The Story of Blossom

Today there are 15 Jerseys registered with the 'Birdsong' herd prefix, but it all started with a cow named Blossom...

Blossom was born on the Queen Charlotte Islands (now known as Haida Gwaii) on August 28, 2002. That was four weeks after our family came to Enderby, but at the time I didn't even know about her.

In a letter dated September 8, 2002, my friend Elizabeth wrote "Our black cow had a cute heifer calf on August 28th. It is a chocolate colour." When I read that letter I had no idea that one day the 'cute heifer calf' would be mine.

A newborn Blossom with her mum, Diamond.

Blossom arrived at Birdsong Farm on June 11, 2003. She was nine months old and looked like a giant next to our goats. I vividly remember clinging to the barn gate and crying because I was so scared of her. Today I can laugh about that because a nine-month-old heifer looks teeny-tiny next to an adult Jersey, but at the time it wasn't funny! 

Blossom as a young heifer. I'm totally in love with her by this point.

Blossom was actually my dad's heifer, but I was her caretaker and quickly fell head-over-hooves in love with her. 

Her first calf was born on September 1, 2004, and I named him Colby--maybe an inkling of my future love of cheese making? I milked Blossom by hand twice a day, and for the first time our family had all the fresh milk (and cream) that our hearts desired with plenty to spare. That is when my dad handed me a cheese making recipe book and made me an amazing offer: if I learned how to make cheese for our family, Blossom would be mine to keep. 

A modern milkmaid with her first cow, Blossom.

Today, Blossom is a family cow in Clinton, British Columbia and her daughters, Daisy, Aster, and Penny, are family cows in Nakusp, British Columbia, Sunnybrook, Alberta, and 100 Mile House, British Columbia. Her granddaughters, Shirley Rose and Buttercup, and her great-granddaughter, Jasmine, still reside on Birdsong Farm. There is no doubt that she has left her mark on my Jersey herd.