Bonding with cows: an afternoon at Meadowood Farms.

As you may recall, last summer I milked a cow for the first time. This summer, I figured it was time to bottle-feed a bunch of calves.

At the beginning of July, Melissa and I spent an afternoon at Meadowood Farms in Lodi, Wisconsin, where Melissa conducted her Master's research in finding the best nutrition plan for calves using a robot feeder (more on that later). The family-owned farm belongs to Sandy, Tim, and Greg Enge. The farm is home to 450 cows, which is considered a medium-sized dairy. 

First of all, the view was great:

Okay, now for the cows. We were greeted by cow #2598, also known as Olive, who Melissa raised as a baby. She is now all grown up and works as a show cow at various fairs.

Olive says hello.

Left to right: Holstein, Brown Swiss, and Jersey show cows.

Olive is a friendly gal.

Taking a selfie with a cow is challenging.

After hanging out with the show cows, I was pretty excited to meet some barn cats:

Mama was a leg climber.

And her baby was a snuggler.

We saw large groups of cows walking to and from their milking area. They are good at following each other in lines.

Then, it was time to head to the calf barn. Calves ages 1-66 days old live in this barn. Calves under a day old have their own area where they get bottle-fed. Prepare for cuteness.

Lounging calves.

Up close and personal. This baby was excited to be fed.

The calves drink from a DeLaval automated feeder, also known as a robot feeder. Calves are trained to use the feeder, then they can walk up to it for milk meals. Each calf wears a collar so that the feeder knows when he or she has had enough to eat, giving them just the right amount of milk. Calves drink anywhere from 1-3 gallons of milk a day.

The feeder!

Supper time.

Then, it was time to bottle feed the 4 calves who were less than 1 day old. 

Melissa (wearing her "Moo Expert" shirt) was very excited to mix up the formula.

We fed the babies! It's much harder than it looks. They were young, wild, and hungry, but didn't know much about using a bottle.

I did alright for a rookie, but I ended up seeking help from the expert.

PUMPED.

Then, it was time to head out, but not before I got a quick video of feeding time. The Meadowood cows live in "free stalls," so they can go wherever they want, whenever they want. They're living the good life.

It was a great, moo-worthy day with the cows!

Resolution complete: I milked a cow.

A lot of people get really into New Year's resolutions. I don't. Yet for 2014, I made one that I 100% intended to follow through on: I wanted to milk a cow. Many people have asked me why I wanted to do this so badly. Here is my reasoning:

1. I LOVE BARNYARD ANIMALS.
2. It's good to try new things.
3. It would be an awesome experience to blog about.

I'm an urban girl. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in the busy, typical, cookie-cutter suburbs of Charlotte, North Carolina. You know the opening sequence to the show, Weeds? Yeah, that's my hometown: the traffic, the strip malls, the Land Rovers, the soccer moms… all are very familiar things to me. I'm a city dweller to my very core, and I think that's why farm life fascinates me: because it's different.

Cue the Green Acres theme song.

I met Farmer John Dougherty of Farmer Johns' Cheese at the East Side Farmers' Market in May. I gathered that by his large variety of delicious cheese for sale, he likely had access to a great deal of cows. So I asked if I could milk one. He said yes! Two months later, I was off to the outskirts of Spring Green, Wisconsin to visit the official Farmer Johns' milking barn.

Let's get one thing straight: there's more than one Farmer John (hence the apostrophe). It's currently operated by a father and son (both named John), and before that, it was operated by the generations that came first (yup, you got it, also named John). This is a true family farm business, right down to the name.

My friends Cherie and Caitlin came along for the ride, which took us through some winding country roads to this really awesome waterfall:

Beautiful!

Then, we arrived at John's milking barn. He walked us through the cow-filled building and told us all about his family farm, the milking process, and all things cows!

The lineup: Farmer John gets the cows into the barn by leading them in with corn (they love it).
See the pipes above the cows? That's where the milk goes.

After it goes through the pipes, it ends up in a huge tank.
We all climbed up the ladder to peek in.

It holds an insane amount of milk.

After our barn tour, we got to meet two baby calves, Jenny and Ryan:

Beyond adorable.

Then, it was milking time. The cows are milked by machine, but of course we had to start off old school. Farmer John chose Faith as the best cow for us to milk. He knew that her mellow temperament would work in our favor and that she was less likely to try and kick us (he has a lot of cows in this place, and many can get sassy at milking time). He noted that you always have to let the cow know when you're at her side and going to milk her. This way, she's less startled. Of course, I had to get the experience on tape:

Then Caitlin milked Faith!

And Cherie, too! 

Old school milking: check. Then, Farmer John let me put the milking machine on Faith. It's made of 4 little suction tubes that go from the udders to the pipes in the barn.

Just making sure I had everything right.

Voila! I attached the milking machine and Faith was ready to go.

A lot of cows had to be milked, so we went to the front of the barn to check in on the tank. It was very loud in there, but I fit in a quick video of "THIS IS WHERE THE MILK IS GOING! HERE'S THE MILK!"

The entire milking process takes about 30 minutes from the first cow to the last. The cows get milked twice a day (6am and 6pm), and Farmer John noted that he tries to keep the cows in the same order each time so that their schedules are consistent. I could really tell that he loves what he does and cares about the well-being of his cows, which of course makes me want to keep buying more and more of his cheese.

Speaking of the cheese, to purchase some amazing dairy goodness from Farmer John, he can be found at the Dane County Farmers' Market (near West Washington Ave), as well as many other local markets.

I'd like to send a huge thanks to Farmer John for letting us visit, Cherie and Caitlin for putting up with their quirky friend, and of course, this lovely lady:

Many thanks, Faith!

Thanksgivukkah: Bringing Bucky to the Carolinas

Greetings from my hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina! Don't worry Wisconsin, I'll be back Sunday.

As I mentioned in my first ever post, Aimee is my BFF. I've known her since the 4th grade, and now we have another cool 4th grader around: her daughter, Isis. I come home for Thanksgiving every year, and my "niece" and I have a tradition of going to a matinee in a nearly empty theater, watching the latest Disney epic, and putting our feet up on the seats. This year, it was Frozen, and I recommend it! The music was great, and the Snow Queen is voiced by the fabulous Idina Menzel.

This year, I'm fortunate enough to be home for Thanksgivukkah:

My family collects menorahs and dreidels.

Oh, and my parents got a new dog:

Hi, I'm Max the Miniature Poodle!

And, for the first time in years, Aimee and I actually got to exchange presents on the first day of Hanukkah. In true Wisconsin fashion, I decided to get all Bucky-d out with gift giving.

This pair is making their Aviva in Dairyland debut. Meet Aimee & Isis!

Aimee got a Wisconsin tank to wear for running, while Isis (a tie-dye enthusiast) got a "Grateful Red" UW volleyball shirt + cow socks. If you're a kid with a Wisconsin auntie, cow socks are a MUST.

Cat meets cow: a Wisconsin love story.

My cat, Jupiter, is a playful boy who loves to make new friends. I thought that Wisconsin hadn't changed him a bit, but then I caught him getting cozy with a species of a different kind:

What can I say? It's true Wisconsin love.

Cow cookies at the diner.

I met up with some friends for brunch this morning at Monty's Blue Plate Diner. Located in Schenk-Atwood (aka my soon-to-be neighborhood), it's a tasty place to grab breakfast food (all day, every day) and other goodies. Seriously, who doesn't love a good diner?

I couldn't resist taking a photo of the adorable cookies at the counter:

These gals really stole the show on a display stand with ordinary chocolate chip cookies.

Daily cow: check.

One year in Madison: time for cows!

It's hard to believe that I've lived in Madison for a little over a year. I have a great job, fabulous friends, and I just bought a beautiful condo in the Atwood neighborhood.

When I was new to Madison last year, I wrote my third-ever blog post about Cows On The Concourse, which gave me the opportunity to mingle with cows downtown.

This year, I returned to the event (now in its 33rd year) with my friend, Kat. We petted a fuzzy baby calf and then I got my picture taken with Apple Cider, the Milking Shorthorn:

Apple Cider and her farmer friend were happy to pose for the photo.

Once we had our daily dose of cows, Kat and I went to Mirch Masala for a delicious Indian buffet. When I went to college in Cincinnati, I lived on a street with three Indian restaurants. Since then, it's been my favorite food, and Mirch Masala lived up to the hype.

My dairy dessert: rice pudding and a milk ball.

While downtown, I picked up some organic strawberries at the Farmers' Market:

Look at those beauties!

What can I say? My first year in Wisconsin has been exciting, educational, and memorable. Here's to many more!

April Poll Results

Here are the results from the April poll, "Pick Your Favorite Pop Culture Cow":

Chick Fil A Cows - 3 votes
Interrupting Cow - 3 votes
Laughing Cow - 2 votes
Happy Cows (from California) - 1 vote

No votes for Chicago Bulls, Hey Diddle Diddle Cow, and Taurus the Zodiac Cow.

Drink up!

A good dose of cow.

Who doesn't like a good dose of cow every once in a while? I absolutely love this video of British cows jumping for joy after being cooped up in a barn all winter:

Special thanks to Val for sharing this video with me.

Driving behind cattle in peculiar places: the saga continues.

After a great Saturday morning skate and a very relaxing facial, I decided to run a few errands. I drove to Verona to my favorite local yarn shop, The Sow's Ear, to pick up some knitting notions. En route to the highway that leads me home, I realized I was behind a cattle car:

I spotted two black and white ladies in this fine car.

The cattle car proceeded to drive onto the highway, where I was behind it for most of my ride home. My windows were down and I even heard a nice "moo" from one of the gals.

To read about my first experience driving behind cattle, click here.

Cow photo op!

As I have previously stated on this blog, I never miss a good cow photo op. When my friend Kat and I were at The Goodman Center a few weeks ago, I was quite excited to spot this kitschy cow statue hanging out by the parking lot. After attempting to sit on top of this gal multiple times, I realized it was much more difficult than it looked, so I opted to pose next to my new friend.

A little snow on the ground didn't stop me from meeting this lovely lady!

No parking lot is complete without a cow!

Holy cow!

This morning I went to the Dane County Farmers' Market at its indoor winter location (Madison Senior Center). Joined by my friends Kat and Bronwen, we perused the market while an acoustic guitarist sang Beach Boys classics. Kat enjoyed a delicious biscotti and Bronwen overheard a conversation about goat whey (she also recently encountered a woman who claimed to sense positive and negative cheese energy-- yup, this really happened). I visited the Gypsy Travelin' Market & Bakery booth, only to discover these cookie gems:

Winged "holy cow" cookies: precious!

Only in dairyland.

Moo-worthy cuteness.

As I may have previously mentioned, I spend every Wednesday at Mickey's Tavern surrounded by a lovely group of intelligent, hilarious, and outspoken knitters. Last week, Elysha arrived with an adorable finished project: a sheep and a cow for her niece (what a perfect Wisconsin-esque gift!). While Elysha worked on knitting a little barn to put them in, I snapped a photo of these precious dairy-licious fellows:

Cute, huh?

While Helena suggested using a Mickey's menu as the backdrop for this photo, I wound up using Jane's bag from Mr. Yarn. "Knitters gonna knit" seemed a bit more suitable than "Good food", though I suppose either would have worked. Regardless of the backdrop, I'd say these little creatures possess a moo-worthy cuteness.

A moo-worthy birthday for my dad.

I went home to North Carolina for 5 days over Thanksgiving, which coincides with my dad's birthday. Inspired by my new Wisconsin residence, I decided it was only appropriate to give my dad a cow card for his birthday. It was quite a hit at Thanksgiving dinner.

I know, I know, we look quite alike.

The card says "Holy cow! It's your birthday!" inside. Too perfect.

Unusual things I've seen in Madison: part 1 of many to come.

As I have clearly expressed on this blog, Madison is (to say the least) an interesting place to live. Erika says it best: "My city is too vibrant!" And she's right! Where else in the world is one going to find a motel attached to a laundromat attached to a Chinese buffet attached to a bowling alley. Yes, this really exists on East Washington Avenue in Madison (why separate these four useful things when they can just be connected, right?).

Here are a couple of interesting sightings that I have experienced in Madison:

Sighting #1: The drugs building (I don't know what else to call it):

At the corner of Baldwin Street and E. Johnson Street, this looks like a nice place to buy some drugs, right?

After driving by the other side at a later date, I discovered that it was in fact a pharmacy. Still, I applaud their tile art.

Sighting #2: 866-Get-A-Cow:

Outside a laundromat on East Washington Avenue, this advertisement really speaks for itself.

Every time I drive past this, I laugh. I applaud 866-Get-A-Cow for their advertising. This is in fact a promotion to rent a "container on wheels" (acronym: C.O.W.), but the container itself appears to be advertising the rental of an actual cow. And hey, it got me to their website, which I never would have visited if it weren't for this lovely cow (yup, she is wearing lipstick in the cartoon).

What can I say? Never a dull moment.

Holy cow: escape to Green Lake, Wisconsin.

Yesterday, I took a mini road trip to Green Lake, Wisconsin to have brunch with my good friend Francie, who was spending the weekend at the Heidel House for a wedding. Green Lake is a little town about an hour and a half away from Madison. As far as I could tell, they have one gas station, one doctor's office, and an abundance of cows: country living at its finest.

On the drive back to Madison, I decided to document the highlights from my trip:

The town is called Green Lake for a reason: the huge, beautiful lake. A few people were boating and fishing, enjoying the nice weather.

I found some happy cows hanging out in a corral, grazing and enjoying a lazy weekend. They were happy to smile for a photo.

Cows enjoy sunbathing. Who would have thought?

I ate M&M pancakes with a good friend, plus I got my daily dose of cow. Perfect Saturday.

My not-so-average morning drive.

Around 9:00am this morning, and I was driving to work while listening to the new Lady GaGa album (excellent wake-up music for me since I am NOT a morning person). It was a typical morning until I noticed that I was behind a large white trailer. As I looked closer, I noticed big black and white noses poking out of the trailer, along with a cow staring at me. There was a trailer full of cows driving downtown on a Wednesday morning. I managed to snap a picture while sitting at a red light:

Look closely: a cow is poking her nose out to get a whiff of the summer air.

I counted four cows in the trailer and they seemed quite content with driving around downtown. I'm hoping that they were on their way to a nice milking, rather than a slaughterhouse. This was quite an interesting start to my morning. I hope the cows enjoyed the ride.

I'm already developing a reputation.

After a mere five days as a Wisconsin blogger, I'm already getting an interesting response from my friends (none of whom are native Wisconsinites). I was particularly entertained by a text conversation that I just had with my college classmate and all-around fascinating friend, Milan:

Milan: Get feta cheese up so I can vote with loyalty for the goats!
Me: Hold on, let me add feta. Can't edit it. Sorry. Just vote "other."
Milan: Son of a cow.
Me: Time for bed. I'm elderly now. Goodnight: I love and adore you.
Milan: Haha, me too. See you in dreamland, dairyfairy!

Not only have I already passed on the art of dairy puns to my friend, but she has now coined me as "dairyfairy." I suppose I should have expected this would happen. I also suppose that there are a lot of nicknames out there that are significantly worse than dairyfairy, so maybe I'm a lucky girl.

Got Milk? My visit to the 32nd annual "Cows on the Concourse."

I have lived in Wisconsin for eight days and I have already developed a love for the Dane County Farmers' Market. Through their website, I learned about the 32nd annual Cows on the Concourse. I should preface this post by saying that I love barnyard animals. When I was 16, I spent two months of summer camp in New Hampshire taking care of three goats whom I grew quite fond of, which fostered a love of any living thing with hoofs and horns.

Back to the cows. As a new resident in downtown Madison, I have already become quite fond of walking around Capitol Square and exploring the weekly farmers' market and local shops. I was quite shocked to discover that every June, local cows and dairy farmers come hang out downtown to meet and greet people. The cows hang out downtown. How fabulous is that concept?


I picked up my map of downtown and made my way over to Main Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. I knew I was in the right place when I was greeted by this:

I followed the sign and made my way over to the Purple Cow Gift Shop, the official shop of the World Dairy Expo. I then found myself bombarded by an abundance of adorable stuffed cows:

This is my kind of street festival. Who doesn't love a good smiling milk carton and the opportunity to mimic milking a cow every once and awhile?

I then arrived at my final destination: THE COWS! I arrived at a tent filled with cows and very friendly local farmers, where I got to meet and greet local cattle.

Holstein cow

Jersey cow

After telling one of the farmers about my blog, I was invited into the makeshift barn area to get my picture taken with Bucky. She's a 1400-pound Holstein cow who enjoys being petted and didn't mind socializing with me:

The dairy farmers were incredibly friendly and knowledgeable. They taught me all sorts of fun facts about cows, my favorite being that the average cow drinks a bathtub full of water a day!

Special thanks to today's friendly farmers who were so welcoming to me.