Goat champion Betty dies after stroke
The Marlborough Express Monday, 19 May 2008
One of the Marlborough Sounds most enduring and high profile people, BettyRowe,
died in Fairview Hospital, Blenheim, early yesterday morning, aged 76.
Mrs Rowe, who originally came to the Sounds from the United States with her late husband Walt, spent 30 years fighting for the preservation of ArapawaIsland's goats. Mrs Rowe
suffered a stroke on Anzac Day and family and friends knew at thattime the animal advocate was unlikely to return to her East Bay home thatmeant so much to her.
She fought long and hard to protect the Arapawa goats from shooters sent by the former New Zealand Forest Service and more recently the Department ofConservation. Mrs Rowe and rare breed societies worldwide believed theanimals to be descended from old English goats released on the island byCaptain Cook in 1773. But the authorities have sent in shooters over the years to cull the goats to protect a scenic reserve containing important Cook Strait forest and plant species. Mrs Rowe set up a sanctuary in East Bay for the goats.
Mrs Rowe is survived by her daughter Mary, sons Mitch and Roy, nine grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. A funeral will be held at Nativity Church in Blenheim on Thursday at 1.30pm.
http://www.stuff. co.nz/marlboroug hexpress/ 4553660a6008. html
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
The Dairy Plant
Calling my little art space a "plant" always seems funny to me. The "Dairy Plant" is only a 13'6" x 14'2" room. It is a portion of the milk house and is one of two buildings that house this cheese business. The second is the new aging/store building I noted earlier.
I love my little space. The photo here is right after processing, just after hooping and just before scrubbing. It is set up for doing raw milk cheeses. Note I use the thermometer from the recorder to note temp, but the lids and all are not on.
The piping on the wall may be more elaborate than they need to be. Basically, it is set up to heat the vat with steam for pasteurizing, hot water for raw milk, use cold water when needed and has another port for attaching another cooling water system. That will be important for full batches of yoghurt or other hot milk cooking products.
I didn't spend much at a time, but it is adding up. The only things I'd do differently are adding a vent/air system and doing something a little different about the drains as the mice like to come through and I have to add a screen to the top when cheeses are in the plant.
I like small plants. They seem inviting, like a school art room or a clay studio in the back of the house. Larger plants always mean business. Cash flow and covering debt. I like to make cheese because I make cheese, not because of a looming loan payment. (I do make cheese for that reason, but that debt is not as large as some). Dave and I hope to eliminate that debt component so that the plant and his barn are inviting places, just because we enjoy our way of life, not because of the mounting and declining bills on the desk.
Dairy Farmers of America
May 18, 2008
The Feed
Yes, It's a Cooperative. But for Whom?
By ANDREW MARTIN
THE traditional idea of agricultural cooperatives is that farmers have more muscle to negotiate prices when they band together.
At the nation's largest dairy cooperative, the Dairy Farmers of America, it hasn't always worked that way. The group's executives have often seemed more concerned about pleasing dairy executives than their members, this during a time of brutal consolidation in the industry.
The cooperative, created in 1998 from the merger of four others, generates $11 billion in sales. Because it is so big, some dairy farmers have felt compelled to join, only to find that they were paid less than before for their raw milk.
D.F.A. executives didn't suffer such hardships, traveling the country in a corporate jet and making deals that appeared to benefit a few in the industry; some members complained that they were largely left in the dark about how the money from the deals was spent.
Wait, aren't the farmers supposed to own the cooperative?
Now, we come to hear that the Dairy Farmers' former chief executive, a larger-than-life figure named Gary E. Hanman, transferred $1 million in 2001 to the board chairman at the time, Herman Brubaker, for reasons that remain a mystery.
The payment was disclosed by the current president and chief executive, Richard P. Smith, during a recent press conference with dairy trade publications. Mr. Smith described the payment as "an improper transaction" that had been concealed.
The cooperative has since recovered the money with interest, said Mr. Smith, who in 2006 replaced Mr. Hanman, who retired. Mr. Smith said he believed that both Mr. Brubaker and Mr. Hanman had chipped in to cover the payment. "It was a breach of trust," Mr. Smith said in an interview. "I do believe it was an aberration."
Asked what the payment was for, Mr. Smith said: "We don't know. I'd rather not speculate. Certainly there is no valid reason."
Neither Mr. Hanman nor Mr. Brubaker, who retired in 2003, were available for comment.
This might seem like a dispute that would be confined to states like California and Wisconsin, where there are plenty of dairy farms. But it has implications well beyond dairy states.
Mr. Hanman was among the most powerful people in the dairy industry at a time of monumental change.
In the last decade, the number of dairy farmers has declined sharply — from about 99,000 in 1997 to about 59,000 last year, according to the Agriculture Department. At the same time, there has been a major shift in where milk is produced.
Small dairy farmers east of the Mississippi River and in the Upper Midwest are increasingly being replaced by huge dairy farms in the West, in places like New Mexico and western Texas. Few dairy farms are even left in the Southeast.
These days, more milk is trucked halfway across the country because the local dairy farmer and milk bottler are out of business. All of this change was done in the name of efficiency — and may have made sense when gasoline was $2.50 a gallon. But if you have bought milk any time in the last year, you know that consumers aren't benefiting from the new dairy landscape.
Mr. Hanman was in an ideal position to help dairy farmers deal with the shifting winds. But if anything, he seemed to have made the situation worse.
A large man with thinning red hair who favored bright red suspenders, Mr. Hanman aggressively expanded his cooperative and his influence by outmaneuvering competitors, rewarding his allies and giving campaign contributions to politicians who were in a position to help him.
To expand the cooperative, Mr. Hanman used a strategy that gave dairy farmers little choice but to join and, in the process, helped push competing cooperatives out of business. (In some instances, they merged with the Dairy Farmers of America.)
The D.F.A. would sign exclusive supply agreements with milk bottlers or buy the bottling plants outright, often in areas where it had few if any members.
The dairy farmers who supplied the plant could then either join the cooperative or find somewhere else to sell milk. In a time of rapid consolidation, there often weren't any other plants within a reasonable distance.
In some parts of the country, including the Northeast and areas of the South, three out of four dairy farmers now sell their milk through the Dairy Farmers of America or one of its affiliates. Some farmers have complained that the money they were paid for their milk declined when they started selling it through the D.F.A. or its subsidiaries.
Questions about where farmers' money was going intensified when court documents filed by the Justice Department a few years ago revealed that some of the Dairy Farmers' business partners were making extraordinary profits.
For instance, Robert Allen, a dairy executive, participated in a joint venture in the Northeast and made $21.7 million profit on a $1 million investment. Another dairy executive, Allen Meyer, had a joint venture with the D.F.A. in Kentucky and Tennessee: he turned an investment of several hundred thousand dollars into a gain of $70 million.
Neither Mr. Allen nor Mr. Meyer could be located for comment.
D.F.A. officials say the cooperative made the same return on those investments as Mr. Allen and Mr. Meyer.
But Peter Hardin, editor and publisher of The Milkweed, a newsletter that has long been critical of Mr. Hanman, remains skeptical. "Outside business partners seemed to walk away with sweet deals, and the farmers were left with the crumbs," he said. "The money went anywhere but to the farmer."
MR. SMITH said that "some combination of lack of transparency and arrogance" existed in the old days at the D.F.A., and he has vowed to change the culture. For one thing, he got rid of the corporate jet.
He has also promised a thorough and transparent investigation of the cooperative's finances to ensure that there weren't any other unexplained payments. The farmers who lost their dairies during the last decade deserve at least that much.
Better yet, perhaps the Justice Department, which began an investigation of the Dairy Farmers of America about four years ago, will finally let them know if it found anything more than an aberration.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
The Feed
Yes, It's a Cooperative. But for Whom?
By ANDREW MARTIN
THE traditional idea of agricultural cooperatives is that farmers have more muscle to negotiate prices when they band together.
At the nation's largest dairy cooperative, the Dairy Farmers of America, it hasn't always worked that way. The group's executives have often seemed more concerned about pleasing dairy executives than their members, this during a time of brutal consolidation in the industry.
The cooperative, created in 1998 from the merger of four others, generates $11 billion in sales. Because it is so big, some dairy farmers have felt compelled to join, only to find that they were paid less than before for their raw milk.
D.F.A. executives didn't suffer such hardships, traveling the country in a corporate jet and making deals that appeared to benefit a few in the industry; some members complained that they were largely left in the dark about how the money from the deals was spent.
Wait, aren't the farmers supposed to own the cooperative?
Now, we come to hear that the Dairy Farmers' former chief executive, a larger-than-life figure named Gary E. Hanman, transferred $1 million in 2001 to the board chairman at the time, Herman Brubaker, for reasons that remain a mystery.
The payment was disclosed by the current president and chief executive, Richard P. Smith, during a recent press conference with dairy trade publications. Mr. Smith described the payment as "an improper transaction" that had been concealed.
The cooperative has since recovered the money with interest, said Mr. Smith, who in 2006 replaced Mr. Hanman, who retired. Mr. Smith said he believed that both Mr. Brubaker and Mr. Hanman had chipped in to cover the payment. "It was a breach of trust," Mr. Smith said in an interview. "I do believe it was an aberration."
Asked what the payment was for, Mr. Smith said: "We don't know. I'd rather not speculate. Certainly there is no valid reason."
Neither Mr. Hanman nor Mr. Brubaker, who retired in 2003, were available for comment.
This might seem like a dispute that would be confined to states like California and Wisconsin, where there are plenty of dairy farms. But it has implications well beyond dairy states.
Mr. Hanman was among the most powerful people in the dairy industry at a time of monumental change.
In the last decade, the number of dairy farmers has declined sharply — from about 99,000 in 1997 to about 59,000 last year, according to the Agriculture Department. At the same time, there has been a major shift in where milk is produced.
Small dairy farmers east of the Mississippi River and in the Upper Midwest are increasingly being replaced by huge dairy farms in the West, in places like New Mexico and western Texas. Few dairy farms are even left in the Southeast.
These days, more milk is trucked halfway across the country because the local dairy farmer and milk bottler are out of business. All of this change was done in the name of efficiency — and may have made sense when gasoline was $2.50 a gallon. But if you have bought milk any time in the last year, you know that consumers aren't benefiting from the new dairy landscape.
Mr. Hanman was in an ideal position to help dairy farmers deal with the shifting winds. But if anything, he seemed to have made the situation worse.
A large man with thinning red hair who favored bright red suspenders, Mr. Hanman aggressively expanded his cooperative and his influence by outmaneuvering competitors, rewarding his allies and giving campaign contributions to politicians who were in a position to help him.
To expand the cooperative, Mr. Hanman used a strategy that gave dairy farmers little choice but to join and, in the process, helped push competing cooperatives out of business. (In some instances, they merged with the Dairy Farmers of America.)
The D.F.A. would sign exclusive supply agreements with milk bottlers or buy the bottling plants outright, often in areas where it had few if any members.
The dairy farmers who supplied the plant could then either join the cooperative or find somewhere else to sell milk. In a time of rapid consolidation, there often weren't any other plants within a reasonable distance.
In some parts of the country, including the Northeast and areas of the South, three out of four dairy farmers now sell their milk through the Dairy Farmers of America or one of its affiliates. Some farmers have complained that the money they were paid for their milk declined when they started selling it through the D.F.A. or its subsidiaries.
Questions about where farmers' money was going intensified when court documents filed by the Justice Department a few years ago revealed that some of the Dairy Farmers' business partners were making extraordinary profits.
For instance, Robert Allen, a dairy executive, participated in a joint venture in the Northeast and made $21.7 million profit on a $1 million investment. Another dairy executive, Allen Meyer, had a joint venture with the D.F.A. in Kentucky and Tennessee: he turned an investment of several hundred thousand dollars into a gain of $70 million.
Neither Mr. Allen nor Mr. Meyer could be located for comment.
D.F.A. officials say the cooperative made the same return on those investments as Mr. Allen and Mr. Meyer.
But Peter Hardin, editor and publisher of The Milkweed, a newsletter that has long been critical of Mr. Hanman, remains skeptical. "Outside business partners seemed to walk away with sweet deals, and the farmers were left with the crumbs," he said. "The money went anywhere but to the farmer."
MR. SMITH said that "some combination of lack of transparency and arrogance" existed in the old days at the D.F.A., and he has vowed to change the culture. For one thing, he got rid of the corporate jet.
He has also promised a thorough and transparent investigation of the cooperative's finances to ensure that there weren't any other unexplained payments. The farmers who lost their dairies during the last decade deserve at least that much.
Better yet, perhaps the Justice Department, which began an investigation of the Dairy Farmers of America about four years ago, will finally let them know if it found anything more than an aberration.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
No day is the same...
My mother-in law often says that she likes coming to our farm because "no day is ever the same...there are always so many things going on...I'm never bored..." Some days I long for that boring suburban existance watching t.v. or shopping. I get over it quick though, but I can never actually plan things.
I should have been in VT looking at two M. Devons. Water problems and lack of electricity on Friday ended those plans.
Plan B.
Yesterday, Dave went to help Lawrence move two hay elevators. He was gone until 3:30pm. Not their fault, but we were suppose to get a screen door at the hardware store and deal with the lack of water on the farm. Lawrence got hurt, so that humbled me and I could not be angry at Dave anymore.
We did have to replace the well pump. Learned about well pumps and also learned that our well is only about 70'. Problem was that it cost us another pump and we had to call Dick out again. He is starting to make weekly calls to the farm. Kinda expensive visitor. He will be here Wednesday to install aging cooling system. $$$
Calves are eating well. Twins on Thursday. They look nothing alike. We were able to move the close up heifers. It was nice to see the bags filling up. Lotsa lotsa cheese in a couple weeks!!!
Thinking about Farmers markets again. A wee conserned about having to mind husband and being allowed the time to market. Hopefully the farmstore can replace one of them and I will only have to do 2 instead of 3.
Have to run out and help with calf chores.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Peppermint Patti goes to Poplar Hedge
Dave Nackley bought the sheep. Becky, his wife, somehow got me to agree to trade one of the lambs for a goat. An Alpine. My little feral goats took offence to this trade. Sheep were tollerable enough, but a dairy goat 4 X their size! Horrors!
Patti goat was sweet, so I rang Tim who loves Alpines. Tim is getting a goat dairy together in West Winfield, NY. He will be milking and making cheese this summer. We have been helping him and he has loaned me the recording thermometer and manual read ones to make pasteurized products.
In the pictures above, Dave is one the right considering taking the money. Tim is on the left looking nervous having a photo taken of him.
Patti is in the other photo in the back of the Subaru.
Archie
He'll have a proper name, but his barn name is "Archie". Right now, Moose is out to pasture and we kept him in the calving pen while we move things around. We will probably graft another calf on Moose as well and it is easier to keep the calves in the pen for a couple of weeks before they go to pasture. Moose grazes with the dairy herd and comes in the feed her baby two times a day.
Why not milk Moose? We tried. We eventually came to an understanding. She raised a beautiful veal calf last year as well as Mini Moose (
Ultra Miss). We just handle her so much. She does like her curry in the winter when the hair is shedding, but just don't go near the udder. We can deal wtih that.
Ultra Miss). We just handle her so much. She does like her curry in the winter when the hair is shedding, but just don't go near the udder. We can deal wtih that.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
It's a Boy!
Moose had a boy. Figures, everyone else has heifers out of this bull.... Me, a bull. Cute. Dave nick named him "Archie".
Dave was body slammed by Moose as he carried her calf to the pen. She charged me when I checked on her out in the pasture. Moose is actually Plimoth Plantation Panzy. She was kicked out of Plimoth Plantation because she broke John Truelson's ankle. We have an understanding of sorts. She is not a beginner cow!
She is the only cow to give me heifers. The first one "Damson" is at Plimoth Plantation. The second is "Ultra Miss". As her name suggests, she was missed in an ultra sound and Moose was almost shipped. Good thing she started bagging up!
I will take a photo of her and her calf tomorrow. One more Kerry cow in the world! Woohoo... Too bad it wasn't a heifer. Yet, it is the only bull with Irish semen in the U.S..
Waxing cheeses
It is funny how I tend to talk to some people on the phone while I am waxing cheeses. Was working on that for the better part of the morning today. Clear wax. A great way to eliminate the smell of garlic in some of these experimental "flavored" cheeses.
I am a great fan of simple, unadulterated cheese. I seem to feel this pressure to "flavor" my cheeses. Not so sure how this experiment will go. Most seem to come up garlic. Sundried tomato and garlic, garlic and garlic and herbs... Garlic and cheese go well together. I anhaving a time of it deciding how much garlic however...
We use a double aluminum pan method. Take two pans suitable for Thanksgiving turkey. Melt wax in the upper pan. Use the lower pan as a sort of protective layer. Some pans are deeper than others.
Use care in waxing. You need to get all of the cheese covered. No pin holes. Each type and color has a temp it likes to be at. Again NO PIN HOLES. This is trickier with beeswax.
I have dropped a wheel in the wax. EVERYTHING gets covered with wax. Be careful.
Never walk away from wax. It can combust. Use the lowest setting you can and use those thermometers.
Monday, May 12, 2008
The Farm Store
This is the farm store building. Nothing fancy, just practical. In the back half, I will be aging my cheeses.
I still have to paint it and put up the trim, but I plan to do most of that out of cash flow. I also want to put pea stone in the drive way in front of the building and landscape it a bit.
We had to take down an ugly 3-Bay garage that wa shalf-falling in to do this building. It is 18' x 18'.
I have cheeses in the florist cooler that have to be moved to the back. I also have to get the sign. I think that comes this week. Once that comes... Open!!!!
Our House and Pole Barn
This is our humble house. It is a typical farmhouse in the area. Built in the mid 1800's (~1847-1852). We have 3-bedrooms upstairs with a generous landing area. It has aluminum siding and a roof that the Stone's put on in 2000.
This is our "pole sheed". Otherwise known as equipment/hay storageand sheep winter quarters. The chicken shed is to the left of the building. You can also see our "Kitchen Art" near the house. I'll talk more about that later. There is a hop plant growing at the base.
This farm was a hop farm in its earliest days. There were also apple trees. I saw them in the 1938 air photos at the District office.
This is our "pole sheed". Otherwise known as equipment/hay storageand sheep winter quarters. The chicken shed is to the left of the building. You can also see our "Kitchen Art" near the house. I'll talk more about that later. There is a hop plant growing at the base.
This farm was a hop farm in its earliest days. There were also apple trees. I saw them in the 1938 air photos at the District office.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
More cows
A first calf heifer and a mature cow. Both Ayrshires. Grazing the field behind the barn. We use to dock tails to keep the cows cleaner, but do not now. Organic standards and a change in attitude.
Snow White
Starbuck II had a white calf with red ears. Kinda like the ancient Celtic cows that they use to sacrifice to the Gods. This is our first of two almost white Ayrshire calves out of this Nicholas bull.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Sheep and Technology
Ok. Sheep are probably the only animal on a farm that is in total equilibrium with the world. They offer me a sort of Zen. I love to watch them from the kitchen window going through their grazing routine. I did something that I was not happy about, but had to be done... For the first time since 1997, I do not own sheep. I sold the ewes and lambs to Dave Nackley. He is a great person to own sheep and I am glad he owns them, but it was a hard thing to do.
The guilt comes in because I bought a computer (you know to replace the one that took the radish and I had to go to the library). I was unable to efficiently do my work without a computer.
Dave and Claire were in shock because I took them completely out of their element and went to the ultimate media place... the mall media box store... I have not seen Claire so silent for so many hours. Dave was sweating and looked like the deer in headlights while being bombarded with t.v. screens, accessories, cell phones, computers, mini DVD players, etc...
Generally, I do go to the local guy and buy a local computer. I had a slim financial thing going on and had to break down and succumb to the box store thing. I DID go to the local Radio Shack/Hardware/Household place to get the digital camera and cords however. I like them there and it made the guilt of selling sheep and turning them into media shock feel a little better (?)
I did get a goat out of the whole deal. An alpine named Peppermint Patti. Yes, Patti with an "i". My friend Tim loves Alpines and Phragmites (SCI goat) is mortified that I defiled the hollowed grounds of her pasture with a non feral goat species. I offered her to Tim at cost. I think the very non-combative Alpine and Phrag will be happy about this.
Back to media. Guess what?! I can liberally add photos and video to this blog now!
The guilt comes in because I bought a computer (you know to replace the one that took the radish and I had to go to the library). I was unable to efficiently do my work without a computer.
Dave and Claire were in shock because I took them completely out of their element and went to the ultimate media place... the mall media box store... I have not seen Claire so silent for so many hours. Dave was sweating and looked like the deer in headlights while being bombarded with t.v. screens, accessories, cell phones, computers, mini DVD players, etc...
Generally, I do go to the local guy and buy a local computer. I had a slim financial thing going on and had to break down and succumb to the box store thing. I DID go to the local Radio Shack/Hardware/Household place to get the digital camera and cords however. I like them there and it made the guilt of selling sheep and turning them into media shock feel a little better (?)
I did get a goat out of the whole deal. An alpine named Peppermint Patti. Yes, Patti with an "i". My friend Tim loves Alpines and Phragmites (SCI goat) is mortified that I defiled the hollowed grounds of her pasture with a non feral goat species. I offered her to Tim at cost. I think the very non-combative Alpine and Phrag will be happy about this.
Back to media. Guess what?! I can liberally add photos and video to this blog now!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Spring Rains
I love the green after a spring rain. The clean smell. The hope that the leaves finally come and my allergies going with them... A funny thing age. I use to hold it over my sister that I was not allergic to everything and didn't have asthma like she did... Well, it comes to you in time...
Dr. Brown died. He was a Food Science Proff at Cornell. He dealt with the cheeseheads like me. I was disappointed when he wasn't at the PPS meeting last Wednesday. I liked the conversations with him. He challenged me and we always had a conversation that made me think about where I was going with various cheese projects. I didn't always agree with him, but what is a friendship if you always agree on things? I made a brief appearance at the funeral. I missed the calling hours and didn't know him that well, so didn't feel right in staying and all. I liked him and I have this thing about funerals and people I like and respect. You will be missed Dave Brown! Darn it, you will not judge my cheeses at the NYS Fair!
I am hopeful and frustrated. The lean months are better this year, but they still bring stress. The lack of computer has made this especially difficult. It looks like it is not as easy to reclaim the computer as I thought. Library visits... This will be remedied with a new computer and eventual fix of the old.
Farm stand will be open in a couple of weeks!
Lambs are getting bigger. Moose is second in line for a calf. Grass is growing. I start cheesing again pretty soon.
I will be looking into the idea of the book on starting a dairy processing business.
Dr. Brown died. He was a Food Science Proff at Cornell. He dealt with the cheeseheads like me. I was disappointed when he wasn't at the PPS meeting last Wednesday. I liked the conversations with him. He challenged me and we always had a conversation that made me think about where I was going with various cheese projects. I didn't always agree with him, but what is a friendship if you always agree on things? I made a brief appearance at the funeral. I missed the calling hours and didn't know him that well, so didn't feel right in staying and all. I liked him and I have this thing about funerals and people I like and respect. You will be missed Dave Brown! Darn it, you will not judge my cheeses at the NYS Fair!
I am hopeful and frustrated. The lean months are better this year, but they still bring stress. The lack of computer has made this especially difficult. It looks like it is not as easy to reclaim the computer as I thought. Library visits... This will be remedied with a new computer and eventual fix of the old.
Farm stand will be open in a couple of weeks!
Lambs are getting bigger. Moose is second in line for a calf. Grass is growing. I start cheesing again pretty soon.
I will be looking into the idea of the book on starting a dairy processing business.
Friday, April 04, 2008
April showers bring May flowers
With homeschooling, we have this opportunity to teach Claire these wonderful poems and sayings that go with life. Some of them we learned in school, others from parents or books. Claire likes to improvise when she cannot remember some of them. This is a favorite one today as there are no sun rays beaming down to earth and after lessons, she was relegated to runnign errands for us and our neighbor (with Dave). Me, I have to go to library to use computer.
Email is not working great on this computer, so I will try another one. Maybe. I may just go home and forget about trying to stay in contact with the world outside of Madison, NY.
Dave asked to have our farm de-listed with our agent. I am not sure how he worded it, but he is eternally going to try to make things "smooth" for the relationship with him and whomever he is talking to ont he phone. He can be cuttingly to the point with me, but he is a huge softy with others. Tom may try to sell his farm as well. Can we put them together for a price that will make all people happy? He is in pain and I hope he stops this whole idea. Milking cows was not suppose to be penence for sins.
In moments of stress, I accidently double paid my cheese loan payment last month! Scrambling to make up for that. Never pay bills while stressed. Never do anything financial when stressed.
Got blue cheese cultures. Want to play with this one blue recipe. The devon milk and a blue is hauntlingly good. I have cheese supplies to sell in the farm store now. Will try to get some of that together as soon as I can. Hope to officially open it on the first weekend of May. I finally got a reluctant ok from Dave. I think it will only be good. The cheese was decent this make and I have local products collected for sale. I did give up Hamilton. I need a local outlet. The Peppermill may be a good location as well. Leslie suggested I think about it. I like the idea. We will see.
Happy spring! (sheep are out, sure sign of spring for me).
Email is not working great on this computer, so I will try another one. Maybe. I may just go home and forget about trying to stay in contact with the world outside of Madison, NY.
Dave asked to have our farm de-listed with our agent. I am not sure how he worded it, but he is eternally going to try to make things "smooth" for the relationship with him and whomever he is talking to ont he phone. He can be cuttingly to the point with me, but he is a huge softy with others. Tom may try to sell his farm as well. Can we put them together for a price that will make all people happy? He is in pain and I hope he stops this whole idea. Milking cows was not suppose to be penence for sins.
In moments of stress, I accidently double paid my cheese loan payment last month! Scrambling to make up for that. Never pay bills while stressed. Never do anything financial when stressed.
Got blue cheese cultures. Want to play with this one blue recipe. The devon milk and a blue is hauntlingly good. I have cheese supplies to sell in the farm store now. Will try to get some of that together as soon as I can. Hope to officially open it on the first weekend of May. I finally got a reluctant ok from Dave. I think it will only be good. The cheese was decent this make and I have local products collected for sale. I did give up Hamilton. I need a local outlet. The Peppermill may be a good location as well. Leslie suggested I think about it. I like the idea. We will see.
Happy spring! (sheep are out, sure sign of spring for me).
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Waiting Sucks
Ok, I should not start with a bad word. I am not a patient person. I try hard to be, but I vent. I need to and will buy a bottle of wine tonight...
We are trying to sell the farm and the cheese business. It is not because I don't like what I am doing or am not making money. We have family health stuff to deal with in MA. I am tired. I can make cheese anywhere.
I have offers for the cheese business. If we stay, do I sell this? What do I do then? If it is here will it make the farm easier or harder to sell? There is over 600# of cheese in the cooler. Do I retail it local? Do I wholesale it? Do we open the farm store like planned as though we will be here always? Should I make more cheese? Should I just take the whole thing with us? Do I sell and repopulate a plant somewhere else?????
I hate unknowns like this. Especailly when I have to deal with a variable tempered husband who is less fun to live with when there are so many unknowns.
Next thing to ponder... where? Washington County NY, VT, Berkshires, NH... All have their plus and minus arguments. I just want a simple farmstead and make cheese. I want my Kerry cows and maybe a devon or two for butter and blue cheese. I want calm and order. (what was that calm and order?).
I got the plant and the Cut and wrap room cleaned. I did leave that for a day. I hate to do that, but I hurt so much. It was a nice thing to ponder everything with the steam coming from the vat and the cool breeze from the cracked open window. I have to finish the boiler room and get the next round of cheeses waxed. That will be tomorrow and Thursday. Tomorrow I will have to confirm that people are or are not coming to the cheese workshop this weekend. Did that again... you know they say they are coming... I don't market and then they don't send deposit. Busy life means loose ends.
Think happy cheese thoughts!
We are trying to sell the farm and the cheese business. It is not because I don't like what I am doing or am not making money. We have family health stuff to deal with in MA. I am tired. I can make cheese anywhere.
I have offers for the cheese business. If we stay, do I sell this? What do I do then? If it is here will it make the farm easier or harder to sell? There is over 600# of cheese in the cooler. Do I retail it local? Do I wholesale it? Do we open the farm store like planned as though we will be here always? Should I make more cheese? Should I just take the whole thing with us? Do I sell and repopulate a plant somewhere else?????
I hate unknowns like this. Especailly when I have to deal with a variable tempered husband who is less fun to live with when there are so many unknowns.
Next thing to ponder... where? Washington County NY, VT, Berkshires, NH... All have their plus and minus arguments. I just want a simple farmstead and make cheese. I want my Kerry cows and maybe a devon or two for butter and blue cheese. I want calm and order. (what was that calm and order?).
I got the plant and the Cut and wrap room cleaned. I did leave that for a day. I hate to do that, but I hurt so much. It was a nice thing to ponder everything with the steam coming from the vat and the cool breeze from the cracked open window. I have to finish the boiler room and get the next round of cheeses waxed. That will be tomorrow and Thursday. Tomorrow I will have to confirm that people are or are not coming to the cheese workshop this weekend. Did that again... you know they say they are coming... I don't market and then they don't send deposit. Busy life means loose ends.
Think happy cheese thoughts!
Friday, March 28, 2008
Beeswax
I officially have over 600# in the coolers now. Beeswaxed all the Gouda. Have a lovely burgundy colour I made for the Havarti and black for the Dunlop. Cut hand bad while chipping out beeswax. Had to have Tim (cow breeder) drop off the arm length gloves to make cheese yesterday. Also dropped one of the wheels in the wax (hand hurt + thin wheel = splash). Wax makes a mess.
Beeswax is hard to work with. Brittle. You have to use another "oil" to work with it. Vegetable shortning, olive oil, mineral oil or whey butter are the better ones to work with. It imparts a mead flovor through the cheese. Works nice on gouda. Not so good the cheddar types.
I am tired, but happy that cheese making is coming along as well as it has this year.
Beeswax is hard to work with. Brittle. You have to use another "oil" to work with it. Vegetable shortning, olive oil, mineral oil or whey butter are the better ones to work with. It imparts a mead flovor through the cheese. Works nice on gouda. Not so good the cheddar types.
I am tired, but happy that cheese making is coming along as well as it has this year.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
It Took the Radish
Well the computer finally took the radish. It limped through taxes and responces to the MOA signing for the Kerry Cattle Society and then it kept throwing errors at me. I am now at the library. Have a cold. It is blustery. I made about 90# of cheese in that little vat of mine! Woof!
Have over 500# in the coolers now. This is nice. Waxing left and right. Dunlop, Havarti (one batch), Honey Gouda...
People are interested in the farm. I don't think the message is getting out there correctly. After the computer thing is sorted, I'll be working on that...
Have to keep going. I only have 30 minutes on this thing.
Have over 500# in the coolers now. This is nice. Waxing left and right. Dunlop, Havarti (one batch), Honey Gouda...
People are interested in the farm. I don't think the message is getting out there correctly. After the computer thing is sorted, I'll be working on that...
Have to keep going. I only have 30 minutes on this thing.
Friday, March 07, 2008
New Farmers
I was a new farmer once. I was and am still a hopless dreamer. Marge thinks that is why we get on so well. Dreamers actually have a possible job in life. They call them "Planners". This can be a Conservation Specialist (doing conservation plans), CNMP plans if you want to consider extra large farms, Financial Planner (so not me), consultant who does business plans... A lot of non-profit, educational and government types also have this planning bit about them. See there is more to dreamers than just pretty clouds to look at!
I have to do this talk about Business Plans tomorrow. I like the process of business planning. Dave thinks it is a waste of time. Sucks to be perfect! I like it because I can put all of the contingencies in paper and then use this as a "To Do" list. Being organizationally challenged, I need "to do" lists to function.
Business Plans can serve a few functions. They can get you financing. They can assist you in planning an new enterprise. They can be adapted for a grant to make it sound like you know what you are talking about... I've used them for all of the above.
My farmstead cheese business plan was the most fun to write. See, I am an obsessive planner if I use the words "fun" and "business plan" in the same sentence. It is different than a term paper. More like a strategic plan.
I am roughly on plan. A few things like a compressor that cooked Christmas cheeses in November, a boiler guy that didn't give me what I asked for and then charged me more for it... Little thinks like that were kinda planned for. After the nervous break down... I started to make more cheese.
I am making cheese most every day right now. Gouda yesterday. Havarti today. Over 60# of cheese and after my talk for the New Farmers program my county extension person is hosting, I will be making yoghurt and setting some milk up for Quark. Cheese cheese cheese. A great thing happened today too. A local woman came by to get milk for cheese making. She is going to try ricotta and fresh moz. I sold her a half-pint of rennet. She is getting into the whole cheese thing.
Right now I also have to revisit the Marketing Plan. Package design, labels, UPC codes, etc, regional focus this year... Wooohooo, more cheese, more planning!
I have to do this talk about Business Plans tomorrow. I like the process of business planning. Dave thinks it is a waste of time. Sucks to be perfect! I like it because I can put all of the contingencies in paper and then use this as a "To Do" list. Being organizationally challenged, I need "to do" lists to function.
Business Plans can serve a few functions. They can get you financing. They can assist you in planning an new enterprise. They can be adapted for a grant to make it sound like you know what you are talking about... I've used them for all of the above.
My farmstead cheese business plan was the most fun to write. See, I am an obsessive planner if I use the words "fun" and "business plan" in the same sentence. It is different than a term paper. More like a strategic plan.
I am roughly on plan. A few things like a compressor that cooked Christmas cheeses in November, a boiler guy that didn't give me what I asked for and then charged me more for it... Little thinks like that were kinda planned for. After the nervous break down... I started to make more cheese.
I am making cheese most every day right now. Gouda yesterday. Havarti today. Over 60# of cheese and after my talk for the New Farmers program my county extension person is hosting, I will be making yoghurt and setting some milk up for Quark. Cheese cheese cheese. A great thing happened today too. A local woman came by to get milk for cheese making. She is going to try ricotta and fresh moz. I sold her a half-pint of rennet. She is getting into the whole cheese thing.
Right now I also have to revisit the Marketing Plan. Package design, labels, UPC codes, etc, regional focus this year... Wooohooo, more cheese, more planning!
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