Raw Milk Sources in PA

Recently the Pennsylvania Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) rejected the latest Milk Sanitation regulations, sending them back to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) to be divided between those dealing with commercial milk and those governing the production and sale of raw milk for human consumption on smaller, community scale. We are lucky to be one of 10 states that can legally buy and sell raw milk.

When buying raw milk, you can choose from a farm with a permit to sell from the PA Dept of Agriculture or an uncertified trusted local source. The important factors are that the cows are primarily raised on pasture or grass fed, healthy and well cared for, and the milking and storage facilities are very clean. Raw milk that is sold under permit actually contains by law lower bacterial counts than pasteurized milk.

Author Sally Fallon writes on The Campaign for Real Milk's website:

"According to statistics posted at the US government’s Centers for Disease Control website, those consuming raw milk are 2.5 times less likely to contract food borne illness than those consuming pasteurized milk and 3.5 times less likely to contract food borne illness from consuming other foods.

Raw milk contains numerous components that kill bad bacteria and strengthen the immune system. In the infant, these components provide immunity for life to any pathogen to which the baby is exposed. These components are mostly destroyed, or greatly reduced, by pasteurization."

Below is a list of providers from a 2007 PASA publication, helpful because telephone numbers are included. Also, check out PA Dept of Agriculture's list of Raw Milk Permits and A 2008 Penn State fact sheet about raw milk sales can be found here.

Aaron Esh Lancaster 717-529-2273 Cow Milk

Alvin J.Stoltzfus Lancaster 717-442-9208 Cow Milk

Amos B.King Perry 717-536-0189 Cow Milk

Amos T Ebersol Lebanon 717-768-3652 Cow Milk

Apittehikan Farm Bucks 610-817-8533 Goat Milk

B M B Farm Franklin 717-369-3843 Cow Milk

Beula Land Jerseys Lebanon 717-865-7158 Cow Milk

Birchwood Farms Bucks 215-598-8633 Cow Milk

Bridgeview Dairy Chester 717-529-2770 Cow Milk

Camphill Village Chester 610-935-0305 Cow Milk/Bottled

Caprine Delight Adams 717-334-3263 Goat Milk/Cheese

Cedar Acres Lancaster 717-445-6973 Cow Milk

Clark & Elaine Duncan Crawford 814-425-2302 Cow Milk

Colonial Goat Dairy Lancaster 717-768-7492 Goat Milk

Coneibella Farm Chester 610-286-2967 Cow Milk

Conestoga Valley Lancaster 717-445-4305 Cow Milk

Country Side Dairy Lancaster 717-687-6565 Cow Milk

Country SunRise Lebanon 717-866-9112 Cow Milk

Creek Hill Dairy Dauphin 717-456-5184 Cow Milk

D B Messner Chester 610-942-4004 Cow Milk

David or Terella Rice Blair 814-832-3755 Cow Milk

Deans Farm Lawrence 724-944-7894 Cow Milk

Dianna Hersman Venango 814-437-1296 Cow Milk

Dove Song Dairy Berks 610-488-6060 Goat Milk/Cheese

Elmer & Martha King Centre no telephone Cow Milk

Fertile Valley Farm Lebanon 717-949-2935 Cow Milk

Frank White Allegheny 724-258-6564 Cow Milk/Bottler

Friendly Farm Lancaster 717-442-8745 Cow Milk

Green Acres Jersey Farm Lebanon 717-949-3555 Cow Milk

Green Valley Farm Lancaster 717-529-9031 Cow Cheese

Greenhills Farm Lancaster 717-786-8093 Cow Cheese

Hendricks Farm Montgomery 267-718-0219 Cow Milk/Cheese

Hilltop Meadow Farm Schuylkill 570-345-3305 Cow Milk/Cheese

Hoffman Holm

Guernsey Dairy Bedford 814-766-2496 Cow Milk

Hope Springs Farm Lebanon 717-445-0281 Cow Milk

John M & Erlaz Leid Lancaster 717-445-7522 Cow Milk

King Fisher Dairy Lancaster 717-361-0903 Cow Milk

Kleins Farmhouse

Creamery Northampton 610-252-0961 Cow Milk/Cheese

Lapp Farmstead Northumberland 570-758-5148 Cow Milk

M & B Farview Farm Berks 610-562-4912 Cow Milk

Mark J Stoltzfus Clinton 570-726-7799 Cow Milk/Bottled

& Cheese

Mark Lichtenstein Wayne 570-448-2658 Cow Milk

Melvin Franicola Westmoreland 724-446-5860 Cow Milk

Misty Creek Dairy Lancaster 717-656-1345 Goat Milk

Misty Meadow Farm Berks 610-488-0614 Cow Milk

Mountain View Farms Union 570-966-5952 Goat Milk

Mt.Glen Farms Bradford 570-297-2838 Cow Milk

Norma J.Warner York 717-993-2919 Goat Milk

Norman or Edith Sauder Berks 610-683-3561 Cow Milk

Orner Farms Inc Clearfield 814-583-7864 Cow Milk

Pasture Pure Dairy Juniata 717-694-3268 Cow Milk

Patches of Star LLC Northampton 610-570-1274 Goat Milk

Piney Ridge Farm Clarion 814-764-6289 Cow Milk

Pot O’Gold Dairy Warren 814-663-0921 Cow Milk

Robert Reinninger Union 570-966-3762 Cow Milk/Cheese

Schlitterler Farm Inc Lackawanna 570-842-1743 Cow Milk

Shellbark Hollow Farm Chester 610-831-0786 Goat Milk &

Goat Milk Products

Spring Bank Acres Centre no telephone Cow Milk/Bottled &

Cow Milk Products

Spring Creek Farms Berks 610-678-7629 Cow Milk

Stone Meadow Farm Centre 814-349-8841 Cow Milk/Cheese

Stone Ridge Farm Franklin 717-375-4035 Cow Milk

Swamp Crest Jersey LLC Somerset 814-267-9932 Cow Milk

Swiss Villa Dairy Dauphin 717-365-7116 Cow Milk/Bottled

Talmage Farm Dairy Lancaster 717- 656-0708 Cow Milk

Titus & Mabel Leid Lebanon 717-335-7885 Goat Milk

Toy Cow Creamery Lycoming 570-745-2391 Cow Milk

Travis Bountiful Acres Cumberland 717-486-3307 Goat Milk/Cheese

Twin Maple Goat Dairy Dauphin 717-362-2021 Goat Milk/Cheese

Warrior Run Meadows Northumberland 570-538-5175 Cow Milk

Wayside Acres Perry 717-567-9235 Goat Milk/Cheese

WentWorth Dairy Lancaster 717-548-3896 Cow Milk

Wil-Ar Farm Cumberland 717-776-6552 Cow Cheese

Wilson Farms Armstrong 724-545-6433 Cow Milk

Windswept Farm Northampton 610-264-0667 Goat Milk

Mozzarella at Quiet Creek's Cheesemaking Class

My friend Rebekah makes mozzarella with the instructor Rusty at Quiet Creek Herb Farm's Cheese making class today. The class was organized by PASA. The reference and recipe book we referred to was Home Cheesemaking by Rickie Carrol. She runs an amazing cheese-making-necessity emporium called New England Cheesemaking Supply in South Deerfield Massachusetts where one can order any number of molds, cultures, and cheese press plans.

Farmhouse Cheddar

Applesauce

To make applesauce, follow this information from National Center for Home Food Preservation Check out their site for more detailed tips and information.

Quantity: An average of 21 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 13½ pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 48 pounds and yields 14 to 19 quarts of sauce – an average of 3 pounds per quart.

Quality: Select apples that are sweet, juicy and crisp. For a tart flavor, add 1 to 2 pounds of tart apples to each 3 pounds of sweeter fruit.

Please read Using Pressure Canners and Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.

Procedure: Wash, peel, and core apples. If desired, slice apples into water containing ascorbic acid to prevent browning. Placed drained slices in an 8- to 10-quart pot. Add ½ cup water. Stirring occasionally to prevent burning, heat quickly until tender (5 to 20 minutes, depending on maturity and variety). Press through a sieve or food mill, or skip the pressing step if you prefer chunk-style sauce. Sauce may be packed without sugar. If desired, add 1/8 cup sugar per quart of sauce. Taste and add more, if preferred. Reheat sauce to boiling. Fill pre-heated jars with hot sauce, leaving ½-inch headspace. Wipe rims, adjust lids to finger tight and process.

Process hot-packed pints for 15 min in a boiling water canner and hot-packed quarts for 25 minutes in a boiling water canner. This applies to altitudes of 0-1,000 ft. For high altitude canning or pressure canning instructions for your sauce, go here.

Canning Tomatoes

Here is Western Pennsylvania, frosts are looming on the horizon. We have not had one yet, but there is definitely a chill in the air and I have one eye on the weather. Over the past few months I have been learning how to preserve foods so we can munch on them over the winter when not much else is growing. I borrowed my coworker's food dehydrator to shrink down the surplus of hot peppers at Garden Dreams and apples that we picked at a local orchard. I turned more of those apples into sauce and Jason and I canned a load of tomatoes since we are fans of tomato sauce anytime. See all that space in our jars? Next time we will fit more in! I definitely learned some helpful things...here are a few things I learned and some books and websites that can further demystify the process of Canning Your Tomatoes. Opinion differs on the neccessity of different canning practices and processes but as a beginner, I figure it is best to stick to the safest and most recent guidelines.

USDA guidelines
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving
Ball Blue Book of Home Preserving
Lehman's in Ohio - Canning supplies
National Center for Home Food Preservation - Great site with lots of information, even a free online canning course!


Canners - There are pressure canners and water bath canners. I use a borrowed water bath canner at the moment. It is good for fruit preserves and tomatoes (with added acid) but not suitable for canning lower acid foods such as green beans or corn. Low acid foods can be dried, pickled, or frozen instead. I recommend the 7 quart size...I am using 9 quart size and it is quite a beast! The information below relates to water bath canning tomatoes.

pH - "Whether food should be processed in a pressure canner or boiling-water canner to control botulinum bacteria depends on the acidity of the food. Acidity may be natural, as in most fruits, or added, as in pickled food. Low-acid canned foods are not acidic enough to prevent the growth of these bacteria. Acid foods contain enough acid to block their growth, or destroy them more rapidly when heated. The term "pH" is a measure of acidity; the lower its value, the more acid the food. The acidity level in foods can be increased by adding lemon juice, citric acid, or vinegar.
Low-acid foods have pH values higher than 4.6. They include red meats, seafood, poultry, milk, and all fresh vegetables except for most tomatoes. Most mixtures of low-acid and acid foods also have pH values above 4.6 unless their recipes include enough lemon juice, citric acid, or vinegar to make them acid foods. Acid foods have a pH of 4.6 or lower. They include fruits, pickles, sauerkraut, jams, jellies, marmalades, and fruit butters." (National Center for Home Food Preservation)

The recommended addition of bottled lemon juice to canned tomatoes = 2 Tbsp per quart or 1/2 tsp of Citric acid per quart

Botulism - Its the lurking fear in the minds of newly initiated canners. So, do your research, follow recipes exactly, especially while you are learning, to make sure the acid content of the jar is correct and it has been processed correctly.

Quantity - You need about 21-22 lbs of fresh tomatoes for 7 quarts of canned whole, halved, or crushed tomatoes (see USDA link above)

Processing - When you pack your tomatoes, its good to have the jars hot and the water bath canner already 1/2 full of boiling water. Make sure you wipe rims well to ensure a proper seal and only finger tighten lids so air can escape during processing. Put your jars in the rack and lower it, then add more hot water from a tea kettle to cover 2" above jar tops. Process with the lid on and check to make sure the water stays at a gentle boil. Processing over 10 minutes will sterilize your jars and their contents. When you have processed for the proper time, turn off the heat, let your jars sit in the water for about a few minutes, then promptly lift them out with a jar lifter and place them out of the way of drafts. Don't mess with the tops and check for proper seal 24 hrs later.

Rings - Remove them after jars have cooled for 24 hrs. There is no need for them at this point since lids have hopefully sealed. Rings can be reused if they are not rusty but you need new lids every time.

Bubbles - Canning directions call for running a blade-like tool or chopstick around the edge of your jar to get rid of all bubbles and help the jar seal before putting on lids. I did this and still ended up with some bubbles. After some reading and research, I am satisfied that some bubbles are normal and as long as you have a proper seal and no moving bubble streams, you should be good.

Storage - Store at 50-70 degrees for best results and not above 95 degrees. Canned tomatoes should last for at least a year. Once opened, keep in the fridge. Plastic lids are helpful at this point since they don't rust.

C'mon Kids, it's Tomato Time!

At Garden Dreams, my lovely place of employment in Wilksinburg, PA, the tomatoes are arriving and we are quite happy to have them around finally! Some of these guys are also from Jason's and my garden.


Matt's Wild Cherry - from Mexico. Tart and tender...skin is delicate and tears easy so you must eat 'em quick!


Nyagous - Teardrop black tomato. Yum.


Garden Peach - a tad fuzzy, a bit blushy...like a tiny flattened peach


Glacier - Early and small


White Queen - the White Queen is a delicious accordion that you want to play always

Jaune Flamme - An orange French heirloom variety


Black Zebra - a smallish, 2" stripy tomato


Carbon


Egg Yolk - larger than a cherry but with the same bite


Costoluto Genovese - A pretty Italian Heirloom.