Farm Foto Friday April 26, 2013

 

A Friday morning ritual. A series of photographs and brief descriptions that capture the farm at that moment in time.

Saturday Barn Report February 9, 2013

Having my second cup of coffee, after a dog walk in the deep snow, and before heading up to milk.  The Nemo blizzard dumped a little over a foot and roads are currently impassable so my milk maids can’t make it to the farm.  I am looking forward to my time alone with the milking ladies.

The snow is over Ruby’s head and she struggled through it as if swimming.  Part of the way, Honey broke the path for her, part of the way I carried her.  The bigger dogs bound through the snow with great joy.

So here we are February already and in the full swing of things.

We have 34 does in lactation and between 6 and 10 still to kid, depending upon who took and who didn’t.  We have eight “keepers”, seven doelings and Eli.  We have the two preemies, Sterling and Bernard, who are thriving and who we have dehorned and will castrate and find them an adoptive pet home.  We have four new babies that will head to Aden Brook Farm.  Cara has been a fantastic farm intern!

The ladies are producing enough milk so we are already making a full vat of cheese daily as well as selling lots of raw milk. Our faithful  milk maids, Rachel and Margaret, have been milking morning and evening and tending to the milk customers.  Dan and I have been experimenting with some fun new cheeses, a Newburgh Brewing Company brown ale washed tome and our own version of Drunken Goat that we think we will call Toasted Goat.  We have also been making vats of chevre, feta and bloomy rinds.  The first batch of bloomy rinds, our Firthcliffe, Aleck Meadow and Idlewild,  are almost fully bloomed and will go into the cave to ripen for the next week or so.   We find ourselves at the winter farmer’s markets in Cornwall, Beacon and Ringwood, NJ with the help of Daniel and Gabe.

Farm Tours started last weekend and were a great success!  The snow cancelled yesterday and today’s tour but Sunday’s tours look good and are fully booked.  Cara does the guided tours through the farm and Dan and I do the tastings in the viewing room and answer questions.  We’ve enjoyed getting to know many of our farmer’s market customers!  Tours continue through the end of April.

Tomorrow Dan is taking Rachel, our milk maid, and little Dor’ss the baby goat to the last Bialas Farms’ Mini-Market and bringing cheese and chocolate chvre truffles.  I can’t wait for the Bialas Farms veggies!  If you happen to go, make sure to wish Dan a very happy birthday.

Yesterday I made more truffles than I could count for Valentine’s Day treats.  I plan to make more this afternoon.  We’ll have them for sale at the markets and at the farm.

Did you see yesterday’s Cornwall Local?  Fun article about the goats eating Christmas trees.  We greatly appreciate DPW delivering to our door all the trees.  The goats have been eating about ten a day!

The chickens are not going to be happy with all this snow so we will likely spread some of the leaf bags we saved for them to romp around in.  I started thinking about what chicks I am going to order this year.  The ducks have started laying again.  Spring is just around the corner!  Things we are looking forward to: maple syruping, starting indoor seedlings, piglets, bees, spring and summer farmer’s markets!

Farm Foto Friday February 8, 2013:The Calm Before the Storm

A Friday morning ritual. A series of photographs and brief descriptions that capture the farm at that moment in time.

Farm Foto Friday February 1st 2013

A Friday morning ritual. A series of photographs and brief descriptions that capture the farm at that moment in time.

Drunken Goat

Have you ever heard of the cheese “Drunken Goat”?

Murcian cheesemakers invented this cheese in 1986 in an attempt to create a distinct regional cheese with big commercial potential. The cheesemakers took a traditional local goat cheese and bathed it in the local Doble Pasta red wine for 3 days. The result was an unqualified success both commercially and gastronomically and has brought attention and capital to that region. Aged for roughly 75 days, this semisoft cheese has a sweet, smooth flavor. The rind has an attractive violet color.  We purchased a wedge from Adams in 2010 ago when we tasting all the artisan cheeses selling in the local stores.  Last year some of the staff at Cornwall Wines encouraged us to make it.

Well, today we did and in about two months, we’ll taste it and see how it came out.  Maybe we’ll have a tasting at Cornwall Wines and pair it with some nice red wines?

Here is the goat cheese and wine before soaking.

Here is each cheese in a ziplock bag surrounded by the wine bath.

We will flip each one as many times as we can over the next 24 hours.  Each cheese comes out to dry for 24 hours and then goes back into the wine bath for 48 hours and then out to dry for 24 hours.  Then we will vacuum pack and age the cheeses for four to six weeks in our bloomy rind “cave” which is set at 50 degrees.

Chris at Cornwall Wines suggested we call it “Buzzed Goat.”  What do you think?

Farm Tours at Edgwick Farm – February 1st to April 29th

Edgwick Farm now offers educational tours of our farm, micro-dairy and creamery.  Our farm provides a unique learning experience for families to see firsthand where their food comes from.

Meet the milking ladies in the hoop house who provide us milk twice a day.  Greet the bucks and Bianci the donkey through the fence.  Cuddle with one of the adorable baby goats.  You might even catch a live birth if you get lucky!  Watch the cheese makers in action.  As spring approaches, you might meet chicks and ducklings.

Tours last for approximately 1 to 1 ½ hours, and will include a guided tour of the farm and dairy.  Guests will view the cheese make room, the milking parlor, and have hands on time with the goats in the hoop house. We also include a tasting of some of our wonderful products – both cheese and goat milk.  (Cheese and goat milk will be available for purchase to take home.)

The tours are only offered from February to April and are by RESERVATION ONLY.  The cost of the tours is $5 per person (both children and adults).  Tours are offered Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 10 am and 2 pm.  Each tour is limited to ten people.  (Larger school or club groups will be scheduled at special times.)

Tours are conducted RAIN OR SHINE.  Please be prepared to walk around the farm in cold weather; comfortable closed-toed shoes are advised.  If you need to cancel, you can let us know 48 hours prior to your scheduled tour time without incurring a fee.  Please do not bring your dog as it would frighten the goats.

To make a reservation and book a tour, contact Talitha.  Call her at (845) 401-2301 or e-mail at edgwickfarm@gmail.com.  We will send you a confirmation e-mail with a paper ticket to be printed out.  Payment is expected upon your arrival.

FEBRUARY 2ND at 2 PM is FULLY RESERVED.

FEBRUARY 3rd at 10 AM and 2 PM is FULLY RESERVED.

Where to Find Us: Week of September 11th to September 16th 2012

You can purchase all of our cheese at these Farmer’s Markets:

Tuesday:Florida(NY) Farmer’s Market   11:30 am to 5:30 pm

Wednesday: Cornwall Farmer’s Market   11:30 am to 5:30 pm

Friday: Goshen Farmer’s Market   10 am to 5 pm

Saturday: Ringwood, NJ Farmer’s Market  9 am to 1 pm

Sunday: New Amsterdam Market  11 am to 4 pm

Guy finally replaced his cooler so you can find a limited selection of our cheeses at Blooming Hill Farm every weekend:  Canterbury chevre, Moodna feta and Sackett Ridge cheddar.

A special event is coming up at Painter’s.  Get your tickets for “Painter’s Pairs with Edgwick Farm” a special wine and cheese tasting on September 27 from 5 to 7 pm.  Tickets are $19 and available at the Edgwick Farm market table or at Painters.  Chef Michael is preparing seven unique appetizers using Edgwick Farm cheeses and each appetizer is paired with a special wine tasting.  Dan and Talitha, the Edgwick Farm cheesemakers will be on hand to discuss the cheeses and their creamery and farm.

Raw milk is available for sale at the farm only in the creamery during MORNING milking hours, 7 to 9 am.  Depending upon availability, eggs and cheese can be purchased at same time.  Please note it is always good to call ahead to check milk, cheese and egg availability.  Talk to Dan at 914-213-9513.  The goats will discontinue milking at the end of October.   There will be no raw milk in November and December.  Raw milk starts again in late January 2013.

Do you have a special order?  E-mail us at edgwickfarm@gmail.com and we will bring it to your market.  Or call Talitha at 845-401-2301 and pick it up at the farm.

Have a great week!  We look forward to seeing you.

How to be a Locavore…

We had the privilege to speak last night at 2 Alices as part of the kick off of the Cornwall Locavore Challenge.  Here is our “talk.”  What a fun time we had!  We are very very proud of Rachel and Lauren for putting together this very important challenge and raising awareness about this important topic.

TEN REASONS TO BUY LOCAL FOOD

1)  Local food tastes and looks better. Food produced in your own community was produced within the past day or two.  We hand craft our cheeses for the best flavor and freshness. The cheese we bring to market is either made that week if it is a fresh cheese or cut and packaged the day before market if it is an aged cheese.

2) Local food is better for you. The shorter the time between the farm and your table, the less likely it is that nutrients will be lost from fresh food. Food imported from far away is older and has traveled on trucks or planes, and sat in warehouses before it gets to you.

3) Local food preserves genetic diversity. In the modern agricultural system, livestock are chosen for their ability to produce uniformly and withstand the rigors of factory farming so often there is limited genetic diversity in large-scale production.  Livestock diversity is higher where there are many small farms rather than few large farms.

4) Local food is safe. There’s a unique kind of assurance that comes from looking a farmer in the eye at farmers’ market or driving by the farm where your food comes from. Local farmers aren’t anonymous and they take their responsibility to the consumer seriously.  At our creamery, we strive to be transparent in our cheesemaking and have installed a large viewing window so the consumer can see how our cheese is made and how clean we keep our facility.

5) Local food supports local families. The wholesale prices that farmers get for their products are low, often near the cost of production. Local farmers who sell direct to consumers cut out the middleman and get full retail price for their food – which helps farm families stay on the land.

6) Local food builds community. When you buy direct from a farmer, you’re engaging in a time-honored connection between eater and producer. Knowing farmers gives you insight into the seasons, the land, and your food. In many cases, it gives you access to a place where your children and grandchildren can go to learn about nature and agriculture.  With the mild winter, we able to invite many families to our farm to help feed our baby goats, meet the milking herd, taste fresh milk and taste our cheeses.  Each dollar spent at our farm gets turned around and spend in our community.  It allows us to hire local folks and build a positive network.

7) Local food preserves open space. When farmers get paid more for their products by marketing locally, they’re less likely to sell farmland for development. When you buy locally grown food, you’re doing something proactive to preserve our working landscape. That landscape is an essential ingredient to other economic activity in the state, such as tourism and recreation.

8)  Local food keeps taxes down. According to several studies by the American Farmland Trust, farms contribute more in taxes than they require in services, whereas most development contributes less in taxes than the cost of required services. Goats don’t go to school or dial 911.

9) Local food benefits the environment and wildlife. Well-managed farms provide ecosystem services: they conserve fertile soil, protect water sources, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere. The farm environment is a patchwork of fields, meadows, woods, ponds and buildings that provide habitat for wildlife in our communities.

10) Local food is an investment in the future. By supporting local farmers today, you are helping to ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow. That is a matter of importance for food security, especially in light of an uncertain energy future and our current reliance on fossil fuels to produce, package, distribute and store food.   Not to mention if there is a zombie apocalypse, you know there will be milk, cheese and goat meat right here on Angola Road.

Another use for whey

Check this out:

http://medievalcheese.blogspot.com/2012/06/how-to-preserve-vegetables-in-whey.html

Where to find us: Week of June 4th to June 10th

Here are the farmer’s markets we are now at weekly (through October):

 Cornwall Farmer’s Market Wednesdays 11:30 am to 5:30 pm and first Saturday 11 am to 3 pm

Goshen Farmer’s Market Fridays 10 am to 5 pm (except June 29th)

Ringwood NJ Farmer’s Market Saturdays 9 am to 1 pm (starting June 30th)

Raw milk is for sale daily on farm.  Bring your own clean glass jar or buy a refillable one from us.  During milking hours, twice a day…8 am to 10 am, 5 pm to 7 pm.  If you are buying milk, you can pick up eggs and cheese depending upon availability at the same time.

Weekend open farm hours where you feed babies and taste cheese and tour our facilities are finished for the season.  They start up again in January 2013 when kidding season begins again.  We loved having you all come and love up our babies.  They are obnoxious teenagers now.

Restaurants serving our cheese: Hudson Street Cafe, Backyard Bistro, Painters, Canterbury Brook Inn.