Sally Fallon Morell, Cheese Maker
(Sally Fallon Morell behind the counter of the farm store at P. A. Bowen Farmstead. Cheeses and pastured meats for sale in the fridge and freezer cases in the
background. Photo by Jill Nienhiser for Farm Food Blog.)
I recently toured Sally Fallon Morell’s Farm; read about the tour here, and the milking system here.
But the state-of-the-art cheese making facilities deserve a post of their own.
To tour them, I first had to take off my coat, remove all jewelry, don a smock, put my hair in a hairnet, and swap my sturdy farm boots for clean white Crocs. Then I had to step into the wash room and wash my hands well while standing in a shallow foot bath with the Crocs on, to make sure I didn’t track anything into the cheese making room.
(Bulk milk tank at P. A. Bowen Farmstead. Photo by Jill Nienhiser for Farm Food Blog.)
(Cheese making room at P. A. Bowen Farmstead, with cheese molds on the table in the foreground, and curd cutters and cheese presses in the background behind Emma. Photo by Jill Nienhiser for Farm Food Blog.)
In the cheese making room I saw the bulk tank with its milk, the curd cutter, the cheese molds, and the cheese presses. There’s another room with additional molds and equipment, a wonderful aging room where young cheeses are ripening on racks of wooden boards (the heady aroma nearly knocked me over!), and a packaging room where the finished, aged cheese is cut into wedges, wrapped, and labeled for sale. Cheese is made twice a week, once by Sally on Mondays and once by Barb Haigwood, Assistant Cheese Maker and one of the two Farm Managers (with her husband Mike). Currently, they are producing Cheddar and Blue cheese, with plans to add spreadable Cheddar and Parmesan in 2012.
(Cheddar cheese ripening in the aging room at P. A. Bowen Farmstead. Photo by Jill Nienhiser for Farm Food Blog.)
(Sally Fallon Morell shows her Blue cheese ripening in the aging room at P. A. Bowen Farmstead.
Photo by Jill Nienhiser for Farm Food Blog.
The cheese making is regulated by the state of Maryland under a pilot program for raw cheeses begun in 2009. The milk and cheese are tested regularly for pathogens.
If you’d like to tour Sally’s farm or buy some cheese or other pastured animal foods at the Farm Store, here’s the info!
P.A. Bowen Farmstead*
15701 Doctor Bowen Road
Brandywine, MD 20613
Phone: 301-579-2727
Website: PABowenFarmstead.com (coming soon; you can sign up for email updates)
Facebook: facebook.com/pages/PA-Bowen-Farmstead/257719757614326
*The farm is named after Dr. Philander A. Bowen, who owned the farm in the late 1800s and served the community for many years. (And by the way, if you don’t know, Sally is the author of my favorite cookbook–and encyclopedia of food and nutrition wisdom– Nourishing Traditions. Click at right to buy it!)
Store Hours & Farm Tours
- The Farm Store is open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10am to 6pm, or to groups by appointment.
- Farm Tours are given on Saturday mornings at 11am. Admission is $15 for adults and $5 for children 10-18.
Go Like them on Facebook right now so you can get farm updates special event info in your newsfeed!
You can see many more, and larger, photos in the photo album on my Flickr site here.
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Filed under: The Farmers by Jill
[...] Read about their state-of-the-art cheese making facilities with photos here! [...]
[...] The Healthy Home Economist’s Monday Mania Blog Carnival for 12/19/2011 [...]
[...] You Eating Enough Salt? 8. Kohlrabi Fritters Recipe 7. Think Fluoridated Water is a Good Thing? 6. Sally Fallon Morell, Cheese Maker 5. Traditional Diets Have a High Food Enzyme Content 4. All Traditional Diets Contained Animal [...]
[...] The cows’ udders are thus all lined up and accessible under the waste trough, to the farmers standing on the lower level. A state of the art milking system called CO-pulsation is used. First each teat is dipped in iodine and wiped off. Then the milking machine is attached to each teat. A pulsing vacuum is turned on that is the latest thing, much gentler on the cows. The vacuum sucks at each teat on and off to an electronically controlled pulse, mimicking a calf’s suckling. The milk goes directly into a clean, covered stainless steel pail. When the cows are all milked, the milk goes into the bulk milk tank where it is quickly chilled and held for up to four days until there is enough for cheese making. Read about the cheese making facilities here! [...]
Great Photo’s and info on your cheese and how it is made. I will look forward to more blogs from Farm Food Blogs!
[...] Sally Fallon Morell. If you want to read more about Sally’s farm you can read this article or this one about her being a cheese maker. [...]
[...] You Eating Enough Salt? 8. Kohlrabi Fritters Recipe 7. Think Fluoridated Water is a Good Thing? 6. Sally Fallon Morell, Cheese Maker 5. Traditional Diets Have a High Food Enzyme Content 4. All Traditional Diets Contained Animal [...]
[...] Read about their state-of-the-art cheese making facilities with photos here! [...]