I posted this in my Tribal Area. Everybody's reading, but nobody posts. Bucks County, PA, anybody?

[Llyra]

Anybody know of a reliable source of raw milk in this area?

I'm in Mercer County, NJ. I could probably drive up to about 30-45 minutes for milk, and farther for butter and chickens since those would freeze. I can't get raw dairy in NJ, except for cheese. Raw dairy is something new for us. I have also been searching for ages for a source of local chicken. I can get beef, pork, and lamb locally here, but everybody with chickens is selling eggs, not the chickens themselves!

Any recommendations you have would be awesome! Thanks so much!

[serenbat]

Are you look for in PA?

Many of the counties in PA do their own listing and can be found thru the PA extension office for the counties (each has their own)- ours made a nice booklet last year and milk and meats were on it

ALSO you could check - www.pickyourown.org

and ask around at the farms near where you want buy-most just hang signs and don't adv. at all there are lots of place in PA but you should RE-post if you find a place to find out what people are saying about it- ex. a place near me sells RAW but sprays their grass so you have to ASK lots of questions!!!

[hjrowan]

Just a thought about the chickens: here in WA I have to order my pastured chickens ahead of time - for example I had to order about a month ago for the coming year because they aren't being slaughtered til mid-May to September. "Real" chickens (!) may not be available this time of year. Eggs however can be had most of the year (with a dip in supply during the winter).

Have you tried this site? http://http://www.eatwild.com/products/newjersey.html

HTH

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by serenbat

Are you look for in PA?

Many of the counties in PA do their own listing and can be found thru the PA extension office for the counties (each has their own)- ours made a nice booklet last year and milk and meats were on it

ALSO you could check - www.pickyourown.org

and ask around at the farms near where you want buy-most just hang signs and don't adv. at all there are lots of place in PA but you should RE-post if you find a place to find out what people are saying about it- ex. a place near me sells RAW but sprays their grass so you have to ASK lots of questions!!!

Yeah, I'm looking in PA, because I'm only the width of the river outside PA, and raw milk in NJ is a dicey proposition at best.

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by hjrowan

Just a thought about the chickens: here in WA I have to order my pastured chickens ahead of time - for example I had to order about a month ago for the coming year because they aren't being slaughtered til mid-May to September. "Real" chickens (!) may not be available this time of year. Eggs however can be had most of the year (with a dip in supply during the winter).

Have you tried this site? http://http://www.eatwild.com/products/newjersey.html

HTH

I think there's something wrong with the link... Anyway, the thing about the chickens isn't a seasonal thing, I don't think. There just aren't any, at least that I've been able to find.

[serenbat]

these should help you -

www.realmilk.com/where4.html#pa

http://www.philadelphia.craigslist.o...680715409.html (they may know of COWS milk)

[mymy33]

Originally Posted by Llyra

Anybody know of a reliable source of raw milk in this area?

I'm in Mercer County, NJ. I could probably drive up to about 30-45 minutes for milk, and farther for butter and chickens since those would freeze. I can't get raw dairy in NJ, except for cheese. Raw dairy is something new for us. I have also been searching for ages for a source of local chicken. I can get beef, pork, and lamb locally here, but everybody with chickens is selling eggs, not the chickens themselves!

Any recommendations you have would be awesome! Thanks so much!

I'm in Burlington County, NJ, about 20 minutes south of Trenton, but this farm in Bucks County, PA could be good for you. Their milk is yummy but pretty pricey at $8/gallon:

http://www.birchwoodfarmdairy.com/

[LZP]

I grew up in Montgomery county PA, bt I have some family who live in New Egypt, NJ. i dont think it's far from you. there are LOTS of farms around. My great-aunt and uncle used to have chickens on their farm. I bet some of the neighbors still do. maybe a good town to search? Sorry I can't be more specific, in our current locale, we get our chicken from a farmer who's in western Chester County. There is a guy who sells locally pastured Bison, who is in Bucks County, Backyard Bison is the name of the farm. He might know of other vendors in the area.

Have you checked the Local Harvest website? Or, there is a PA Dept of Agriculture extension called Buy Fresh Buy Local- search online and you should get their site with a list of farmers, their products and areas of svc.

Good Luck!

[Metasequoia]

Hendricks is in Telford, PA, about an hour from you. They have raw milk, cheese (all types of raw dairy products), lots of meats, eggs, etc. They're fellow WAPF believers.

[kallyn]

There is a raw dairy in Bucks County. I used to live about 10 minutes away from it. http://www.birchwoodfarmdairy.com/ Just make sure to call before you drive out because they are popular and they run out of stuff. I got milk from them that was half cream.

[Llyra]

Thanks, all. I actually visited Birchwood Farm today and bought two gallons to try out, and also some butter. The butter isn't good-- it wasn't salted, and it's gone a little around the corner, I think. It smells like baby vomit, or like bluecheese, not sweet like you'd expect fresh butter to smell. It's not cultured butter, either... I tried making pancakes in it, and the smell was so bad I had to throw the whole batch out. I called the farm about it, and they say it's supposed to smell stronger than pasteurized butter, but this doesn't smell strong-- it smells AWFUL.

But the milk is awesome. The kids love it-- DD2 says it tastes like ice cream, I think because it's from Jerseys, and the milkfat is so high in it. The Halo Farms milk (local, grass-fed, but pasteurized and homogenized) that they've been drinking is Holstein milk, and is 3.5% milkfat, so this is a big change.

Their meat prices were unaffordable for me. I did bring home ice cream for DH, but I won't buy it again-- too much $$$. But they have wonderful pastured eggs for a good price. I buy eggs from a neighbor, so I don't need eggs really, but I bought some just to try them out, and they had nice orange yolks.

The milk, though, is $8 a gallon, which means we'll be having it only sometimes, and sticking with Halo for everyday. I'd love to find something cheaper, so I'm going to keep looking.

Thank you for all the links-- I've been reading them, as much as I have time for this time of year-- and learning a whole lot about what's available hereabouts.