British Bovines

The goat farm contest got me thinking about the very first dairy I ever visited. It resulted from my unusual television watching while in England.

During my second year abroad, when I was living in my studio flat, I had a television and a receiver that allowed me to view three stations. As a result of my limited viewing choices, I watched many shows I probably never would have otherwise. My favorite atypically-Tammy show aired on Sunday mornings. It was an agricultural report. Not only did they talk about the weather, they also profiled a different farm each week.

One episode that I still remember was about a woman who grew up on a dairy farm but wanted nothing to do with it as an adult. She became quite successful in business. Then her dad had health problems and milk prices were plummeting. The family was going to lose the farm.

After being back on the farm for a few months, she came up with a strategy for saving it – convert their commodity milk into a brand-name cheese. She was able to turn everything around.

This farm, Norbury Blue, had one of the booths at our local farmers’ market. The next month I waited in a very long line to see the women from the story and buy some of her cheese. She had become quite the local celebrity. What the farm produced was a blue cheese, which at the time I didn’t like, but this one was different. It had the texture of brie, and it was mild.

While not cheap, I splurged and had delicious cheese sandwiches for that week’s lunches.

A few months later a friend of mine from school mentioned the farmer. I was so excited that someone else I knew had seen the program as well! The two of us went to take a tour of the farm.

What I really wanted was to pet a milking cow.

The ladies had other ideas. Obviously it was not milking time since they were completely ignoring all humans. It was still a great tour, which ended with delicious samples.

Have you ever toured a farm? or What strange shows have you gotten hooked on?