>> Funding for "Welcome to My Farm" has been provided by Manna Pro... >> As much as we count on them... >> They count on us all the more.

>> To nurture their lives... >> With the same commitment.

>> Manna Pro -- nurturing life.

>> ...Meyer Hatchery... >> Meyer Hatchery offers more than 160 breeds of poultry and carries a full line of feed, supplies, gifts, and decor.

With nearly four decades of experience, the Meyer family is committed to supporting our customers through their entire poultry journey.

Learn more at MeyerHatchery.com.

>> ...and Grubbly Farms... >> Grubbly Farms -- sustainable feed and treats made with grubs.

Find out more at grubblyfarms.com.

>> ...and Horizon Structures -- delivered fully assembled and ready for same-day use.

♪♪ [ Rooster crows ] >> I'm Lisa Steele, author and fifth-generation chicken-keeper.

I live in rural Maine with my husband, flock of chickens, ducks, geese, and Winston, the corgi.

We moved to Maine for the peace, serenity, and a simpler life.

Join me as I explore this beautiful state and experience all it has to offer.

Welcome to my farm.

♪♪ >> Hey, Lisa.

>> Hi.

>> Welcome to our farm.

>> Thank you so much.

Well, want to go look at some cows?

>> I do.

Absolutely.

>> Let's go and do it.

>> Let's go.

>> So, how many acres do you have here?

>> So, we have about 150 acres here.

80% of that is on this side of Route 2, and the other 20% is over there.

A lot of our grazing pasture land's over here, and our hay land's over there.

>> How long have you been here?

How did this all get started?

>> Yeah, so, we've been here about 10 years.

We're from the area, you know, for the most part.

But this farm came up for sale.

It was in our family a couple generations ago.

We saw some potential in it.

And kind of funny -- the cows weren't really the potential that we saw in it.

Yeah, it was a blessing we were able to buy it and kind of start this venture from day one.

And, you know, this is what it is now.

>> That's so great.

>> And, like, what a great family tradition to kind of bring the farm back to life and do something that you obviously love.

>> Yeah.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> So, our farm doesn't have a name, but I'm always fascinated on how people name their farms, why they name their farms.

So tell me about the name of your farm.

>> Yeah, our farm is named Heritage Oak Farm.

Heritage kind of because -- well, one, the heritage breed that we talked about, and then, also, that ties to how it was in my family... >> Right.

>> ...you know, a couple generations ago.

So that's the Heritage part.

The Oak is really simple -- because we have a giant oak tree in our front, in our front yard, and it's just such a prominent part of our, you know, farm and our front yard that it's got to be part -- >> Our house, the whole house's history, really.

>> Yeah.

Yeah.

>> So, how old do you think that tree is?

>> Well, the farm was built in 1834, and so we're assuming they wanted some shade.

And so I got to imagine that tree is, you know, soon after.

Wow.

>> Yeah.

>> So, these are Highland cows.

>> Yes.

>> Why this breed?

>> We went with this breed mainly because they're a great heritage breed for our location.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> They're awesome with the cold weather.

They're great grazers.

They can make good use of brush and trees and things that some other cows will turn their nose up at and turn it into beautiful grass that we've been able to grow here.

>> So, they're not dairy cows.

>> Yes.

Exactly.

>> But you could technically milk them.

>> Yes, you could.

And they do have a high butterfat content... >> Yeah, content in their milk.

>> ...in their milk.

It's just, generally, they're not known as a dairy breed.

>> Right.

>> Sometimes, they let us milk them to help out a calf or something like that.

Their temperament -- >> And they're good with that.

>> Yeah, their temperament is fantastic and their disposition is -- You know, they're a herd that even though they have horns and, you know, kind of a -- >> Yeah, they look kind of scary, honestly.

>> Right, but they're not.

You know, they love interacting with us daily.

It's great to be able to walk up next to something that looks like that and pet it.

>> And it's so big.

>> And it's so big.

And just kind of see that, you know, they're happy that we're kind of there with them sometimes.

>> So they're super-social, obviously.

How many do you have?

>> We kind of run a herd right now around 40 head.

We always gauge our herd size based off of what, you know, we're planning for our winter feed to be.

So sometimes if, you know, we have a drought and the hay doesn't come in like we thought it would, our herd will probably be smaller going into the winter, you know, months.

And then, if we're blessed and we're really flushed with hay, maybe we'll -- >> Get a few more cows.

>> Yeah.

We will get a few.

[ Laughter ] >> We have snow on the ground for a good portion of the year, so, obviously, in the good weather, the cows eat grass, right?

What do they eat the rest of the year?

>> All they eat is hay, and we rotate them through our pastures, feeding bales in different spots to put the manure on the ground and help grow the grass for the following year.

So we try to keep them eating what they would be naturally eating if they were in the wild and not feed them anything.

In addition, no grain, no corn.

>> Yeah.

>> It's less expensive.

>> Exactly.

The idea is to replicate, like, a grazing herd no matter what.

So we like to always keep them moving.

Whether it's on snow or on a green, growing pasture, keep them moving.

It's cleaner that way.

>> Right.

>> By doing that, it doesn't put too much damage onto the soil.

And so by, you know, kind of improving our soil quality, it makes it so that our grasses can grow thicker and stronger and better.

>> I would guess, also, you have fewer rodents and probably fewer flies because you don't have grains and corns -- >> Right.

>> So that's a big plus, as well.

>> Yeah.

And the flies stay away from them because they're constantly -- We're moving them away from their manure, so they're never just hanging out.

>> A fresh pasture, you know, a fresh salad, if you will.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah.

>> So, I have a really important question to ask you.

>> Yes?

>> Do all your cows have names?

>> Yes, all the cows do have names.

>> Wow!

>> I like to make sure they all have names so they're all an individual and not just a piece of meat out in the pasture.

They have personalities, and the a lot of them are registered with the American Highland Cattle Association.

>> Okay.

>> And with that, every year, they have a certain letter that a lot of people will take, and all the calves born that year have -- Say this year was letter "M." They all have names that begin with "M." >> Oh, that's cool.

>> So, that's what we've done for the past -- I don't know -- three years, four years.

>> Yeah, it makes it easy.

>> Yeah.

And then we can know that, oh, all the M's, what year they were born, all the L's.

>> The name is most certainly, like, the first part of their identity, and sometimes, we get a name soon after they hit the ground when they're being born, because maybe they'll hop up and they'll dance a little bit.

So, you know, we'll name them something maybe -- >> Michael Jackson.

>> Michael Jackson, you know?

You know, Moonwalker, you know, something like that, yeah.

>> So, I love all the different colors.

I guess that's probably the traditional color when you think of a Highland.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> But some of the lighter ones are so pretty.

So, how does that happen?

>> So, the colors are all judged by a dilution gene.

And there are two main colors -- black and red.

And then, if they have one dilution gene -- If a red has one dilution gene, they end up yellow.

If they have two dilution genes, they end up white, which is the -- We'll see the white color with the pink nose.

>> Nice.

>> And the black base color, if they have a dilution gene, they are the dun, and -- Kind of like that one walking over there.

And then, if they have two dilution genes, they end up white with a silver nose.

>> Oh, wow.

>> So, there's a science behind it.

>> Well, they're all really pretty, and I just love the color variation out in the pasture.

>> Yeah.

>> You look a little young to be walking with a cane, so I'm thinking there's another reason why you have this beautiful stick.

>> Yeah.

You know, although their disposition is fantastic, you just never really want to put your full trust into, you know, a cow, a bull, or a heifer.

And so this is something that I try to use daily when we're out working with the herd.

So, you can use it to, like, protect yourself, use it to get their attention by maybe a little tap on their -- you know, on their back.

The hook -- I can grab a horn and just kind of move an animal if I have to.

It's just nice to have something that I feel like I can put between me and the herd.

I got to say, our farm probably has a lot to do with our awesome neighbors.

We're very lucky to live in Palmyra.

It's a great town.

>> Thank you guys so much.

I had so much fun learning all about your Highland cows.

Not so much luck getting milk for my ice cream, but better luck at the next farm.

[ Cows mooing ] ♪♪ Hi, Adam.

Thank you so much for having me.

>> Well, thank you for coming.

>> So, I'm on a mission to make ice cream, and the first farm we went to was not a dairy-cow farm.

>> Okay.

>> They raised Scottish Highlands.

So I still need some milk, and I thought that this would be a great place to come to get some fresh milk.

>> Yeah, we can do that.

It's almost milking time, so... >> Oh, I'm so excited.

Your cows are beautiful.

>> Thank you.

>> What kind of cows do you have?

>> We have some of everything.

We have registered Jerseys.

We have Holsteins.

We have Dutch Belts.

We have milk and shorthorn.

And we have a brown Swiss Holstein crosses.

So we've got some daughters that are like 87% brown Swiss.

>> So, is that your favorite, if you had to pick a favorite?

>> I actually really ended up liking the Guernseys.

>> Okay.

>> And that's one breed we don't have right now.

But the brown Swiss, I will have to say, the crosses that we have I really like.

They seem to even produce more butterfat and protein, because my wife makes cheese and some butter and cream.

The old cow we have that's also on summer pasture, she's 16 years old.

>> How long do cows normally live?

>> Production is usually up to 14, 15 years.

Some cows can keep producing calves.

It depends on the cow.

Everybody's an individual.

So, the cow's peak of their life-span is between 5 and 10 years.

>> Okay.

>> That's when they're at their peak.

That's when you get your most components.

Like, if you're making, like, ice cream, you want that fat, so 5 to 10 years of age is when the cow is really at her peak of production for everything.

>> Okay.

And they're good moms, I guess, anyway.

>> They're very good moms.

We even have some that will fight to get to somebody else's calf just so that they can take care of a baby.

>> Oh, that's cute.

>> So, would you like to milk a cow?

>> Oh, absolutely.

>> Okay.

So, we are almost at milking time.

>> Okay.

>> And we got to go get ready for it and bring them in, and then we can go to milking.

>> Okay, great.

>> Before we milk, would you like to see a baby?

>> Yes.

Oh, my goodness!

>> And she'll drink that whole -- pretty much that whole thing.

>> Yep.

>> She is so happy.

Look at her wagging her tail.

>> Yep, she'll drink the whole thing.

We try to put it as low, because, like, when a calf nurses from a cow, they're going underneath.

>> Right.

>> So when she gets taller, we'll go to the taller one.

>> Right.

But you don't want her up -- >> Right.

>> Yeah.

[ Laughs ] I've never done this before.

>> Do you want me to get her primed?

I ought to prime her for you.

>> Okay.

>> Her handles are very large, so while you're milking, you will have quite a grab.

>> So pull and squeeze.

>> Just kind of squeeze.

Pull and squeeze.

See?

>> Then you do two and then you do the other two?

>> Yep.

>> It's like you forget.

Like, you know, I had chickens as a kid.

You grow up on a farm.

But, like, you really do forget where your food comes from.

Everything -- like, honey, like, just everything.

You know, you just grab it off the shelf and you forget when you go to the store.

>> I think she's primed enough.

>> Okay.

>> Now, if you would like to try, you can grab the front ones.

Pretty much got the back ones.

So, like, here, if you just grab them and just pull and squeeze at the same time.

They're pretty good size, so it'll be like grabbing a whole handle.

[ Both laugh ] >> Come on.

>> Want me to pump the tail?

>> I think -- Ooh!

A little came out.

This one's broken.

>> Yep, just give her... >> Come on.

Come on.

>> Here, let me do it for you.

>> Oh.

Operator error.

[ Laughs ] >> Yeah, it doesn't come with an instruction manual.

>> Right?

>> Yeah, you got it.

We're getting some.

>> Ooh, this one's really going now.

>> Yeah.

Once you get them started, they take right off.

>> I think I got more on my hands and on her leg than I got in the bucket.

Alright, I clearly do not have a future as a dairy farmer.

Your 43 years of experience definitely shows.

You've got your technique down.

That was so, so amazing to watch.

>> Well, I mean, you tried.

Everybody tries.

We've had little kids try.

We used to have one cow that we'd have two kids on, one kid on each side of her, and she would stand there and let them learn.

I mean, everybody -- it takes time.

>> And then how long does it last?

Once you've refrigerated it, how long do you think it lasts for?

>> We usually say 7 to 10 days.

>> Okay.

>> Just basically because people don't understand that with raw milk or with raw any product, there's nothing in it to preserve it.

You need to keep it refrigerated.

>> Right.

>> And refrigeration, especially in this humidity and heat that we're having, it really needs to be cold.

>> Well, I'm excited.

I can make my ice cream.

And I really appreciate you letting me come.

>> Oh, it should make really good ice cream.

[ Both laugh ] >> Is there a bad ice cream?

>> No, not not in my book.

I eat a lot of ice cream.

That's my dairy.

>> Yeah, yeah, same.

Exactly.

So, I'm going to make my ice cream with fresh Maine milk.

And thank you so much.

I had so much fun today.

>> Well, I'm glad you came.

>> It's finally time to make our ice cream.

I'm going to make a vanilla-bean ice cream.

And I'm going to steep some fresh basil in the milk to give it a little bit of an herby spring-like essence to it.

I'm also going to swirl some blackberry jam and white-chocolate chips into it.

So, this is going to be really good, and I'm going to show you how easy it is to make your own ice cream.

To get started, I'm going to heat 4 cups of milk and 2 cups of heavy cream in a saucepan and bring it to a simmer.

And to give it a little more flavor, I am just going to drop some basil leaves into the liquid and kind of let them steep as the liquid is heating up.

Smells so good.

I like putting herbs in ice cream.

I also make ice cream with fresh mint, which is really good.

But I think the basil will be really nice with the blackberries.

So, I'm just going to let this come to a simmer, so I'm just getting bubbles around the edges.

And then I'm going to turn it off and let it cool and just let the basil do its thing.

We are bubbling, so I'm going to turn it off.

And then I'm just going to add some vanilla-bean paste.

I love using vanilla-bean paste instead of vanilla extract.

You don't get the alcohol taste, but it also gives you the really pretty flecks that you definitely want in the ice cream.

You want everyone to know that it's homemade, obviously, not from the store.

I'm just going to stir that in and then I'm just going to let everything sit for about 10 minutes to let the flavors all meld together and a little more of the basil to just kind of infuse into my liquids.

While my milk mixture is cooling, I'm going to make the custard base.

This is an egg-based ice cream because, of course, we have fresh eggs.

So, I'm going to crack four egg yolks into my bowl.

Separate my eggs.

The yolks are going to make the ice cream really, really rich, give it some nice flavor.

So, that looks good -- four egg yolks.

Okay, now I'm going to add some sugar.

I've got 1 1/4 cup of sugar.

And I'm going to add some salt.

Adding salt to sweet things actually brings out the sweetness and the other flavors.

So you really don't want to skimp on the salt.

I want to whisk this up really well so it's nice and smooth.

It's going to make a nice, smooth ice cream.

You can see, from the color of the yolks, it's really hard to get a white ice cream.

My ice cream always comes out kind of yellow because of all the great things that the chickens are eating to make their egg yolks nice and brightly colored orange.

Alright, that looks pretty good.

Now, our milk liquids should be cooled enough that I can add some of them to this egg custard and then add it all back to the pan.

I'm going to have to temper the eggs, which means slowly bringing them up to temperature, because if I just added them to my hot liquid, they're going to start to cook and curdle.

So I want to just add a little bit of hot liquid to the eggs, whisk it in, and bring them up to temperature slowly.

I have strained out the basil leaves, and the liquid has cooled considerably.

So now I'm going to ladle it bit by bit into the egg and whisk it up.

This tempering is a technique that's used in a lot of custards and puddings and really anything that you're adding egg to if it's a hot liquid.

I'm just going to add a couple ladlefuls.

You don't have to add all of the liquid, but just enough to kind of make the temperature of the two bowls the same.

It already smells like ice cream.

I can smell the vanilla.

Okay, now I'm just going to take my ladle out and then pour my egg into my milk mixture.

I'm going to whisk as I do it, just, again, to make sure that the egg all incorporates without actually cooking.

I'm just going to stir it up really well, then it's going to go back in the pan, I'm going to heat it up just a bit to cook the egg, and then it's going to go right into the ice-cream machine.

Okay, now I'm going to get my ice-cream base back into the pan and I'm going to cook it for a couple of minutes.

I just want to cook the egg a little bit, thicken it up a little bit.

And then we'll get it into the loaf pan and into the fridge.

And, again, I just kind of want some bubbles.

I don't want to boil it or burn it.

So just couple of minutes just to heat it up, and once it starts to thicken just a teeny bit, we'll consider it done.

We're almost there.

It's starting to get foamy, it's getting a little bit thick, I can feel the bubbles on the bottom, and it's starting to steam.

So I'm just going to give it another minute, and then we'll get it into the pan.

Here we go.

And I'm just going to carefully pour it into my loaf pan.

You can use any type of heat-safe, refrigerator-safe container you want.

Okay, now I'm going to get it into the fridge for about 30 minutes, until it cools to room temperature, and then get it right into the ice-cream machine.

Now for the fun part.

We are going to put our ice cream into the ice-cream machine.

So, I've got the insert frozen solid.

And I'm just going to pour in my liquid, which has cooled down.

Make sure we get it all.

And then put the insert in.

There's all different types of ice-cream machines.

This is probably one of the more basic.

Super-easy to use.

Put the top on.

Then I'm going to turn it on, and it takes about 30 to 40 minutes.

As it churns, it freezes the outside and then pushes it into the inside.

So once you start to see the ice cream coming together and it's not liquid anymore and it's really starting to get solid, at that point, you can shut it off, and we'll put it back into the loaf pan, stir our add-ins in, and then freeze it until it's solid.

[ Click, whirring ] So, now I'm going to let this run for about half an hour, come back and check it.

In the meantime, I'm going to wash the dishes and get the kitchen cleaned up.

That looks great.

It's nice and thick and creamy, and I'm ready to get it back in my pan and stir in some add-ins.

That's exactly what you want it to look like -- kind of like soft-serve-ice-cream stage.

I'm going to put about 1/3 in and then add the chips and the jam.

I'm going to swirl it around so everybody gets some of all the great flavors.

♪♪ And I'll put the last bit in.

It's a little bit messy, but it's definitely going to be worth it.

I guess I'll just put a little bit more jam, and then we'll call it good.

Okay.

Now it's going to go into the freezer for about four hours, until it's frozen solid, and then we'll have ice cream.

♪♪ >> Funding for "Welcome to My Farm" has been provided by Manna Pro... >> As much as we count on them... >> They count on us all the more.

>> To nurture their lives... >> With the same commitment.

>> Manna Pro -- nurturing life.

>> ...Meyer Hatchery... >> Meyer Hatchery offers more than 160 breeds of poultry and carries a full line of feed, supplies, gifts, and decor.

With nearly four decades of experience, the Meyer family is committed to supporting our customers through their entire poultry journey.

Learn more at MeyerHatchery.com.

>> ...and Grubbly Farms... >> Grubbly Farms -- sustainable feed and treats made with grubs.

Find out more at grubblyfarms.com.

>> ...and Horizon Structures -- delivered fully assembled and ready for same-day use.

Closed captioning provided by Eaton Pet & Pasture.