Well it only took Randy and I, 31 hours (round trip) but we did get the milk delivered to you; our new customers in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia Beach on Wednesday.  We thought you might find our story interesting…as things didn’t go quite as smoothly as we would have hoped…

Our trip started at around 4:00 pm on Tuesday evening leaving from our farm in Middletown, MD, we stopped for gas in Burkittsville before heading on our way down to Virginia Beach via routes 15, 95, 64 and then 264. 

At around 8:30 pm we were near Williamsburg (exit 231) and the truck sputters, Randy maneuvers the truck off the exit and it is really dark and we have no lights I realize at this point that I forgot to bring a flashlight, at just the same moment Abby calls to check on us from home.  We get off to the side of the road and Randy walks back to the exit sign to see where we are…we realize we must be out of gas even though the fuel gauge still reads a quarter of a tank…we should have known, we have had troubles with this truck in the past not pumping gas from both fuel tanks.  Tony calls from home and tells us to check in the side compartment to see if by chance there is a 2 gallon fuel bottle in there (as he was used to keeping extra on hand for this very scenario).  I feel around in the side compartments in the dark and sure enough there is one and it has fuel in it!!  Now how do we get the gas into the truck without something to open up the hole in the gas tank?  Randy heads off to the woods on the side of the road in search of a stick, I remember seeing a screwdriver in a box under the drivers seat…between the 2 of us we manage to get the gasoline into the truck and it starts up YEAH!!!

Abby calls back to say to use the GPS to determine how far away the nearest gas station is…and thank goodness there was one just .4 mile down the exit we were on; a 7-11 Gasoline.  I have decided to purchase a flashlight (no matter what the cost) so that was $4.99 for the flashlight and $3.99 more for 2 batteries, at this point it is a necessity!  We do realize that the back fuel tank is still full and the pump was indeed not working properly!

We are now fueled up and hopefully moving in the right direction so we give a call to Lisa to get the address to where we can park the truck and pick-up our other milk truck (that is already there in Virginia Beach since last Friday) so that we can find something to eat and a place to stay for the night.

We go to park our truck and plug it in so that the compressor will kick on to keep the milk cold, would you know it the compressor will not come on…so Randy climbs up onto the roof to inspect the compressor (see the flashlight was already earning its $9!)…15 minutes later he comes down and we head off to find a Lowes or Walmart to buy locks to lock the truck.

It is now 11pm and we still need to get something to eat and a place to stay, so we use the GPS again and find a 24 hour Denny’s and next door to it is a LaQuinta Inn so that is where we decided to sleep (12:20 til 4:30).

We meet up with Lisa and Nathan at 5:00 am to start the route.  They did the southern half of the route and Randy and I did the northern part…starting next week these routes will be delivered on separate days by Nathan.

We used the GPS and a map book of the area and found most homes rather easily, we spoke to several customers and most were very excited to have the service back.  We saw lots of Yoder boxes and even a few Bergy’s.  There was one customer with an Oberweis box that had juice in it, upon speaking with her she said she was trying us both out…I sure hope she chooses us in the end!

Somewhere around Dominion University a lady claimed that we drove thru a crosswalk when she was in it and called to turn our driver in to the owners for reprimand…Tony took the call and calmed her down and said he would see that the driver was “written up!”  As the passenger in the jump seat of the truck I did not see her anywhere close to us until we were already thru the intersection with a green light…look out for Nathan next week, it was around 12:00 noon when we went thru that area and it was VERY busy!!

We needed to be at the farmers market by 3:00 to drop off their delivery.  Previously Yoder’s Farm Market was getting milk from Homestead Creamery, but we are in the process of purchasing it so they decided to switch over to our milk starting this week (we also dropped off yogurts, bread and cheeses).  Maria, Helen and Alison welcome us and we unloaded the order.

Around 4:15 we head back to the commercial space to see what it looks like in daylight…very impressive and we should have a refrigerator to store the deliveries for next week…Yeah!!  Parts of this location are even better than our store back in Maryland!  We hear from Lisa that they finished their route at around 4:30 and were heading back to park the truck.

Randy is determined that he is sleeping in his own bed tonight so we start heading home, we make a quick stop in Fredericksburg for dinner and are back home by 11:00 pm!

So that is the story of the first South Mountain Creamery ‘s milk delivery to you…let’s hope things can only go up from here, and that we can prosper for years to come!

“Good Morning, SMC:

Yesterday I purchased 2 containers of your apple cinnamon yogurt at the Farmers’ Market downtown. As I type this, I’m halfway through a bowl of the yogurt with sliced apples and some granola, and Oh. My. Goodness. This is the best yogurt I’ve ever had. I just had to let you know. Dannon pales, I mean pales, in comparison. Actually, there IS no comparison. This is delicious. You guys absolutely rock.

We had your heavy cream back in July with fresh peaches from the market and it was heavenly. Whatever you’re doing, you’re doing it right. I’ll be back for much more. “

“Please send my thanks and appreciation to all your staff, with a special pat on the nose to all your cows! “

“I wanted to thank you, and in particular Dorothy, for going to such lengths last week to correct a mistake with my order.  South Mountain Creamery is clearly different and puts customers first.  For this you have earned my appreciation and loyalty.  “

“My thanks to everyone involved, and to SMC for bringing milk and other great stuff right to my door. “

Scientists from Oxford University in England have discovered that going strictly veggie could be bad for your brain, with those on a meat-free diet six mores times likely to suffer brain shrinkage.  Vegans and vegetarians are the most likely to be deficient because the best sources of vitamin b12 are meat, particularly liver, milk and fish.  Vitamin B12 deficiency can also cause anemia and inflammation of the nervous system.  Yeast extracts are one of the few vegetarian foods that provide good levels of the vitamin.  The link was discovered by the scientists using memory tests, physical checks and brain scans to examine 107 people between the ages of 61 and 87.  When the volunteers were retested five years later the medics found those with the lowest levels of vitamin B12 were also the most likely to have brain shrinkage.  It confirms earlier research showing a link between brain atrophy and low levels of B12.   Source:  American Sheep Industry Association.

October is just around the corner which means home-delivered cider will be coming soon to your doorstep!  Distillery Lane Ciderworks, located in Frederick County just outside of the town limits of historic Burkittsville, supplies all of the cider sold by SMC.  Our family-owned and operated farm specializes in growing unique apples that are perfect for cider, baking, and eating

The 2000+ trees in our orchard were custom-crafted and planted in 2002.  We selected our trees because of their extremely high consumer ratings in three important categories:  fresh eating, baking, and cider making.  You’ll find that eating a variety such as Liberty, a semi-tart, crisp variety, or baking with Bramley’s Seedling, an American classic, really does make all the difference.

Rob and Mike produce all of the cider in our just-built processing facility, which is shown on the pictures below.  The dairy receives our juice in bulk, then pasteurizes, and bottles it in ½ gallon glass bottles, which are available for home delivery.  We culture-blend our cider to balance sweetness, tartness, and acidity.  Each batch is unique because of the apples that go into the mix.  We are positive that you’ll agree that we produce some of the country’s best cider once you’ve tasted an ice-cold glass.  Our first batch of cider this season will be a blend of “Red Gravenstein” and “Bulmer’s Norman.”

Call us for information on varieties and pricing or visit our website: www.ciderapples.com

You have probably notice a change our website order interface.  This website has been a hard journey for us.  When we first launched the new site, we were flooded with phone calls and e-mails.  I believe for a week straight, we were receiving 100-200 e-mails a day, plus the phones were ringing off the hook.  although we thought that we had found all of the ordering issues, we obviously missed a lot. 

So we begin to go to work with the programmers to try to make improvements.  many changes came during the weeks that followed…. but things seem to stay the same.  some folks were getting there deliveries fine, while others were plagued with problems. 

Around the end of July, I thought that I came up with a solution to the problem.  after about a week of programming changes, that was launched.  Things defiantly got better.  Still not perfect, but better. 

So after about two weeks, I went back to the programmers, this time determined that we were going to simplify this, and make this easy to use.  Plus I was determined that we were not going to launch the new update, until I was confident that everything was working the way we wanted it, and that everything worked. 

So today is the big day.  Finally after 3-4 weeks, or discussion, programming changes and testing, the new update is released.  Overall, I think everyone will be impressed, and pleased with the new set up. 

Now when you log in, you are only dealing with one order.  if you log in before your delivery, then you are dealing with the order coming up.  if you log in after your delivery, then you are dealing with next weeks delivery.  Sounds easily enough, I hope …. 

I truly appreciate everyone’s help, business, patience, and support through this process.  I believe the worst is behinds us now and we can now turn our focus to the future…. apple cider….turkeys… and egg nog.    

At lunch today we got to talking about the crops and how truely blessed we have been this year with all the crops.  We have gotten rain at the right times, and the heat has not been as drastic as in years past, it has been a relatively “cool” summer.  It is not even September yet and the corn is already ready to chop and put away for winter feeding.  With corn you can either chop it all up and put it away as corn silage, in an upright silo or on the ground in either ag bags or in a trench silo, or you can shell it and store it as high moisture corn and let the stalks lay in the ground to help build up the soil for the next crop.  In this photo we are hauling corn silage from a farm about 4 miles from the main farm and storing it in the upright silos that sit just outside the creamery.  The tractor drivers will pull the wagons up to the unloader that sits at the bottom of the 80 foot silos, and begin unloading the silage out of the side of the wagons, the unloader will chop the pieces of silage up into even smaller pieces and shoot it straight up into the pipe leading into the top of the silo where it will be stored until it is ready to be fed to the cows this winter.

Often during our festivals, or while folks are out here on a farm visit or tour, I hear many comments about how great it was to see a calf being born.  Obviously, this is not something that we can schedule, and is as much a happy surprise for us as it is to our visitors. 

A dairy cow is pregnant for 9 months (just like people).  Two months before they have a calf, we move them to our dry lot.  This means that the cows will be eating, resting, gaining weight, and generally preparing for their labor.  When they are 2 weeks before their expected due date, we move the cows to our maturnity ward.  This is located across the road from the creamery.  We do this for a couple of reasons, but the main one is so that we can keep an eye on them.  Every once in a while, a cow will run in to a problem while calving, and we will need to help. 

When the calf arrives, it is able to walk with in about 15 minutes and it typically weights about 100 lbs.  We normally will leave the calf with its mother for about 12 hours, giving it time to nurse.  After about 12 hours, the cow is brought into our dairy herd, and the calf is moved to our calf barn.  The calf is then feed milk from the herd for about 8-10 weeks.  ** you can help with this at our calf feedings, every day at 4pm. 

Below our pictures of a cow giving birth.  The miracle of life is so awsome and amazing…..

Yes!, the calf arrived healthly, and is doing great !!

One of the first things many visitors to our farm asks us is “do you have any kittens?”  Although we don’t have nearly as many as we had years and years ago before the creamery came to be, there is usually at least one “batch” of kittens around to play with at any given time!  Just as soon as they are old enough to eat on their own we try to get them adopted by hanging a sign on the creamery door, and as cute as they are it doesn’t take long for all of them to disappear…

There is something about a baby kitten that just pulls at my “heartstrings” even after playing with and raising probably 100’s of kittens, I still find so much pleasure in just sitting around and watching them play and find their way in the world!

This litter of kittens shown above were found weeks after their birth in the basement of my mom’s house, just the perfect size to play with!  I know there is yet another litter of kittens at the chickenhouse and although I had my hands on them one evening and knew where they all were “momma kitty” took it upon herself to hide them very well, and I have not been able to locate them again since…

Anyone looking doe a kitten, these NEED a new home!!!:)

Attention everyone….

I am looking for some good milkman stories.  Does your milkman do anything unique?  or something that you really appreciate? …let me know. 

example’s might be:

• Saved me and my children from a burning house (unlikely, but it has happened)
• helped me bring my groceries in the house
• always takes the time to talk to my children, and play with our dog. 

Thanks in advance for all your input !!!

One of the many things that happen on a farm in the summer is the harvesting of hay.  This is very important for us, because grass makes up 97% of what our cows eat.  Hay to a cow is like salad is to us.  There are many different varieties, with each having unique qualities.  For example, Yesterday we mowed Sudane grass.  This grass is very high in protein, and is great for dairy cows.  it has simular nutrition value as corn.  This is the first year in a while that we have planted this type of grass.  We tried it in a couple of fields where the deer typically are a problem for growing corn.  So far things look really good, and if we get some more rain, we might be able to get a second cutting off this hay.  

Yesterday we mowed the grass, the sun has dried the grass as it lays on the ground, and then today we will use our chopper to pick the grass up and chop it up in to smaller pieces.  The chopper throws the pieces of hay in to large wagons.  We then take the wagon load of hay back to the farm, where we will store it in a silo or ag bag (large bag that works like a silo). 

 It is important for farmers to work during this season, to build preparations for the winter.  On a Dairy farm, that means lots of hay for the cows, some corn, soybeans, and other grains.  We don’t always feed all of the grains, but they come in handy to trade with vendors for things you do need.