Thanks to the lucky connection of a darling friend, HB and I were able to make a visit to Caromont Farm today. Back in August, we hosted a “Flavors of Virginia” wine and cheese tasting for my work group and used Caromont’s Farmstead Chevre as our starting course (paired, if you’re curious, with Ablemarle CiderWork’s Ragged Mountain cider) and found it to be deliciously creamy and tangy. A local restaurant in town carries two of Caromont’s cheeses, and we were excited to have the opportunity to meet their creator, as well as the goats that contribute to its popularity.
Caromont is headed up by Gail Hobbs-Page and her husband Daniel, and runs with the help of a few neighbors and interns. Let me just say, that I’m jealous of the interns – I would have loved to have spent a semester of college working on a goat dairy. I still lament that my schedule (chock full with microbiology labs) never allowed me to take that small ruminant management course! Gail has been involved in the food industry for over 25 years – most of her early years spent working in a variety of restaurants. In the past ten years she has found a new calling in life, starting, working, and managing a successful goat dairy. Over time her cheeses have grown with such success that a handful of restaurants throughout the Southeast carry her products. Gail is very friendly and approachable, a wealth of knowledge that has been learned through experience, and not afraid to get down and dirty.
But first, let’s talk about the most important part of the farm – the goats!
Gail first began with Nubians, then added La Manchas, and finally a few Alpines to round it out. While there are a few purebreds in the herd, most of the does are mixtures of the breeds and they are all beautiful. Goats of every color (and ear shape!) roam her fields and browse in the woods – beautiful tans and browns, black and whites, and a mix of everything in between. I was particularly smitten with a young doeling with gopher ears, a beautiful copper shade with black and tan markings on her face. With close to 100 goats total, surely it wouldn’t be noticed if one little doeling came home with me? haha, I wish.
After meeting the girls, we toured her milking and cheesemaking facility. A large part of the Caromont philosophy is being good stewards of the Earth, making as little a dent as possible in the environment. While not elaborate, the facilities are clean and laid out in a simple, working manner so that everything flows from one room to another. Committed to tradition, all milk goes from the goats via a simple milking machine into buckets which are then hand carried into the milk room — for the French believe that this is the best way to handle the fragile proteins in goat’s milk. From the milk room, the milk is carried into the cheese making room where it is pasteurized (if to be made into fresh cheeses) before starting the cheese making process.
Along the way we checked out her goat housing systems – a series of small barns and sheds where the goats are housed and allowed protection from the elements. A large part of the Caromont herd management goes back to the philosophy that nature knows best – and with that in mind, the goats spend as much time as possible outside, rotating through a series of pastures in an attempt to keep worm burdens low.
After seeing everything, we all stepped inside away from the cold and wind to discuss the trials and tribulations of having goats and making cheese. HB had brought along a sample wheel of what was supposed to be Camembert made from goat’s milk. As it turned out, it aged over the course of 60 days into a hard cheese (think, Parmesan), and while it has good flavor, it’s definitely NOT a Camembert! Gail thought it was more reminiscent of a Spanish goat cheese and they discussed ways it could have gone wrong. Overall our visit was very positive, and we definitely enjoyed meeting Gail and Daniel. I just want to take things slowly – my biggest fear is that we will get in over our heads too soon and get burnt out. I am most looking forward to the companionship and management of a herd of does, while HB is more excited over the prospects of future products. We’re lucky in that we both have interests in different aspects of the farm. The area in which we live is just starting to embrace a “buy local, support local” mentality, which gives us time to grow and embrace goat dairying if it appears to be our calling.
PS: I wanted to take pictures, but I always feel awkward taking photographs of what is, essentially, another person’s business. But oh, that doeling, she was so beautiful!
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