October 19, 2009
Although I may have grown up in the country, I didn’t necessarily grow up on a farm. I do, however, know lots of people that DO live on farms and I’ve been bothering them forever about trying to milk a cow. All of them told me the same thing: just do it at the State Fair.
I may be biased, but the North Carolina State Fair is one of the best. I’m impressed that in this day and age, the Fair still stays true to its Agricultural roots. When I was younger, I couldn’t care less about the exhibits; all I wanted to do was ride the rides. I still like the rides, don’t get me wrong, but going through to see the prize winning pumpkins (almost 300 pounds!) or learning about beekeeping around the state is interesting to me now. Of course, with the recent fried-food obsession, eating fried Reese’s Cups, Ho-Ho’s, or, my favorite, fried cheesecake, is a lot of fun too!
But on to milking the cow.
In the State Fair Ark, amongst all of the livestock, is the opportunity to milk cows with the assistance of student volunteers from the North Carolina State University Animal Science Club. For just $2.00, you can milk a cow and get a free carton of milk (I opted out of my milk). Alex had already milked a cow, so he was my photographer. I sat down with my student volunteer and she explained how to go about milking the cow. While waiting in line, I had noticed others having difficulty, so I assumed it was a difficult process and didn’t expect to get any milk on my first try. Now that I think about it, most of the participants milking the cows were children. Imagine my surprise when warm milk shot out, mostly on my hand. I got 5-10 more squirts of milk out, but I was beginning to feel badly for the cows. They were stuck there, having strangers tug on them all day, so I decided I had successfully milked a cow and I should leave poor Bessie alone.
This is probably a pretty easy thing to do, but still kinda neat and the sensation was pretty interesting. So, who else has milked a cow? How ’bout a goat? Camel? Yak?
How very cool! Congrats on getting another thing done. I also am from a farm community with no experience on a farm, I need to head to a fair I think as well.
Now the million dollar question. Does the NC fair have a butter cow. This is a trademark of the Midwest state fairs, but whenever I mention it out here in California, they laugh at me.
No, we don’t have a butter cow. I hear you guys do it up big in the Midwest. We do have an exhibit that is nothing but strangely shaped vegetables, which is sadly one of my favorites.
A yak?? Is that possible? Glad to know that when it comes to milking cows, you’re a natural…haha. I’ve heard it’s a lot harder than people think. I will probably fall into the same category as those that can’t figure it out.
LOL, I guess! I’ve heard of yak’s milk so I guess somebody’s done it. And yeah, I heard it was hard too, so I was really surprised (and really grossed out) when it came out on my first try all over my hand. But I had a good teacher; she verbally explained and demonstrated how to do it before I tried.
You can milk anything with nipples.
Yay Alex! Is this the first time you’ve visited my blog? Glad to know I have the support of my husband!