Butternut Gets Gold

Happy to announce that our alpine style cave aged cheese, 'Butternut', so named due to its buttery and nutty tones, got Gold at the most recent World Cheese Awards in England! Honored to be among large companies from Germany, Switzerland, Africa, France, Italy, Spain and Austria, who knew a little ole' farm from Vermont that could, did!?....Pun intended...By the way, the name 'Butternut' has nothing to do with the squash. There is no squash in it or on it. Ha! We are very proud since this competition was one of their largest, over 2500 entries, 200 judges and at least 77 cheeses just in our category.

The kicker though? We are almost sold out of this cheese right now as its season has ended. So we must wait for the ones to age in the cave. Go figure.

Building buildings

I feel like we are constantly building. Ugg. This year began with blowing out old walls in the then cow parlor to expand our numbers and make for an easier and cleaner milking experience. Done. Sorry no pics yet.

Then onto the big barn/arena in June and that is still continuing. Will post a youtube video once it's complete for anyone interested in this type of construction. Gable end walls are next and hope we button it up before snow flies. Isn't that an oxymoron in Vermont?

And now finally we are onto the door entry to the self-serve viewing room at the cheese house. After 6 years!!!

That's huge. Well, not the project, but that it is happening before we are all snowed in which is normally when we begin things here. Next up? Oh, just a bit of trim on the several year old horse barn. And again, I'll be painting everything in full next year.

Blueberries or Bust

Wahoo! It's blueberry time again and they are bursting with blue-liciousness! Is that a word? You can taste all the blue goodness in them, in other words, their powerful antioxidant health benefits. First day open was yesterday, the hottest day in Vermont this summer. It hit 93 up here on the hill, must have been worse down in the village. Eek! Thanks to all who came out!

We are now open Weds-Sat from 10-2 for picking. Please phone 802.893.2963 for directions and picking updates. We have complimentary cold water to keep you hydrated too. Oh, and crop's bountiful.

Certified organic since 1992. Follow us on facebook for more frequent ruminations from the farm.

Ramping Up

Hmmm. I just noticed how very long it's been since I last wrote. Sometimes as a farmer/cheesemaker I feel that there are not enough hours in the day to put something on paper, being so busy, as well as thoughts of, 'does the world need yet another farm/food blog?'  That said, our facebook page has largely taken the place for notifications of upcoming events, products, ideas etc. Willow Hill Farm Facebook link.

Let's see. What can I slash off the to-do list that got happening today? Woke up early, went to do animal feeding chores, then with head nets in hand a la African safari off to a secret location on the farm to harvest the elusive wild ramps for farmers market tomorrow. Afterwards, I managed to continue painting cheese plant siding and trim, while husband rented a tiller for the tractor to prep this year's garden spot. Don't ask me why we need to rent a tiller when we own two broken ones from when we were veggie farmers in the 90's. Next up, is prepping cheeses for market while husband moves on to pouring concrete for columns at the cheese plant viewing room entry way. This is the third attempt. It's been so wet and with the flooding each time he did it, it collapsed back in on itself before he could pour concrete down the hole! Back to the ramps to wash, prep and package...













more animal feeding chores...laundry and dishes.....
One side of cheese plant painted? Check.
Garden plot prepped? Check.
Columns concrete poured? Check.
Ramps harvested and ready to go? Check.
Cheese ready for market? Check.
Laundry and dishes? Who cares.
Whew! I'm pooped.
What's for dinner? Hmmm. Smoked salmon antipasto salad with grilled ramps,  puff pastry with shaved Butternut cheese. Add a pomegranate cosmo.

World Cheese Awards 2010

Just a quick post here, not much to tell except very busy on the farm tying things up for the winter-too many building projects!
We got lucky again and were garnered an award for our Butternut cheese, an Alpine style which is aged at least 5 months on our own ash planks harvested on the farm. This competition, which seems to be getting bigger each year had over 2600 entries and 201 judges. Yikes!

FDA Shuts Down Small Cheese Makers

Scary stuff. And not preventable when Goliath stomps on the little companies....

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-10-30-the-fda-inspired-shutdown-of-two-small-cheesemakers-raises-more

Labor Day Blues

Yes, we are STILL open for picking blueberries. So come on all you moms with kids in school, stock up on some superfood for the winter! We will be open the same hours as our summer schedule until the frost ends it all (which is late into Sept usually):

Fri 10-2

Sat 10-2

Weds 10-2

Thurs 10-2, 3-6:30

CLOSED Sun-Tues

Call 802-893-2963 for weather updates

Organic U-pick Blueberry Hours

Blueberry Picking hours will be the following for 2010:
Closed Sun, Mon, Tues
Open Weds 10-2
Thurs 10-2, 3-6:30
Fri 10-2
Sat 10-2

We are the original certified organic blueberry farm in Chittenden County est.1991. Please join us for another bountiful blueberry crop!

Directions:
Coming from Main St in Milton, turn onto East Rd, make a left onto Hardscrabble Rd (3/4 mile) and go up that hill 1.3 miles. We are on the right!
Feel free to phone 802.893.2963 for updates if there is rain predicted on the day you plan to pick.

Our cheese viewing room (unlike the blueberries) is open every day 9-5. It is a self-serve system, sorry we do not give formal tours as we are such a small operation.

U-Pick Blueberry Picking

Hi Folks!
We're finally open for the 2010 blueberry season!
Our hours as of July 19, for now, will be Weds-Sat from 10-2.
Directions:
Coming from Main St in Milton, turn onto East Rd and make a left onto Hardscrabble Rd. We're just 1.3 miles up that hill on the right!
And remember, our cheese viewing room and self-serve retail is open every day from 9-5 as well. Cheeses in season now:
Alderbrook
Butternut
La Fleurie
Summertomme
Vaquero Blue
Vermont Brebis

And don't forget, coming up this Sunday is the 2nd annual cheese festival at Shelburne Farms on July 25!

Wildfires smoke out Memorial Day

This is unreal. I woke up this morn before dawn to a smell in my bedroom, thinking it was our barn burning down again. I yelled out  "are you there, are you there?! IS idiot across the street burning plastic?" Neighbors illegally burn plastic trash at will but mostly on a North wind and so it goes wafting thru our dairy barn pissing off the calves and dairy mamas. Yesterday, while working with my horses, I thought I detected a sort of plastic-y smoke smell. And maybe that's why horses seemed sort of-well, out of sorts.  Anyway, no answer from downstairs, and no response to either text message or voice mail, I feared the worst. I jumped in the truck with eyes still stuck together from the sand man and at each building seeing it was ok, sighed whew! So then I hear a yell from the dairy barn that it was all over the news this morning-wildfires in Quebec affecting air quality and smoke on a west wind-that should go away come afternoon.........
Afternoon came and went and one still can't see across to the lake. Hazy, red yellow-y sky. Smells bad and must be affecting the animals as one cow wouldn't even come in for milking. And no, she's not in heat. Hard to believe that with my house windows shut, fires from hundreds of miles away woke me up. Hope they can get the fires under control and puff them out. Quite a different smell than the proverbial memorial day barbecue. Hovers in the air more like cigarettes than dry rub.
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