On the Farm

The storms causing havoc up and down the East Coast have brought welcome rain, sighs of relief, and a renewed promise of a full season of cheesemaking at Meadow Creek. Our August 12th availability email talked about how well our pastures were doing to see us to mid-December for milking (and thus cheesemaking), then bam, we were hit with six weeks of no rain. Rick and Jim do grass walks every 7 to 10 days to monitor the growth and, if necessary, adjust the movement of cows from paddock to paddock to give more or less time between grazing the same paddock. Such a long dry spell, our second this year, had us looking at a shorter grazing and cheesemaking season - our cheese is made only when the cows are on grass. Thanks to Rick and Jim's careful management and rains just in time we should be back on schedule, as long as a few days of predicted warm sun come our way now.