I often have a hankering for goat cheese; the soft white variety usually sold in logs that the French call chevre. I also like to “buy local” as it is called nowadays. After lots of shopping and research I learned locally made goat cheese is hard to buy commercially. I found some at the Sioux Falls food coop which was above my price point. Sam’s Club carries a nice reasonable priced one but what fun is that. So, I decided if I couldn’t find ready-made goat cheese I would go looking for goat milk and attempt to make my own chevre. I went back through the same shopping and research process in an attempt to locate local/area goat milk and had no success here either. My driving radius is one hour and I quickly exhausted my known contacts. But, as I mentioned before I am a very curious person so through the process, I had learned all kinds of interesting things about goats and goat farming. Who knew there were so many different goat breeds: Nigerian Dwarf, Nubian, Alpine, LaMancha, Saanen, etc? Also, the taste and fat content of the milk varies based on the breed of the goat, what they eat and what stage of the kid bearing process they are in. Did you know their gestation period is 4/4/4; four months, four weeks and four days? Also, goats often become family pets and I was about to find out why.
During my investigate process, I met one lady who had only one goat and she was using all the milk herself. One family was under contract to sell all their milk commercially and another had divested herself of goats. I then got a lead on the Fonder family known as industrious area farmers with an orientation toward natural and organic methods. First I talked to Matt who didn’t have any extra milk as he was using what he had to feed four young kids. Once he picked up on my general interest in goats and goat farming, I learned all kinds of things about his herd and his plans for the future. He had a goat ready to deliver her kids and offered to show me his goats. By this point I had become more interested in the baby goats than the goat milk. I called back several weeks later to check on the status of the pregnant goat, who still hadn’t delivered her kids, and he suggested I come out to observe the milking process. So out I went for the evening milking. Currently, Matt has about 20 goats; two adult males, four adult females and about a dozen young goats. As I entered the barn I heard the loveliest bleating from the four youngest kids welcoming me to their home. Later, I learned they were just hungry and ready for their evening meal. Anxious as I was to meet the goats, I was and remain a town/city kid who is jumpy and a bit of a screamer on farms so it was with great trepidation that I entered the goat pen. I quickly learned that goats are friendly curious animals and their quick lithe bodies resemble that of deer. They smell, lick, nibble at your clothing, love to be petted and readily jump up for even more attention. I quickly fell in love with the whole lot and hated to say goodbye as much as they did, but I would return to meet the new kids soon.
In between time, I talked to his sister Maryellen who has her own goats. After explaining my plight, I learned she knew how to make goat cheese, had two gallons of fresh milk ready for processing and two children ready to go down for afternoon naps. If I could come out now she would gladly teach me how to make goat cheese. I was off…lickety- split! We made fresh mozzarella cheese which I took home along with the whey for ricotta, fresh chevre, eggs and recipes to boot. It was right after this goat cheese making high that I sauntered into the Grant County Review for a subscription and before I knew what happened I was offering to write about my “coming home” adventures. Go figure! 2017