Exciting news! We here at Oakhill Organics are continually on the search for new local growers, especially ones that help us make our diet more and more sustainable (and omnivorous). Up until this week, we had good sources of vegetables (obviously), fruit, eggs, pork, cheese, and bread—but no milk or other meats, sadly. That all changed yesterday when we visited Kookoolan Farms in Yamhill!
Chrissie and Koorosh just started their operation one year ago this month, and they have done an amazing job setting up infrastructure and getting their animals growing healthily. We were impressed by the cleanliness and order, as well as their diverse offerings: eggs, beef, broiler chickens, duck, sheep and goat meat, and raw milk.
We’d just begun thinking about raw milk this summer, so finding a local source was very exciting. Due to the regulations on milk (and especially raw milk), they can’t advertise their product, so it’s been mostly word of mouth for milk sales at Kookoolan. They showed us their milking parlor and cow and explained the precautions they take to maintain safety and health. Again, we were impressed by it all and walked away last night with a dozen eggs, a half gallon of raw milk (with two inches of cream on top), a jar of kefir (a yummy fermented milk drink), four pounds of grass-fed beef and a promise to order chickens next week.
We definitely recommend checking them out. You can email them at kookoolan(at)gmail.com or call at 503-662-4742. They welcome visits, especially for those interested in the milk. They are also slaughtering 100 chickens this weekend, so next week they will have available chickens, eggs, and milk.
And if you’re nervous or curious about raw milk (as we have been as well—it certainly carries a taboo in this country), check out the Campaign for Real Milk’s wesbite. If you want to read the good and the bad, do a quick Google search for ‘raw milk’ and you’ll find plenty to chew on. Also, we recommend once again Nina Planck’s new book, Real Foods: What to Eat and Why, for a nice bigger picture take of ‘real’ food, including raw milk.
P.S. How did we find out about Kookoolan, since they can’t advertise? From one of our CSA members, Bethany—hoorah once again for the CSA network! And thanks Bethany!
Thank you, thank you! I have been looking for a local raw milk supplier for a long time now. I have already emailed them.