Raw Milk Program/ Goat Herd Shares
Did you know that the sale of raw milk is easier than ever? After years of frustrated farmers jumping through the hoops and ‘pretending’ the sale of raw milk didn’t happen, with the constant fear of government action, raw dairy farmers of Texas came together and through a lot of rejection finally The Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance came up with several revisions to the rules that both the Texas house and Senate could agree to. These revisions make it simple for raw milk consumers to purchase milk online or through phone and pick it up at any meeting spot (ie the farmer’s market). The new revisions also make it finally legal to sell other dairy products like sour cream, yogurt, whey, aged cheeses and kefir. It also makes it possible for us to sell local herd shares. Which means that through the purchase of a share, an individual is paying for the upkeep of the herd, food, shelter, labor, so our raw milk consumers can not only feel like they are part of the process but they can also visit their goats and see where their milk is coming from! In exchange, our share owners get a portion of milk or diary products.
Why Use Raw Milk?
This is a controversially question but here on the farm we liken it to our soil improvement plan. You see without a rich biodiversity of fungi, insects, bacteria, humans and animals the soil is left lifeless, all plants grown in it lack the nutrients to be beautiful and nutritious, they also lack the defense when it comes to pests. You see, all plant health can be traced back to the soil its grown in. Our bodies, our guts, we think they also crave this rich diversity. Our bodies are made up of good and bad bacteria and enzymes, they preform on a tiny cellular level what soil does for plants but their backbone is based in what we eat. So it is so important to be wondering what we are putting in our bodies and where it came from.
Raw goat milk has never been pasteurized, homogenized or altered in any way. It’s raw form is a complete food, carrying the A2 protein which is found in human breast milk, all the vitamins, nutrients and active enzymes little baby goats need to grow big and strong are here. It’s also been a staple in humanities diet since our ancestors first formed bonds between livestock animals. Raw milk is the key ingredient to fresh cheese and butters, and real yogurt. Cajeta, crème fraiche, chevre, all of these are traditionally made with raw goat milk.
In our small scale farm, we pay extra attention to our herd’s health, their diet and their quality of life. We think that taste is directly correlated to these factors and in big dairy production the day to day interaction is lost. Our goats eat a high alfalfa and forage diet, fresh water and recieve way too much attention from their handlers. We believe once you taste our milk, you’ll get it, it tastes just as nature intended it to.
How Do Goats help the Garden?
Part of our mission at Izzis Garden is to restore the land’s environmental health and when we grow vegetables we are taking away valuable nutrients the soil needs to keep being vivacious. Raising our goats is not just a fun hobby for us, not only do we use their milk for consumption and body care products but we use them in our Garden as well. They are hearty eaters in our pasture and their grazing not only controls our weeds but their manure is indispensable to our soil’s health. By flipping our pastures and our gardens we are taking and giving in a balance that is as old as nature. These little guys are key workers on our farm, they also provide a huge comic relief, a sense of duty and to see the cycle of life, the key needs of the herd humble us every day.