Flying Cheese
There’s an old Spanish proverb that goes: “Cheese from the ewe, milk from the goat, butter from the cow and ice cream from Haagen Dazs”. Okay, I stuck the last part in there, but I bet the first part surprised you a little as well. After all, when people see a sheep they think about wool, or cute little lambs or maybe even a juicy leg with a dollop of mint jelly on top, but they seldom think about milking a sheep.
Turns out sheep milk is ridiculously good for you, with more vitamin A and B, calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium than cow’s milk. Plus it has more short chain fatty acids which not only makes the milk easier to digest, but has hardly any affect whatsoever on cholesterol levels. And here’s where it gets really exciting. Sheep milk also has more CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) than goats or cows – or pigs, horses or humans too, for that matter. Can you believe it? Hey, I was surprised as you were.
CLA might not sound very exciting, but once you find out that it’s a powerful antioxidant and fat reducer it kind of makes you want to break out the party hats and streamers and do the Macarena. Or maybe that’s just me. My life out here on the farm can get a bit lonely. Now I’m starting to feel a bit sheepish, how about ewe? Yikes. Please forgive me. It’s been a long winter. But enough with the cheesy puns, let’s talk sheep.
There are only a handful of sheep breeds that produce enough milk to make them the Holsteins of the sheep world. East Friesans, Lacaunes and Icelandics are among them. From these sheep the world’s best Feta, Roquefort and Ricotta cheese are made as well as a delicious yogurt. I happen to own a small flock of Icelandics. I admired the quality of their wool and their general appearance but it was the idea of making our own gourmet quality cheese, yogurt and ice cream that really intrigued me. But as it turns out, there’s a problem with my self sufficiency plan. Isn’t there always?
The problem becomes a little more transparent once you pause to consider the name of our milkiest ewe. Her name is Rowdy and I’m afraid it suits her. Icelandic sheep are not what you might call passive. They are alert, incredibly agile and possess far more intelligence than you would normally suspect of a sheep.
Last fall I managed to corral the flock in the hopes of giving them a quick pedicure. I turned my back to close the gate and quite unexpectedly took a sheep to the shoulder. Our leader ewe Patricia banked herself off my right side and sailed on out the gate to freedom and clover before I even knew what was happening.
The damage revealed itself slowly. First my shoulder hurt whenever I lay on it at night. Then it started to hurt when I reached behind my back to put on my belt. Soon I was wincing whenever I had to extend my reach, such as removing dishes from a high shelf. Now if I make any sudden movements my shoulder locks itself into a massive charlie horse that makes any recollection of childbirth seem like a mere fun afternoon at the spa. So far all the doctors seem to know for sure is that I am slowly losing mobility to my right arm. The malady called “Frozen Shoulder” is one of the suspects. An MRI is scheduled for next month and in the meantime I am doing physiotherapy and being careful not to make any sudden movements.
If it doesn’t get better soon I could be in a real pickle. How will I get my garden planted? How am I going to raise our Thanksgiving turkey? How am I going to raise an axe over my head? Although in that particular case it might be just as well. But it’s not only the birds, it’s also the bees. I want to put a couple hives out in the garden. If I’m working with the hives and a bee stings me I am pretty sure I am going to be performing a few quick and sudden movements. And what’s more, I really, really want to try and milk Rowdy.
However, if I’ve learned anything from a lifetime of rural living, it’s that milking an animal as it flies over your head is not an easy thing to do. And it begs a rather sobering question; if a sheep with as innocent a name as Patricia can do such a wicked shoulder check, what might a sheep called Rowdy be capable of?