‘Farm’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Cheese Cave Tour {Valley Shepherd Creamery, Long Valley, New Jersey}

October 5, 2017 · Narrative

An afternoon cheese cave tour and cheese tasting in Long Valley, New Jersey … a trip to Valley Shepherd Creamery pretty much makes for a perfect Fall afternoon.

If you’ve been visiting my site with regularity, you have no doubt picked up on my love for cheese. I will gladly turn down a warm chocolate chip cookie for a cup of queso any time, and frequently use the hash tag #cheeseismyhappyplace on Instagram.

Growing up with a Parisian-born mother, a cheese plate was always a given at our dinner table, and that, perhaps, might be where my love for all things cheese started. Who knows? So when I saw an email advertising a cheese cave tour at a nearby creamery, it should come as no surprise that I immediately signed up.

I mean … it’s like visiting the mothership.

The cheese cave tour was held at Valley Shepherd Creamery, a place that we’ve been to a few times before (there are some super cute picture of the kids from three years ago, and some more details on the creamery if you visit that link). I’ve noticed they have cheese making workshops, but the registration fee is a little out of my budget. That being said, this cave tour event was a veritable bargain – I signed up all three of us for $23!

Valley Shepherd has approximately 400 goats now and is at 18 different farmers markets a week, including running a few differential retail locations. They produce 35 different cheeses, and are currently building a facility just for making their goat cheese logs to keep up with production demands. Currently all their goat cheese logs are made by hand, but the increasing demands from some bigger retailers like Whole Foods is forcing their hand a bit and they are working on walking that fine line between remaining true to their handmade artisan ways, but adding in a few larger commercial accounts.

Besides cheese, they also have yogurt, milk, pastas, and a number of other food products available. They use milk from 600-700 animals, and most recently they have added feta, halloumi, and three new hard goat cheeses. Their feta is one of the cheeses I purchased this past weekend, and it is amazing. Salty and briny and everything feta should be.

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Visit: Sugarbush Farm, Woodstock, Vermont

September 15, 2015 · Narrative

A quaint farm tucked away in the hills of Vermont, with cheese tasting, animals to pet, and maple syrup as far as the eye can see. It’s a great spot to visit if you find yourself in Woodstock, Vermont.

If you’ve been a long-time reader here, you know how obsessed my daughter is with animals of all kinds. So when a friend mentions a farm an hour’s drive from where we were staying in Vermont in August, it should come as no surprise that we hopped in the car and away we went.

Which is how we found ourselves at Sugarbush Farm in Woodstock.

At the end of a windy, you’ll-secondguess-you’re-going-the-right-way road, we pulled into the small gravel parking lot and were immediately greeted with a fenced area with cows and goats waiting to be pet … and fed.

And that’s how we killed the first forty-five minutes of our visit.

Once their grubby little fingers were done hand-feeding the animals, we bathed in hand sanitizer and made our way inside the farm store. As soon as we entered, we walked into a room where staff was busy packaging up their cheeses. It was fun to watch the process of cutting, storing, and waxing the cheese.

An employee greeted us and offered to do a tasting with us. And, well, cheese is totally my happy place, so I was on it like white on rice.

All different types, aged for different lengths of time, it was hard not to walk away with one of everything. I narrowed it down to just one, as hard as it was, and we picked a long-aged Cheddar, one that both the kids and I loved.

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Visit: Valley Shepherd Creamery {Things to Do in New Jersey}

June 10, 2014 · Narrative

Looking for a fun afternoon with the kids in New Jersey? We’ve got just the thing … cuddly animals, a farm tour, and delicious cheese. Pretty much perfect.

This past weekend brought us the most gorgeous weather we’ve seen in a long time. Beautiful blue skies, fluffy white clouds, hot but not too hot. You know, weather that summers are made of. Even though it’s not officially summer yet. And weather that was too gorgeous to not spend the entire day outside.

Which we did.

From 11 am until 11 pm.

Perfection.

Our afternoon brought us to the Valley Shepherd Creamery. Although I’ve heard of the creamery before, and it’s been on our “things to do” list for well over a year, it kept getting passed by.

Until this weekend.

Situated on 120 acres of preserved farmland, it has over 750 animals living on the premises, and is super simple to find. They do “lambing tours” twice a day, which was the main reason for our visit.

I mean, really. A chance to hang out with animals? No arm twisting needed.

The tour started with our guide, Amanda, explaining how the farm was started, what they have, and what they produce, and then we watched a short movie that showed how they make cheese, yogurt, and more. The creamery originally started with this location ten years ago. After the husband and wife team traveled all over Europe, learning how to make artisanal sheep milk cheeses, they came back and started the creamery, beginning first by using dynamite to blast out a section of their property so they could have authentic cave aged cheese in their own 52 degree cave. As their model proved successful, they have branched out a bit in different arenas. They can be found selling their items at 23 different farmers’ markets, including the one that we frequent in Summit on Sundays, and they have opened up a retail location in the Parks Slope area of Brooklyn. Capitalizing on their delicious cheese, they also have a popular stall at the Reading Market Terminal, Melt Craft, which features a wide variety of grilled cheese sandwiches, including one that has mac and cheese stuffed in it. Um yum.

Then we got a tour of the facility, including a look at their rotary milking parlor, which is where they milk their sheep, and the only machine of its kind. Later, we were able to see the machine in action as the sheep filed into the room, stepped on the carousel, got strapped in, ate their grain, and were milked while slowly rotating, all within minutes. It was quite something to see, and makes for a very efficient production (all the sheep are milked in two hours!).

Next up, cheese taste testing! So many cheeses, so little time. I was very proud of the kids, who tasted every cheese and only spit out half. ;) Our favorite was the Oldwick Shepherd, so creamy, followed by the Califon, both of which are worth seeking out.

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Visit: Brookhollow’s Barnyard {Boonton Township, New Jersey}

October 1, 2013 · Narrative

One of the items on our Summer Bucket List was to visit a new farm, and we did during the last week before the kids went back to school. I first saw a newspaper ad for Brookhollow’s Barnyard a few years back, and it was in my wallet f-o-r-e-v-e-r. My only regret is that we didn’t get to visit it sooner.

If I ever live on a farm, it would totally look like this. (And living on a farm is totally a dream. I mean. Animals. Come on.)

The weather on the afternoon we visited could not have been more perfect, mid 80s with the most perfect blue skies ever. And this week, as we climb back up to the 80s, it’s a great time to visit if you’re in the area.

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Visit: Pumpkin Patch {2012}

October 18, 2012 · Ad-Free, Narrative

Madeline reminded me that we hadn’t gone pumpkin picking yet this year. An observation that needed to be rectified right away. I try not to buy them when they first start appearing, because then they mold and get all icky before Halloween is even close. Now that we’re two weeks away, it’s time.

We visited a local farm we haven’t been to in awhile, picking up some local fresh vegetables (golden beets! green beans!) while we were there. They have a lot of items that you can’t find elsewhere, but, like anything else, you have to know your prices.

We also picked up a few decorations to put outside. Apparently I’ve been lax in that department. Or so I’ve been told. It used to be The Ex’s thing (and I along with him) when we were together, but the past few years, I haven’t been as motivated to continue. So instead, I keep it small scale.

Loved this witch. Couldn’t get close enough to see the price, but there were some less than half her size for $50, so there was no temptation beyond “oh how cool!”

This year, the farm had put together these fun hay animals. Which, of course, my kids climbed onto right away. Which ended in bickering because Madeline didn’t feel stable with Nick on at the same time. And, well, you know how rambunctious 10-year-old boys can be. It almost didn’t end well.

And what visit to the pumpkin patch is complete without the requisite kids-with-pumpkins picture?

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