Belding Hill Farms

09/05/2025

🥩🍔 Fresh from the butcher! We just got our beef back and most of it came back as burgers. So for lunch today I treated myself to a good old hot hamburger sandwich.

Fried up a couple patties, used the drippings to make a roux, stirred in a bag of our beef broth with a bit of water, salt, and pepper — and boom, rich homemade gravy over bread and burgers. 👌

Didn’t take long, but wow was it a wicked lunch! 😋

09/05/2025

🐄 Morning update from the barn!
I grabbed a 6-minute video this morning to explain what calf sharing looks like here on our farm and to give an update on Lena and Willow.

👉 Lena calved Aug 27th, 9 days ago, and today her milk filter came out clean as a whistle. That means we were finally able to keep her milk — it’s chilling in the fridge right now! 🥛
👉 Willow calved Aug 28th, 8 days ago, and she still has a few flecks of blood showing up in the filter. We’re keeping a close eye on her, just to be sure it’s not the start of mastitis.

For anyone wondering what calf sharing is:
At night we bring the cow and calf into the barn and put them in separate pens. That gives mom’s udder time to fill overnight. In the morning, we milk mom, give her a little treat, and then reunite her with her calf. From there, they spend the whole day together outdoors, and the calf can nurse freely. The only time they’re apart is overnight — when they’d be sleeping for a good stretch anyway.

This way, we get some milk for the house, while the calves stay on their moms and get all the benefits of bonding, nursing, and growing strong. 💕 It’s very different from the big commercial dairies you hear about online, but it works beautifully for us and for our animals.

09/05/2025

Haha so true! Farm life... 🤷‍♀️

Ha ha! 💯

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09/05/2025

☀️ Morning chores on the farm 🐄
Here’s a sweet little 40-second clip of Penelope reuniting with her mama Lena after the morning milking. 💕 We keep them separated overnight so we can milk Lena, and then they’re right back together again—happy calf, happy cow. 🥰

09/04/2025

When we start milking a cow after calving, the milk goes through a natural transition before it’s ready for the kitchen. 🥛

In this video, you’ll see two paper filters: one from yesterday’s milking and one from today’s. The first filter caught quite a few little flecks — mostly blood and tissue as Lena’s udder settles in after calving. That’s very normal in the first few days. By today, the milk looks much cleaner, with only a couple of specks showing up. Each day it should improve until it runs clear.

It’s also important to note that the very first milk — called colostrum — goes straight to the calf. Colostrum is packed with antibodies and nutrients that the calf needs for a strong start in life, so we never keep that for ourselves.

This is why we don’t use Lena’s or Willow’s milk for ourselves right away. It’s part of the process of making sure what ends up on our table is clean and wholesome. Until the milk clears, we set it aside — and the pigs absolutely love getting this rich, nourishing treat. 🐖

In another video, I’ll explain more about how we do calf sharing — separating the calves overnight so we can milk in the morning, then letting the mums and babies back together for the day. That system helps balance what we use and what the calves need.

For now, I just wanted to show you the filters so you can see exactly what we’re watching for. It’s one of those little details that makes all the difference in safe, healthy milk.

Here’s to keeping real food simple, and sharing the journey with our community. ❤️

09/04/2025

This morning’s milk didn’t make it to our fridge—it went to the pigs instead 🐖🥛 They were over the moon about it, slurping it up like it was the best treat in the world.

There’s a good reason we’re giving Lena’s milk to the pigs for now, and I’ll share more details in another post soon. For today, let’s just say the pigs aren’t complaining one bit! 😂

09/03/2025

WOW! We are humbled. We got Platinum in our category! Thank you to all of you who follow us, and support us, and for voting for us! Thank you again. 💚

https://saintjohn.communityvotes.com/2025/04/sports-recreation-and-fitness/family-recreation?fbclid=IwVERDUAMli4RleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHmftH3jry8H24USgqDMNv5yCRx6fSY8NCnXV-nq0CiOS9UTHCTp1EYzus8fU_aem_fBq8p7DIpZ7l46Q6HdwqkQ

Official 2025 Community Voting Awards Platform for Saint John, NB. Where the community votes for their favourites every year.

09/03/2025

I just saw this on YouTube shorts, and thought this was so neat, and thought you might like this too!

09/03/2025

🚛💨 This morning started with a run for bales of straw — some for winter pig bedding, and some to mulch the garlic we’ll be planting this fall. 🐖🧄

On the way, the truck started acting up like it was starving for fuel. Sure enough, the old filter was done for. Luckily our friends at Hampton auto supplies ltd in Hampton had us covered — swapped it out for a fresh NAPA filter, and we’re back to the races again! 🙌

Farm life: there’s always a fix-it job before you can get to the real job. 😉

09/03/2025

🚜🐄 First milking of the season for Lena! 🥛

We’re just getting her back into the rhythm with the old Surge belly milker, and she’s taking it all in stride — happily chewing her cud while the machine hums along.

Her milk isn’t ready for the fridge just yet, but this is the start of the process. Quick little clip today — more updates to come as we get going!

09/03/2025

Early start to the morning... where's the caffeine???