Many of you have probably seen photos of our cheese and ramblings about a "cheese herd-share" or a "cheese CSA" on Facebook or Instagram and wondered what was going on. Well, let us fill you in, because it's been a huge leap for us this year and we just realized that we never posted about it on the blog!

Last fall our family started helping us with what turned into a pivotal project for the farm: renovating the "old barn" - transforming a dilapidated, brown recluse infested, dairy barn from the 70's into something we could actually use. Over the course of the winter my Step-Dad and Grandpa helped us create a larger space for milking as well as sanitary rooms for handling milk, cleaning equipment, and making cheese. It was a fun and special time that we'll never forget - weeks of family dinners and the satisfaction building something lasting together. A time that deserves it's own blog post! We ended up with a space that exceeded our expectations in every way and has allowed us to make our cheese available to our community - a dream come true.

In early May, not really knowing what to expect, we launched a raw milk cheese herd-share where members of the herd-share receive a portion of the herd's milk production as cheese each week. The members are actually co-owners of the goat herd. We have had an overwhelming response and are now delivering cheese to members in West Nashville, Donelson, and Murfreesboro.

Ruby - our cranberry chèvre with a touch of honey and cinnamon — Ruby - our cranberry chèvre with a touch of honey and cinnamon

Each week our members get an email telling them what their cheese of the week will be along with recipe ideas, pairings, a little bit about how the cheese was made and its history. Making such a wide variety of cheeses has been exhilarating. I love discovering the cheeses that really bring out the special qualities in our milk and the challenge of finding new ideas feeds my creative nature. Since starting distribution in May we've made everything from more well known cheeses like feta and brie to more exotic offerings like haloumi and crescenza. It has been fun to share the cheese love with our community - my secret wish is to turn our members into certifiable "curd nerds" and I think I may well be making some progress!

Skyr, our icelandic style, extra thick yogurt.

In addition, the herd-share format makes everything much more personal, which we've really enjoyed. All of our co-goat-owners are amazing people and we've been so lucky to meet such an incredible group of people. It's nice to be more and more a part of the community as we go along and we couldn't ask for a more welcoming bunch!

- Eileen

Fresh, raw milk cow cheese, made in a similar fashion to Chevre (commonly known as Goat Cheese)

As a follow-up to the first post on raw milk (Buying Raw Milk in Tennessee), I thought it would be useful to provide a list of questions that we feel are prudent for consumers to ask prior to buying raw milk or participating in a herd share. These are questions that, in our opinion, customers should be asking their raw milk dairy farmers. (If additional quesitons come to mnind, I'd love it if you left them in the comments.)

Before we get into the list of questions, it's important to make sure the farmer will give you the time to ask questions in the first place. If a farmer is going to sell you raw milk, a share of their herd, or a raw milk product, he/she should give you ample time to ask questions. If they don't, then don't buy their milk. That's the first warning sign.

Also, if you get a bad vibe from the farm, or you sense the farmer is lying to you or avoiding answering your questions, move on. Don't hesitate. Trust your gut, or your gut may pay for it later. Raw milk is great and it's wonderful to have, but don't risk buying contaminated raw milk. It could make you very ill, and in extreme cases it could be lethal. We've been to a number of raw milk farms where we wouldn't dare drink the milk. We've also been to plenty where we would drink the milk. Knowing the difference is critical and I hope these questions help you identify a high-quality raw milk farmer in your area.

Ok, on with it. This is written from the perspective of someone buying raw cow's milk, since that is by far the most common raw milk available. We have dairy goats and so do lots of other dairy farmers. Raw sheep's milk is also an option. These questions can be substituted for raw milk from any type of dairy animal, it's not cow-specific.

Raw Milk Cheese From Little Seed

Questions To Ask Your Raw Milk Farmer

Questions To Ask Your Raw Milk Farmer

Questions To Ask Your Raw Milk Farmer

LITTLE SEED FARM

good for your body | good for the earth