by Our Name Is Farm
Breakfast. Suzy meets us in the yard, bathed in golden morning light, holding a mason jar filled to the brim with a startling-white liquid.
Got Raw Milk?
The cows at cricket creek farm do. Docile and doe-eyed, they follow the well worn path from the milking shed to the pasture, where their bulk is almost hidden by the lush growth of tall grasses. Here, where the cows have names, Creamery manager (and Brooklyn native) Suzy Konecky and Farm Manager Topher Sabot produce their award-winning artisanal farm cheeses in addition to raw milk, grass-fed beef, whey-fed pork and eggs.
“Raw milk is fresh milk that has not been pasteurized – so that means that it has not been heated up. The milk we sell is straight from the cow, the only thing that’s happened to it is it’s been cooled down.”
The cheeses, Maggie’s Round and Maggie’s Reserve, are like celebrities. Lovingly handmade in small batches with a traditional thatch design, they rest in a cool, dark room for months of beauty sleep, waiting for their rinds thicken and their flavors to ripen. Cricket Creek also makes a bangin’ feta, a Cricket Creek Fresh spreadable cheese and two soft-ripened cheeses, Tobasi and Berkshire Bloom. A successful farm is a living organism, fueled by the interconnectivity of it’s many working components. Cricket Creek is a successful farm, but it is also an interconnected part of the surrounding community, making sure that locals benefit from the sustainable raised and responsibly produced delicious products. Their open-door policy encourages local families to bring their kids, spread a picnic blanket in the shade by the tractor and lunch amidst the cow shit, sweet grass, rich earth realness of a working farm.
Suzy waved good bye as we thanked her and left. Then she turned around and went back to the creamery, her mason jar of milk no longer full.
Our Name Is Farm is a chef, writer and photographer team whose mission is to share the stories of the farmers and artisan producers who are invested in feeding America sustainably and responsibly. They have partnered with Farm2me and our network of local food makers and farms to help tell their story.