Going to See A Man About A Cow

Our family cows are getting old and gradually going downhill, and so before it gets ugly, we're gonna harvest them and replace them. So we're gonna go see a man about a couple of cows. We just drove yesterday from the Homestead Fest, 5 and a half hours. So we just kind of went through our stuff, sorted out what needs to be packed again for another 4-hour drive today. Can you go find the other one of these? Uh, I do. Over time we've gotten 2 cows and a calf from our father's farm, but this time they invited us to stay the night and come to dinner. Chili. Rebecca, you want chicken soup for the way home?

Sure, whatever. I'm flexible.

Look at it! Look at it!

Hard boiling some eggs, except I'm not hard boiling. Boiling. Fresh eggs don't peel well when you do that, so you have to steam it. Oh, what are those for? Mama. That's nice of you. We were getting ready for our personal trainer, and Jonah said, why do you guys want to strength train? And I said, because I want to play with my grandchildren and be strong for them. And he said, Why don't you play with us more? Oh, touche, touche. So I've been thinking about that for a while. Big man. Gonna run the farm. We are leaving Jonah in Gray Hands. He's not alone, but he is gonna be alone in the chores, but I think he's ready. It's not a matter of did we forget anything. It's gonna be a matter of what did we forget? 'Cause there wasn't even time to do a checklist. Almost to Mama's acupuncture though. Downtown Asheville. This is where the magic happens.

It is.

This is where the magic happens.

All right, Brianna, do your magic. She's gonna work on it. Well guys, how are we gonna kill an hour and a half? Whole Foods, I guess. Look who's done. Woo! She's already feeling better. She's already feeling better, I can tell. You feeling magical?

Yes.

All right, let's hit the road. Rebecca, you plan on making a mess with that chili?

I'm not sure if we're planning on this.

It's not the best travel food. Beautiful grass-based farm. Oh look, cows are right there. He said, well, we're here for afternoon chores. I wonder if they milk. I thought they milked once a day, but maybe they milk in the afternoon too. Or this is just where they're It could be where they're at on the farm. Look at their strip they're in. That is so cool.

One of those looks like Fosse.

He's got them in a tight squeeze. We are at our father's farm in Virginia. Tim, what's up in here?

This is our dairy, so we do, um, all of our milk processing in here. Sweet. It's small, but it's what we have to work with for now.

What number are you, Tim, in the family order?

I'm right in the middle.

Okay, so number 7-ish?

Uh, no, there's 9 of us. Okay, number 5. Okay. Yeah. So there's 4 above me, 4 below me.

So, okay, cool. What's your name?

I'm Peace.

Do you normally come out?

Yes, me and John usually do the cast.

What number are you? I'm 8. Hey, what's your name?

John.

What number are you?

9.

Nice.

He's the baby of the family.

Okay. Who's this?

Bella.

She nice?

Oh, she's real nice. Does she? She's the friendliest.

And this is Jack. Yeah, the patriarch. And Charlie. Samuel. They've got a lane back to their water. That's the call. All you gotta do is whistle. Yep. Now it's off because it's not connected to this fence anymore. Um, no, it's still on. So this is still on? Yeah, you got to be very careful. Yeah, I get shocked regularly. Look, they're coming. This was real hard work, wasn't it, Josh? Yes, to move them. He's your bull. Look at that one push him on. She's a pretty one. That's one of them that's for sale. How big is one paddock for them for a day? For what, 30-ish cows equivalent?

Um, yeah, um, you have more than that out there, don't you?

45, maybe 45 cow equivalents.

Um, depends on the of the pasture and everything.

Yeah, today.

But, uh, today I'm guessing about an acre and a half.

Cool.

That's for 24 hours.

Yep. Milking barn straight ahead. Who's the milkman? You the milkman? The one milking in the morning? Yes, sir. You ever get sick of it?

No, that's great. We, we have a crew.

Don't you milk 7 days a week?

Uh, I milk 6 days a week.

Is that how you don't get sick of it? You take a day off? Maybe.

Yeah, okay. Taking a day off is always good. These two fields are where we wintered the cows, so we were— they were in these two fields on hay for the whole winter. That's why it's so kind of thin and sparse. This is Bonnie.

She's happy to see us. How'd you train Bonnie to stay out here?

We have underground dog wire around.

Oh, nice perimeter. John, you do this every day?

Yeah.

You ever get sick of it? Yeah. All right, get in too. Just how you ever get sick of it? Yeah.

First year we were here, yeah, chickens, right? We'd run out there every like 5-10 minutes, see if there was a new egg laid, you know.

Oh, I know.

And then it's funny how over time those things become more of a chore.

Gets dull, right? Look at all these eggs. What are you going to do with all these eggs, John?

Sell.

Ooh, sell the bills.

Eat some for breakfast.

They feed these sea monsters in the morning. But they're just checking on them. Yep. You got water, you got feed, you're good. I knew I was coming to get cows, but right off the bat I knew. I knew enough about this family. That I know they're all working together. And so I wanted to pick the kids' brains, I wanted to pick the parents' brains, so jumped right into that. How old are you, Tim?

I'm 18. I'll be 19 on the 22nd.

Cool. What makes you want to stay around and be on this farm in the prime of your life?

This lifestyle is what I love, and this farm is We've put a lot into this farm, and the way I've grown up is the way I want my kids to grow up. So really, I, I want to keep investing in this farm and growing this farm to a place where it can support, you know, my children, and they can grow up here and they can—

You talk about the way you grew up. So what did mom and dad do that made it so attractive for you to stay and continue it on?

Well, they've made sure that it's always been fun and They've always been careful to not, you know, make farming something that's a huge pile of work and it's no fun and it's just, you know, man, I wish I could grow up and get out of here. But at the same time, just cultivating the purpose and like cultivating a love for it and helping us see the benefits of it, really.

Nice.

There's so much.

Okay, I need to have more fun. Got it. That's similar to the message I'm getting from Jonah. Need to find ways to have fun while we're working. Who are you?

I'm Sheila.

And what number are you?

I'm number 3.

Okay. I'm his daughter. And number 3 is the butter girl.

Yeah.

Is that right?

Making butter.

You do this every day?

Um, it's a couple times a week usually.

Cool.

Depends on the time of year, but, um, it can be around 30 gallons of cream a week at the top peak season.

So, and this is, uh, this is the butter.

Yeah.

And you're, you're rinsing it?

Yep, yep.

And you're putting the finished good right there?

Yeah, we'll put it— we put it into silicone, um, yeah, molds and then pop them out and wrap them in wax paper.

Oh, this is cool.

Yeah.

I like this idea. I like the wax paper idea, and it freezes okay for a little while anyway.

It does. And we used to use plastic, but that's just so much cheaper, better for the planet.

The farm store, anybody can come here anytime?

Yeah, well, no, it's open, uh, it's open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Okay, so, but yeah, whoever wants to come, we, we do meat too, so we'll have a lot of people people coming for meat right now. We're low on—

is this organic or non-GMO?

It's all no soy, no GMO, organic, certified organic. The beef's all 100% grass-fed.

Oh my word, Josiah, you're gonna have to eat one for me. I also have this set. Oh my word, cartons of ice cream and cheese and milk and cream. Nice, looks good. That's what I'm talking about, these steaks from the farm.

Yep, now we're going to say a blessing. Thank the Lord for this abundant bounty here. Wow. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

This is a good place to be a carnivore.

4 different meats.

We are in what they call the Buffalo Room. We're about to go to sleep. The kids are going to enjoy it because our bed's here, Mr. Brown's right here, and you two are over there. This is one big family bed. It is.