Progress report

Today is December 5th and the funding is in place and work begins on demolishing and removal of exsisting building. Today. I need to make phone calls and send off permits too. 

I also started a calendar to sell for Christmas, it's photos from around here and farm products. It's been a lot of fun doing this small project, hope people enjoy them!

I have an interview with local paper, always good and super helpful for marketing/advertising!

Raw milk and raw milk cheeses

The debate and discussion continues for raw milk and raw milk products. The legislation on this is mainly against the sale and distribution of any non-pasteurized dairy products. 

With this said, some of the world most exquisite cheeses are made from raw milk, aged to bring out the unique flavor levels and lovely nuances that can be nutty, pepper, citrusy, fruity and or earthy. I believe that is worth preserving. 

The implementation of heating milk to a set temperature came in response to modernization of the dairy industry. The mechanized milking and housing of dairy cows became under scrutiny with increasing sanitation issues. The care of the animals and products were not paramont, making profitability the higher priority. The onset of pasteurization also removed some of the microbial elements that may not be as noticeable in milk, but quite evident in aged cheeses. These elements add great flavor profile to cheese optioned from non-confined, pasture raised dairy animals. This is especially true for browsers such as dairy goats, that may eat berries, nuts, leaves, seeds and any variety of vegetation on a given afternoon. 

Yes, I do believe this is worth preserving!

Blue River Bleu, raw goat milk blue cheese

The addition of a Bleu cheese is the most exciting prosect im working on for 2016. I hope to fashion a lovely double cream blue in the traditional bleu du bocage. This is a raw goat milk bleu cheese. I am hoping to catch a lot of the creamy walnut residual that is so apparent in this recipe. 

....the Blue River crisscrosses and snakes throughout this part of southern Indiana, evoking memories of lazy and sun-drunk summer days. The "Blue" is a smooth, calm creek-river that all at once supports ecological life and a poor mans afternoon diversion. I hope to name my first blue cheese "Blue River Bleu", a raw goat milk bleu cheese available mid-2016.

Herb de Provence

This classic blend of herbs is one of my all time favorites, it is such a great addition to fresh chèvre.

I use a combination of:

Savory, thyme, marjoram, basil, lavender, sage and fennel

These are beautiful fresh if you have access but also preserve nicely. The lavender is just wonderful in color and flavor in this combination. The quantity of each can be to taste,  but I weight heavier on savory, thyme and marjoram. The basil and lavender are middle in portion and sage and fennel being the least due to their strength. These are forgiving and you can mix ratio to taste.

Grants: the good, the bad and the un-obtainable

It's raining. It has been raining here in southern Indiana for most part of the day and now into the night. Soo...I am grant writing and eating leftovers... Again.

Here's the thing, most grants incredibly competitive and restrictive by their nature. The amount of time researching and writing can be up to 40-50 hours easily. The temptation to short cut on research and or fudging numbers in budget can cost you funding. Most grant reviewers can sense last minute proposals construction or guessing at monies requested. I am currently writing an agricultural based grant and just submitted a grant geared towards women starting in business. I hope to write another one soon sponsored by my financial institution. The attraction, besides the obvious receiving of funds, is the research can yield a great deal of  information that may not have been considered initially. This can add to grant, project and ultimately the industry as a whole.

Updated on cheese facility progress, De la Luna Creamery

Today is Saturday 29 and it's been about 2 and 1/2 weeks since I received notice about funding approval, I'm anxiously waiting to receive funds. Ugg maybe they changed their mind! It was lost! Stolen! Misappropriated! Embezzled! They forgotten about me! That's it they forgot!

I know these things take time. I have made phone calls and searched for items to begin work but it's difficult to negotiate terms and prices with funds not in place.

I realize I can get rough estimates and some goals started, and I have. But I would feel better when everything is concrete not just hypothetical. Should I call them? Message?

I have priced some priority items, bulk milk tank, jacketed tilt kettle and refrigeration, this will really kill my budget. These items are not local and have I no way of knowing if they are in good working conditions. I have researched and I am comfortable with spend a little more for reliable equipment but to what extent?

I have wondered if I can buy on credit or layaway with a local supply store? This could ease some of the start-up cost, but may hurt with added interest. I'll call today. 

Well, with that said, I have a mission...

Black-Friday... The un-traditional mozzarella making day

While everyone is out wrestling over vegi steamers or adult onesies, I'll be at home making mozzarella. This works out perfectly for two reasons, one is creating a cheese that will pair perfectly with thanksgiving leftovers with a flavor twist. This year Mediterranean turkey pizzas with herbs and fresh mozzarella... 

We are still using up items, cherry tomatoes, herbs, olives, asparagus and turkey from thanksgiving but adding garlic and olive oil to change it up a bit.

Mozzarella making is relatively simple with a few tweaks and once you get it down you'll make it quite easily. 

http://www.cheesemaking.com/howtomakemozzarellacheese.html

This link is great and you'll love the taste of fresh!

Oh and the second reason...I'm not really interested in Black Friday nuttiness ... Too much chaos. Now second cup of coffee...some tunes... Slice of pie..

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for so much this year, so much has been positive. I am grateful for family, loved ones and my community. I have been fortunate to have been born and raised in free countries, the free countries that mandate women's rights. The shear "lottery win" that occurs with the location of a women's birth is not lost on me. 

I own property, vote, travel and congragate with a variety of people without a chaperone. I will not be chastised, arrested, beaten or stoned for things I do on a daily basis. I am a free women. I take for granted what other women would suffer and die for the same opportunities.

I have never care much for great debates of political parties or latest sorted travesties of power.

With this said, if you breathe, if you live you try to help another with struggle.

"I think we can agree that freedom is one of this country's great resources.... And I really do think that's why these people want to come here. I think this idea that they’re coming here to infiltrate, I think that is fear-based. I do think they want to come here and enjoy the same things you and I are lucky enough to enjoy."

Thanksgiving and some "cheesey" gratitude

It is not lost on me the amount of gratitude I am feeling with the prospect of transitioning into a sustainable cheese facility. The Thanksgiving holiday is only a brief reprieve to the amount of work that will need to be done. Phone calls to made, prices to negotiate, items that will be shelved due to budget and the shear physical work for tear down. For all this I am grateful for ... Abundantly grateful!

Go fund me page

I just wanted to share my go fund me page... I realize this is a lot to ask but sharing this may be my only option to bridge the gap.

The page is set up to fund a milking machine, this will help in the process of transitioning into a small farmstead creamery. Thank you for your consideration.

Beginning Thanksgiving Week

I harvested one of our farm raised turkeys today. The week begins with gratitude for what is provided, grown and raised on this farm. The variety of on farm products are front and center this week and this list is plentiful. The staples include eggs, milk and cheese. Herbs and root vegetables are still present fresh. The

cellar yields butternut, pumpkin, onion, sweet potatoes and apples. Add a home baked light rustic wheat bread. 

To this pickles, preserves,dried fruits and mushrooms, and fruit butters are also happily added. I hope it all ties in nicely on the holiday!

A little off subject ...,

Someone stole my bike bike today...,

I'm trying to be adult but may inner 4 year old is crying..... "I want my bike back!!!!"

This blue three wheeler was my garden vegi n flower wagon...I gonna miss him!

Poo

Maintenance, barns, bedding and bugs

The cleaning of out buildings and barn was finished right before the storm rolled in. I was even able to fill with 20 bales of straw over dusting of lime. It took most of this week on and off. I'm always so happy when this is done and my girls really love fresh bedding. It helps to control parasites, which can be tough to deal with.

The parasites are treated on an as needed basis not on a regular cycle. This process takes interaction with animals to a daily task. I use the Famancha method. Basically the paler pink the lower eye lid is the more likely the animal is anemic. The chart of color gradation can match to type of action is needed. I am always with my goats and this is a easy quick check. 

A business, it has started.

I am finally able to start moving forward in a venture I have been working towards most of this last decade. The work of removing an old building and replacing with new structure is exciting and terrifying. I hope to be fulling running by spring. That's a large order. I plan to start removing old building starting this week, that will be good! I hope to have this finished in two weeks. Demo. Fun!

Chèvre

The fresh chèvre is one of the simplest and tastiest treats I can think of to serve. Pared with simple herbs and bread to an elegant addition to pasta dishes. I have made this cheese and serve it along side summer grilled vegi's and bbq or atop a fine steak during the holidays.

Whether dressed up, with sunflower seed, caladula petals and smoked paprika or a spooned fresh from draining cheesecloth bag and dolloped on crusty bread, cherve' is delicious. 

For a small family portion I start with a half gallon of goat milk, at 78 degrees or temp after milking. I add culture (for chèvre) approximately 1/4 teaspoon then add renet about 1/2 a drop in water.

Let sit overnight undisturbed. Strain into clean fabric that is used only in for your cheese making, I use the dollar store kerchief from men's department.. Not cheese cloth. Let strain most of day.

Add salt. Eat. Fresh

Or put into cheese molds for further draining and slight flavor change. More tang. 

Next day remove from molds add some herbs. Share. Or save refrigerated for 7-10 days.

Livestock guardian dog, LGD

The time and work to bring a livestock guardian dog to full potential can seem like long road. The dog is given the instinct but to channel this can be frustrating early on. I have found at around two years this bred, Great Pyrenees, begins to recognize the large responsibility that it has under its charge. If no lead dog or this is an only dog it may take even longer and leaving a large portion of training to dog owner. 

This dog will be required to think on his own, making "calls" late at night or early morn or in distant sections of pasture not always easily monitored by farmer. The dog will know to include cats, poultry, horses, pigs and other pets in addition to goats or sheep in his charge but separate or eliminate predators like strange dogs, coyote and even hawks. The younger dog need repeated discouragement by either lead dog or owner in excessive chase on off-limit animals. 

I am limited in my reach and depend on these dogs wholeheartedly. I have always raised Great Pyrenees with good luck and do recommend this bred but other LGDs have their cheerleaders and may be worth an look. Even a donkey and llamas offer protection! I suggest if you own goats or sheep this is the way to protect them. I would never go though a kidding season with some level of security, unless you really want a broken-heart.

The automated milker

The quest for a inexpensive and working multiple goat milker has lead me to putting together one of my own. The items collected from auctions or web sites are starting to make the all important milker a reality. Basically, the vacuum pumps are easily found in HVAC application, without specialty item cost. Home Depot or many DIY stores, can also be used for fittings and tubing that would be universal for other uses. The dairy specific item are stocked in dairy parts online stores. Finally, a few items can easily  be found on EBay or other online auction houses. This will cut my cost in half. The "putting" together is not difficult and easily sourced online also.

Great day of networking

I had a great day of networking and tracking down leads for equipment. The equipment outfiting of this the cheese facility is giving me financial heart palpitations! Had 2 leads on stainless steel prep tables, 3 grant writing editing helpers, 1 lead on restaurant style refrigerator, 1 titl kette lead and about 1/2 dozen new customers. Thank you thank you thank you friends!!!!!

And some preliminary building plans sketched up...

Gratitude

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”

Alice Walker, The Color Purple

Work begins

I have a lot of work to do.  I am going to spend the day networking to find all the nessesary specification and contact (again) Indiana Dairy Inspectors.  I will hopefully have time to write more on grant funding for an aging room.  

And hunt down some stainless steel restaurant style prep tables.....

I anticipating a lot of work today, but I'm as happy as a person can be...

"You have been approved"... The journey of a small farm transitioning into a sustainable farming business

 I was approved for loan funding!!!!!!!

Thank you Harrison County Economic Development 

I have been in "wow" land since I got the news. Oh my, oh my 

This loan will gives me a small building. And a start...wow n wow....

I hope this blog will serve as a daily journal from small farm to sustainable farm business. I will post every day during this transition, and it may help someone else.

I met with the city chamber members and a lawyer this morning....oh gosh!

This is really happening......

Nuances of raw milk cheese

The goal of transitioning from hobby farm to a sustanable dairy goat farmstead is opening a raw milk cheese facility. The facility will specialize in raw milk aged cheeses. The flavor in these cheeses will reflect the variety of pasture, legume grasses, woodland and seasonal nuances of this farm; from clover and spring grasses and crab apples to wild blackberries, hazelnuts and pumpkin squash patches. The flavor profile captured will be wonderfully unique to this farm. 

Do you think this is worth a try?

Pumpkins

The goats love pumpkins and the seeds are really good for extra protein. Some research indicates pumpkins and seeds are beneficial in management of internal parasites... And they love it. Win, win and win...

Pre-dawn gameplan

I am officially unemployed.

It's my goal to spend day writing more of my grant proposal and researching cheese techniques. Plan on making a few new recipes. 

I am officially not worried. Much.

Cheese with herbs, spices and edible flowers

The marriage of cheese with herbs, spices and edible flowers is as much a culinarily treat as adventure in parings. A fresh cherve' with sunflowers seeds, smoked paprika and caladula petals or ale washed havarte with cardamom, green pepper seed and orange peel......

The week begins!

This is the week I am to hear if in fact there is funding available for my cheese facility. I should have, for "Gouda" or bad, the final news this coming Thursday. This is an actual loan from Harrison County Economic development. I am staying busy working on a grant that has a deadline of December 3, this will help fund renovation for a small building with cellar, to serve as a cheese aging room. This particular grant is funded by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. Also keeping up with a Gofundme page on a irregular basis, as not to drive friends nuts. (listed btw "Milk Maid in Need").  to this add a few Twitter, FB and Instagram pictures and comments for marketing, "don't forget me, what ever you do don't forget me".
Why is all this necessary?, why bother?
The problem with being able to transition from hobby farm to a small commercial cheese facility is you can not sell cheese without inspect-able equipment and buildings. The catch-22 is you can not develop a market if you cant sell the product. I am hoping to financially puzzle piece together this venure...for Gouda or bad!

LaMancha dairy goats

I raise LaMancha dairy goats. They mostly recognized by the non-existent or elf ears, this is the bred standard and is perfectly normal. The LaManchas are a hardy bred and make excellent moms. They have a quiet docile demeanor. 

They also have a high butterfat ratio and this makes for wonderful cheese!

Cheesemaker

I hope to open a raw milk dairy specializing in old recipes that may otherwise may become lost. At one time all cheeses where raw milk and pasteurization had not been required. The milk from animals that are pastured and maintained on fields and subsistence that are the natural requirements need no pasteurization. In fact, this process kills valuable nutrients that pass from grazing herds to milk to cheese. In addition, this is exactly the  nuances that make some cheese exceptional. And I think that is worth saving!

    
   

De la Luna Farm

This is De la Farm and I am Caroline Rosa Kesten. The subject farm and farmer resides in Corydon, Indiana. This farm is primarily a 

 dairy goat farm with aspirations of opening an on-farm cheese facility this year. The parcel is approximately 13 acres with some leased land adjoining the property. It has been a goal to secure funds for the opening and running of aforementioned facility for the last 6 years. The current dairy laws prohibit sales of cheese without proper inspections, a facility current in specifications and certification obtained though Indiana Dairy inspectors. The farmsteads difficultly lie in cultivating a startup product with an item (cheese) and not having the ability to gain a market. The farm maintains a current herd of 49 Lamancha Dairy goats, noteworthy for hardiness, high butter fat ratio and great maternal attributes. In addition to dairy goats, farm also has approximately 60 laying hens and other various poultry breeds. To this, De la Luna Farm also has a wonderful pair of livestock guardians, keeping the balance of wild and domesticated in balance.
This farm has embraced diversification with its supplementary and value-added farm goods. The ongoing drive for sustainability has brought a plethora of products for on farm sales, Harrison County and the Corydon Farm Markets. These items include milk, eggs, organic herbs, vegetables and cut flowers. The farm also specializes in baked goods, preserves and dehydrated items. While it is with great satisfaction that we are building a brand and a source of quality farm products the goal has always to make wonderful artesian cheeses. With that said, Indiana and Harrison County Economic Development, has been petition for loan funding for a 24’x24’ cheese facility to begin construction before 2016.
As a beginning farmer, under 10 years, I brings a variety of experiences and capabilities to the table. As a former civil and environmental engineer, studying at the University of Louisville Speed Scientific and then interning, followed by a position with QORE Sciences, focusing on soil structural dynamics. Testing and making evaluations on soil stability and ultimately, recommending remediation for structural soundness.
Furthermore and more closely related to farming, I have continued to build on existing gardening, greenhouse and animal husbandry experience with programs, outreach groups and remaining active with a number of organizations specializing in farm related topics. i.e. 4-H Dairy goats, Kentuckiana Herb Society, Corydon Farm Market ..Etc.
In addition to programs specializing in farming practices, the art of cheese making and preserving/aging has been a particular interest to this farmstead, the research and practical knowledge has only been gained though time. The volumes of cheese recipes that exist are numerous and it has been with time and practice many have been prepared. The aged raw milk cheeses that are made from the milk of animals that receive the optimum of consideration of their needs, is at best what cheeses where meant to be.

This is a journal will follow the next few months, as this farm transition from hobby to farmstead with eye on sustainable living. The opening and running of De la Luna Creamery will be the primary subject... Hang on it could be a bumpy ride!