Josiah was six years old last year when he submitted this for a 4-H project poster last summer. [He won $4!]

Josiah and his milking cow, Rosie

“First, get fresh milk from a cow.  A cow eats grass and drinks water to make milk. We milked Rosie, our American Milking Devon, after she had her first calf.”

This is Rosie being hand milked at the Fair. (Usually, we use a Surge vacuum pump)

“Next, cool down the milk and let the milk separate from the cream.  The cream floats on the top.  Then scoop out the cream and put it in a jar.”

Skim the cream from the top of milk

“Then let the cream warm to room temperature.”

Lots of cream

“You can put the cream in a butter churner, blender or shake it up yourself.”

Josiah pouring cream into electric butter churner

“Then the butter separates from the buttermilk.  It will be yellow with big clumps.”

Clumping butter

“Then squeeze all the buttermilk from the butter in a cheese cloth and rinse with cold water.”

Washing butter

“Add salt or honey to make it saltier or sweeter. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.”

Butter ready!

“From our cow, 2 quarts of cream makes about 1 pound of butter.”