09/15/2025
Sometimes things happen around the farm that are kinda special and it takes me a minute to write about it publicly. This is one of those times.
As most of you know, we recently got a baby milk cow, Mabel. There are some things I haven't shared about Mabel, though. First of all, I've wanted a milk cow since I was a little girl. It's just one of those dreams that I talk about once in awhile but I always held it close to my heart. I'm sure you can understand because I think most people have something from their childhood that they've always wanted to do or experience.
So when some friends bred their two jersey heifers to highland bulls, Gene suggested that we ask if we could be in line in case one of them had a heifer. They agreed, one of the moms had a heifer, and here we are!
Another thing about Mabel, though, is that I've never raised a milk cow. We've raised beef cattle but they are just so different. There aren't any expectations of them - they just eat, grow, and eventually get butchered. There's no relationship, really. As a matter of fact, ours were semi-feral. They did put up with us bringing out food and water and especially when we had treats for them, but they sure weren't tame.
At the same time, someone we know ended up in a horrendous milk cow situation where they ended up losing the calf and had to put down the mama cow they had just purchased a few months prior.
So, that put doubt in my mind about all things Mabel. I started to wonder - would I screw her up completely just by doing something wrong because I have no clue what I'm doing? What if we give her feed that's not quite right? What if she never is able to go from milk to grain and is never a good eater (something we were warned about - thankfully she transitioned fine). I had so many questions, so many insecurities, and so many fears.
I ordered stacks of books from Amazon, I asked poor Dougherty way too many questions, and I texted questions to every milk cow person in Alaska until I'm sure they just wanted to run and hide from me and my insecurities.
I just didn't want to screw her up.
Then long came my friend Kelli Foreman. She was coming to the mainland from Kodiak to attend some classes and she said that she'd love to come see the farm.
I knew this was my chance to drink from the proverbial firehose and learn just as much as I could about not screwing up Mabel in one short afternoon.
Kelli was so gracious, so kind, and so encouraging to me - we took Mabel out for her usual afternoon walk and Kelli just kept telling me that she was such a sweet, well mannered, healthy calf - she confirmed over and over (until I actually believed it) that we were doing most things absolutely right and that Mabel was going to be a perfect, most excellent milk cow.
She took the time, she came with wisdom and knowledge, and she was ready to speak truth. She did give me tons of tips, areas we could improve, and she told us what we could expect in the coming months.
Kelli doesn't claim to be an expert in raising cows, she'd tell you she's still learning herself. But she took the time, she listened, she got to know Mabel, and she shared what she knew to give me the courage and wisdom to raise this little cow to her full potential.
The reason I share this story is because that is what community is all about and that is exactly what our mission is. It's about coming alongside and learning together, figuring things out that don't seem figure-out-able alone, and just doing life together - one day, one milk cow, and one apple tree at a time.
Someday I'll tell you the story about our Cider Press but that, too, is being held close to my heart for now.
