Small things matter

[Moxi]

We don't have them around us in North Wales (to my knowledge) but on Holiday down in St Ives for the last 4 or 5 years we use the Trink Dairy unit to get the kids their milk, if you went early enough in a morning you used to be able to watch them milk the herd as well.

As you say - a brilliant idea, of course we also blessed to have a local village shop staffed with volunteers and there are a range of local grower's bakers and the like who are able to sell their wares in the shop as the seasons permit.

Moxi

[CrofterMannie]

2 local (as local as anything is in the Highlands) dairy farms have milk vending machines seeking their own milk.
One of them in particular has wonderful milk, I'm sure they low temperature batch pasturise it which makes a big difference. Of course it is non-standardised (so still contains all the cream instead of being reduced to 3.6% (or whatever it is that is claimed to be "whole" milk)) and non homogenised.

[CrofterMannie]

Britain leans towards being absolute cheese muppets nowadays compared to how it used to feature on a table / shopping list, making it specialist & expensive to boot (less likely carried) uk has had a great regional cheese history.

Now on its arse!

I'm not sure I agree, certainly in my part of the world cheese making and availability has been improving over the last decade or 2.

Most local cheese making was shut down due to rationing during WW2 and never restarted but there are a number of cheese makers (and shops) which have started up in the last 20years. Now and again Aldi stocks local cheeses from these producers (although unaged and not labelled as who produced them).

[Mr Gus]

We have an egg vending machine in a shed, bottom of the access to a newish (10 years) free range choock farm, plenty of trees planted for them, ..now avian flu letters here from defra.

Would love a milk eggs n veg option as you describe, sadly some farmers make it complete overpriced b0110cks & treat us like simpereing "authetic experience"fools in their pricing for a naff barn with put of date packet cake on it (experienced once & never again) in a non weathertight dusty, dilapidated spare barn near a road. ..an insult to country locals.

[Oldgreybeard]

This is the local farm that run a few milk vending machines: https://www.churchfarmdairysemley.com/the-milk

Not homogenised, about as close to "straight from the cow" as we can get. Only a couple of miles from us, too. They also installed loads of solar panels on the dairy roof a while ago, so are doing their bit to further reduce their carbon footprint.

This is their vending machine at our favourite farm shop, but I've noticed they now have others, spotted one in a car part a couple of weeks ago.

Ansty milk vending machine.jpg (82.24 KiB) Viewed 1123 times

[Mr Gus]

The tabard indicates worker & family rather than team, but good luck to them, I'm guessing thats their preferred bottle that fits under the flow tap & everyone else just wings it with rinsed out supermarket plastic tilted at an angle.
is it hooked up to a big dairy tank or something OGB?

Lifelong hatred for sticking floor staff employees in branded polo shirts "them / us" divisions intentionally or otherwise.

[CrofterMannie]

Looks like a standard 1 litre glass bottle. Most of the small dairies I know of use the same bottles, and usually have them for sale beside the milk machines with their own logo.
Of course using other types is also acceptable.

[Fintray]

Looks like a standard 1 litre glass bottle. Most of the small dairies I know of use the same bottles, and usually have them for sale beside the milk machines with their own logo.
Of course using other types is also acceptable.

Yes, they look just like the ones at my local organic dairy farm, Forest Farm in Blackburn Aberdeenshire.

[Oldgreybeard]

The tabard indicates worker & family rather than team, but good luck to them, I'm guessing thats their preferred bottle that fits under the flow tap & everyone else just wings it with rinsed out supermarket plastic tilted at an angle.
is it hooked up to a big dairy tank or something OGB?

Lifelong hatred for sticking floor staff employees in branded polo shirts "them / us" divisions intentionally or otherwise.

The lady in the tabard works at Ansty Farm shop, the others work at the dairy farm that produces the milk at Church Farm, Semley (just north east of Shaftesbury). The farm shop staff wear those tabards for practical reasons, they are handling fresh fruit and veg straight from the fields and pick your own area, so inevitably get a bit muddy.

That machine is in the farm shop, so is a table top version fed from a refrigerated tank. The car park vending machines are bigger, and look like this (the one I've seen has Church Farm branding):

Milk vending machine.jpg (150.79 KiB) Viewed 1108 times

You stick your own bottle under the nozzle, so it has to fit in the hatch. The one I've seen had a dispenser with clean glass bottles available for those that hadn't brought their own to refill.

[openspaceman]

I understand some of the country folk in the US (where a lot of domestic heating/cooking is via wood) compete to see how many matches they use in a heating season. (OK, so the blokes compete )

The target is obviously one

Hot damn Bubba, challenge!

I'll have to haul out that 240V graphite/carbon heating element and rig up a small fan then. It's designed to work under an induced draught normally but won't need matches.