.

But when it is, it will be worth your wait. And that is a promise.