We make butter each week from our own fresh cream. Every Monday night we allow the milk in our bulk tank to separate by leaving the agitator off overnight. On Tuesday mornings, all the milk (usually between 115 and 180 gallons) has separated and the skim milk is on the bottom with the cream on …
What goes better with an old gnarly piece of Maggie’s than a hunk of fermented and dry-cured sausage? In my mind nothing at all, but a nice crisp sour apple may complete the triumvirate of my palate. On Friday, with the help of my best friend and cheesery extraordinaire, Suzy, I delved into the art …
Read more “Dry-cured sausage… food of luxury and rugged durability thoughts from Matthew Ball”
The late winter/early spring is a transition time of year for farm labor. This is the time when many small farms are bringing on new apprentices and gearing up for the season ahead. Since we are a dairy farm and we milk cows and make cheese year-round, apprentices at Cricket Creek stay for a year. …
This year, at the annual conference of the Massachusetts chapter of the Northeast Organic Farming Association, I led a workshop about farmstead cheese production. I was a bit nervous before the workshop because I hadn’t prepared much and I was told to expect a large turnout. The first few participants who showed up were cheese makers …
Read more “Spreading the cheese love at the NOFA conference.”
The most important aspect to managing a dairy herd is deciding what kind of food to put in front of the cows. To me, the first and most important question is: what kind of diet will make the cows thrive? A second very important question is, what kind of diet will allow the cows to …