The land of milk and honey...for real

Written to Look to the Rainbow by Al Jarreau

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

- Buddha

As a result of a long-ago-agreed-to social commitment, Lone and I left the young people in charge of the farm for three days last week. We delivered piglets on Thursday, took care of sundry tasks in São Paulo on Friday and headed to Fazenda Pau d'Alho in Tietê to attend the pre-auction party at Carson and Ellen's that same evening. Post party we stayed at the uniquely orange Robusti Plazza Hotel, from which we returned to Fazenda Pau d'Alho on Saturday morning to participate in the Novilha do Futuro 2010 auction. The weather was glorious, and while I did not bid on any cattle, I did have the opportunity to finalize the purchase of four more Jersey cattle with Roberto V. Lopez, Carson's long-time veterinarian. We also got to spend a little time with São Paulo State's handsomest jurist and gentleman farmer, Márcio Magano.

Before leaving for São Paulo, we lost a sow…to what I have no idea. We heard her crying and found her basically immobile with a swollen, rock-hard stomach…and then she died. While sad, we have been quite fortunate, having only lost this one sow to illness (Flora was put down due to a damaged hip) since we began hog farming in early 2009. Depending on how one counts, that makes one-two sows in two years, equivalent to a mortality rate of 1.25-2.50%.

Thanks to Anella and Sandra's initiative, the horses are being ridden again. In fact, only Castanha is being ridden, as the others are so old they are merely passing time before they meet their maker. Our good friend Leonardo has kindly offered to replenish Fazenda Alfheim's equestrian stock in the next month or so. As important as the horses being ridden was the work the girls did cleaning up the saddles, bridles etc.

Phase II in Lone's war on the ants was implemented with typical military efficiency on Tuesday afternoon when we moved the hogs from pasture 3, where they have finished clearing all of the grass, to Lone's one hectare vegetable garden. With one exception, the hogs, after a morning without feed, charged enthusiastically into their new, verdant paradise. The slacker in question was quickly corralled, and we were about to call it a day when the truck transporting the four new Jerseys arrived. After a bit of work, we got all of the cattle into pasture 4, where Mausolus quickly assumed command for their well-being.

Two of the Jerseys are lactating, so on Wednesday morning, Lone and Rosana, with direction from Dirlei, milked them. 18 liters in the morning and another eight liters in the afternoon! Clearly we cannot consume that volume of milk daily, even if Lone begins making cheese, so in the short term the piglets will be the beneficiaries of the fattest, best-tasting milk in the world. The rule of thumb is that while it takes nine liters of milk to produce one kg of cheese, it only takes four and one-half liters of Jersey milk to produce the same. As for the taste, I can personally attest, having drunken it warm and raw, that it is ridiculously yummy. Sweet and consistent…a real treat!

In the afternoon, before the day's second milking, we gave the new Jerseys the once over: ear marked them, checked for parasites etc. With the exception of one swollen front leg, they all looked good. And like their two predecessors, Ressurrection Arabula and Rosa Iatolá, they possess a particularly sweet disposition.

Finally, Abilio has almost completed the new floor in what we hope will be Dirlei's house and the results are excellent (7-9-13 that this solves the humidity mystery), Lone finished reading her first Kindle book (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson), Mark has been taking a bit of a break this week from manual labor while he nurses a slightly sore back and this week's fauna is, you guessed it, another breathtaking moth.