Farmstead Cheese

Cheese is my love letter to my animals. I make cheese as a tangible offering of thanks to our cows and sheep for their love, patience, trust, and companionship that provides sustenance and happiness. I am a farmer first and foremost, and a cheesemaker by happenstance.

I did not set out to make cheese. I set out to channel my love and appreciation of nature and animals into something meaningful and fulfilling. Through the bonds formed with the animals that have graciously entrusted me with their care, and my relationship with the earth we rely on, that path eventually led me to cheese. Raising the animals that create the milk that is made into food to be shared with community, all while the animals enrich and improve the very land that sustains them is a nourishing and fulfilling cycle, continuing a tradition that echoes through the ages. I believe caring for the earth and animals while feeding community is work worth doing.

Meet the Cheeses

We currently offer cows’ milk cheeses, and coming in 2026, we will have sheep milk cheeses as well!

  • French tomme style, raw cows’ milk, aged 4-8 months, natural rind.

  • French tomme style, raw cows’ milk, aged 8-12 months, natural rind. The more mature older sister of Manifest.

  • Young Gouda, raw cows’ milk, aged 2-6 months, natural rind.

  • Aged Gouda, raw cows’ milk, aged 7-12 months, natural rind. The more complex older brother of Intention.

  • Fromage blanc style, fresh cheese, pasteurized cows’ milk, soft and spreadable. Seasonal availability.

FAQs

  • We have both sheep & cows, and we make cheeses with milk from both species— separately and in combination. The ingredients list will indicate which type(s) of milk have been used in each cheese.

  • It depends on the cheese! We make both pasteurized and raw milk cheeses. Our “fresh” cheeses (not aged) are made with pasteurized milk. But all of our aged cheeses are made with raw milk. The ingredients list will indicate whether the milk is pasteurized.

  • This depends on the cheese! Our “fresh”, pasteurized, soft cheeses are made with vegetarian/microbial rennet. Our aged hard cheeses are made with either calf rennet, for cow’s milk cheeses, or lamb rennet, for sheep milk cheeses. On the ingredients list, we indicate when microbial/vegetarian rennet is used.

  • A tomme style cheese originates from the French word for wheel— tomme! A traditional French tomme is a rustic farmhouse cheese that dairy farmers would often make with skimmed milk (after skimming the cream off to make butter for the home) in a smaller format in the winter months for themselves and their families, when they weren’t bringing their milk to a creamery to be processed. A tomme can take many different forms and flavors, and the flavor is often a reflection of the specific place, forage, and season — a testament to terroir, or ‘taste of place’.

  • We milk between 5-7 Jersey cows and 16-24 sheep, depending on the season. We believe the best quality milk for cheesemaking comes from animals on pasture, so we milk seasonally during the grazing season , typically from April/May - November.

  • The designation of “farmstead” creamery indicates that the dairy products are made with milk from the farmer/cheesemaker’s own herd or flock, and aged on the farm where the animals are raised.