Recently, I found myself looking over pictures from 2018. Dean and I moved onto this land and started Harmony Fields in 2011. Seven years later, we started making cheese. In that time, we acquired sheep and learned how to care for them. We grew lots of herbs and vegetables. I gave birth to two daughters and assisted in several rounds of lambing.
By 2018, we had completed the sheep barn, grade A dairy, and creamery and were ready to start milking. Grace was our very first milker and I remember that early morning like it was yesterday. April 1, 2018.
Besides being Easter Sunday, it was also the first time we got our sheep on the stanchion. The process was hard and it took forever, but there was a deep sense of accomplishment in making it happen. And it happened every morning and evening afterwards for the rest of the season. As much as I read and thought about milking sheep, I learned by doing and luckily no one was hurt in the process.
Grace on the stanchion.
After a few days, I had a vat of milk staring back at me and I was ready to test our recipes. My plan was to make three different cheeses for the farm. There were a few people I could call in a pinch (and I called them!) and I spent hours in the creamery trying my make shift recipes and trying them again. Our new-to-us equipment worked and I was off.
Our vat/pasteruizer with set milk.
The first few batches of cheese were Sally’s Best and Fleecemaker. While I had to make tweaks along the way, we had a sellable product that I felt good about in a few weeks.
That first month or so of milking and cheesemaking was a blur as we relaxed into this new routine and lifestyle. (TBH, all of 2018 is a bit hazy, so I am glad I have pictures). By June, we were ready to head to market. At the time, I did the Fairhaven Farmer’s Market ( a lovely Wednesday afternoon market in Bellingham) and the Edison Sunday Market. Both of these markets no longer exist, but I appreciated the small, friendly atmosphere.
When I look at 2018 pictures, I realize how young the girls were and how much they needed me then. Our house was a complete disaster of toys and clothes, but we made it through that summer with the help of my mom and a local, part-time daycare. I recall, there was even a hand-foot-mouth outbreak that summer and we had to quarantine for a few weeks. I had no idea at the time how that experience prepared me for the stay-at-home order of 2020!
At the end of the cheese season, I took a trip France to learn more about cheesemaking. I had so many questions at that point and had previously just made cheese in daylong workshops or in my home kitchen. The week-long, immersive class and travel were partially funded partially by the grant we received to start the creamery. In retrospect, that getaway/class was a godsend. Time to myself was in short supply and I was running on empty. Although it was difficult to leave the girls and Dean behind, I had a fantastic week exploring the world of cheese in the Provence and Auvergne regions. My cheese instructor, Ivan Larcher, was welcoming and had extensive knowledge and experience to share. He has since left France and runs The Cheese School on Australia.
A farmstead cheese shop in Provence.
Our week-long cheese class with Ivan Larcher in Auvergne.
Goat cheese from Banon in Provence.
Dessert cheese place in Auvergne.
As we enter 2025, I am excited to be thinking about the cheese seasons ahead. Seven years from now, the girls will be graduating high school and starting lives of their own. We have enjoyed our little break, but I miss our cheese routines. There was a lot to learn in those early years and I have needed some time to integrate all the information. In fact, I am writing a book on sheep dairying right now that I think will be helpful to those of you who feel called to go down this path. More on that project soon. A lot has changed in our world and a lot has stayed the same.
Onward with gratitude and hope! While farmstead cheesemaking in the US is still far behind France, a girl can dream.
xoJessica