Pick-Up Date: Thursday - September 1, 2011
Sites: Black Oak, Crestwood, Cross Plains, Hampshire, Jackson, Parmenter-Standard, Mason, Monona, Oakridge, Research Park, UW Hospital, Verona, Dreamfarm
Cheese of the Week: Plain Fresh Cheese
Important Notes: Please return empty glass jars so we can re-use them to pack your cheese. Thanks!
Welcome to the Dreamfarm Cheese CSA Newsletter
Hi loyal Dreamfarm CSA members, and welcome to the new format for the newsletter. We're excited to share stories about the weekly CSA delivery, everything that makes the farm run, how your cheese is made, delicious recipes and farm pictures with you through these postings.
Welcome to the Dreamfarm Cheese CSA Newsletter
Hi loyal Dreamfarm CSA members, and welcome to the new format for the newsletter. We're excited to share stories about the weekly CSA delivery, everything that makes the farm run, how your cheese is made, delicious recipes and farm pictures with you through these postings.
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| Roberta driving the tractor |
First, a brief introduction. This is Roberta, the newest addition to the farm. She's still a tiny kitten, but quite adventurous. All the people and animals around the farm adore her. Sometimes she takes a nap with Rosie the farm dog, and they are pretty darn cute together. I'm a new addition too, as Diana was kind enough to bring me on to help with cheese making and animal chores for the season. I recently moved to Madison, from Boston, and I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to help make the cheese you enjoy, learn about raising dairy goats and get to spend time with Diana and her family. Since Roberta and I are the new ones around here, we'll highlight some news about the farm from our newbie perspectives. Stay tuned each week as Diana, her family members and myself share the latest from the farm with you all.
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| Jacob sheep in the pasture |
If course, a farmstead creamery is going to have dairy animals. In this case, Diana is milking 24 very sweet goats. They all have very different personalities and look quite different from each other too. Below is a photo of four kids (young goats) born this spring. Aren't they cute? The goats get milked twice a day (about 5am and 5pm) in the barn, but spend most of their time out in the big pasture. Beyond the sweet goats, Dreamfarm is also home to 5 heritage breed pigs (Black Mulefoot and Guinea Hogs), 3 young steer, 2 bucks (male goats) and 1 herd of heritage Jacob sheep that produce the most beautiful wool I've ever seen. Click on any of the photos below to see a larger view.
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| Here piggy-piggy |
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| Roberta and the kids |
Oh, and don't forget the chickens! Dreamfarm is home to a fun flock of made up of a variety of chicken breeds. They all live in special chicken houses on pasture in the valley, enjoy grass and bugs all day and dig nice little fox holes for humans to trip in. They also produce the most beautiful eggs I have ever seen: white, buff, chocolate, pale blue and olive green. Absolutely beautiful. As an aspiring farmer, I have always know I wanted to raise laying hens, so I really enjoy getting to spend time with all the girls. Chickens are a funny bunch, and these girls are no different. Some of the girls are quite flighty, and will fly over the electric fence to in order to run around all day, and run they will run away from you if you try to catch them (I think the other chickens entertain themselves by watching us humans try to herd chickens - it's quite a funny site to see!). Other chickens seem to be afraid of us humans and just squat down and do a little jog-in-place any time they are approached by a person. I laugh almost every time they do the run in place. They are always eager for their scraps of cheese, and will often dog pile (or chicken pile) to get at whatever you throw into their chicken run.
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| Chicken houses on pasture |
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| Still in the nest box |
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| Such beautiful colors |
Well, I could go on and on about the farm...and I will at a later date - but consider this a brief introduction for now! Hope you've enjoyed this first edition of the e-newsletter. Please feel free to leave comments below so we can make this feature work even better for you, or leave questions about the farm that we can answer in a future newsletter post. And, of course, please come visit us this Saturday (or any Saturday) at the Westside Community Market between 7am and 1pm. We'll be there with a variety of Dreamfarm goat cheeses, fresh eggs (while they last) and yarn from the Jacob sheep. Looking forward to seeing you back here next week or at the Market on Saturday. Enjoy your cheese this week!
