Summer Dairy: There are two dairy sheds in the yard, one for winter and one for summer use. The summer dairy you see here was used to keep eggs, milk, and cheese cool during warm months. The John Fox yard had no creek or stream of water nearby, so no springhouse existed here. The freestanding dairy sheds were necessary to keep milk, cream, butter, and cheese safe from the kitchen's heat. Cows were milked in the barnyard. Milk was then strained through a clean cloth to remove any trash that may have fallen in during milking. Milk was placed in large crocks or bowls for about a day until the rich cream and butterfat rose to the top. This cream was skimmed off the milk and churned into butter. Churning was done in the kitchen near the fire. Churning separated the butter from the buttermilk. The butter was then pressed into cakes in the butter molds and returned to the dairy sheds to keep it fresh. In hot weather about 8 inches of cold well water was put in the bottom of the summer dairy. The milk products were then put into bowls or pitchers, covered with white cloth and set with the cold water around them to keep them cool. The winter dairy contained an open slatted front, which allowed cold air in. The winter dairy was used the same way as the summer dairy, but without the water. (Kibler, 1988)

Photo courtesy of Lexington County Museum