Every second Saturday or so, I make the drive down to Toronto, having to wake up earlier than I want to, and pick up my milk order. The way it works is, the Sunday before I tell Jackie (the steward of my cow's two teats, which I technically own) how many litres (or jars, they come in 2L jars, no, not the olden style kind - think applesauce)I want for the next week's order. I am allowed up to 15L a week, which for our purposes means 30L or 15 jars every two weeks. Obviously, the wife and I could never drink that much in two weeks, so it allows us a decent amount of room to get milk for others if they want it. L'ilstar and CBB, along with OldeOak and my mom (hunh, no husi moniker yet . . . I'll try out Whitedove) are also partaking in the raw milk, so every second week I end up getting about a dozen 2 litre jars of the precious stuff.

So, on the Saturday morning I drive to a secret location in Toronto to meet up with Jackie for my order. She sells her wares from a friend's house, and parks her pick-up in the driveway while we just walk up with our empty jars to make a switch for full ones. She is a plump, pleasant faced woman, and often comes with her kids in tow, their freckled little faces looking inquisitively at each as the eldest marks down some figure in a book after her mom tells her to make a note of a financial transaction. The other "raw milkers" are an ethnic mix, with at least half northern and eastern europeans (including russians and ukranians), but a decent amount of asians also represent. I am one of the few with no foreign accent.

The economics of it are interesting - first, an initial cowshare had to be purchased for 300 dollars, thereby technically buying a part of a cow (her name is Fantasy, btw). Then, there are the ongoing costs - $2 per litre, or $4 per jar; $1 deposit on each jar until returned (so just the initial cost, really); and a transportation fee of $20 each pick-up (Jackie's farm is nearish Ottawa, and it's a long haul in an old truck). We get cheese from her almost everytime as well now, $25 for a round block of it; and a dozen eggs is $4 (we are also getting this when we can, but it's from her friend's farm and is infrequent). So, the grand total is often close to what it was last Saturday, $97. This makes milk about $2.84/L. Of course, I am not figuring in my transportation costs of driving down to pick it up . . . but sometimes I work on the weekends, and work is close.

In other hippy news, the wife and I have found a local butcher shop that sells all-natural beef and pork, as well as some sweetass bacon. Initially, we had thought of getting a freezer, and ordering en masse from a farmer with non-steroid addled cattle - but with this, we get the fresher option. The ground beef and pork is a little pricier, but it's so worth it - and surprisingly to me, the beef tastes better.

We don't have a goat yet, but who knows what the future holds . . .

Next goal: homegrown, natural vegetables. This means I really don't want some hybrid tomato that has been genetically altered to be enourmous and bland tasting (or square) - I want the Olde Style shit. Garlic is a big one for me, as I am sick of buying garlic with monster cloves and less taste. Fricken frankenfoods.

Anyways, any advice on seed purchasing for this next endeavour is appreciated. Also, any advice on the potential to grow my own mushrooms?