It has been quite a couple of weeks.  Still so much going on at the Farm.  The milk pasteuriser has arrived at last and was fitted up a week ago.  We ran it last Saturday and made our very first pasteurised milk and used the milk to start making a soft lactic cheese.   

Yesterday, we started our first make of the ‘Chalvedon’ alpine style cheese using the pasteurised milk.  Everything seems to be going well with the new cheeses so far, but we will of course need to see how they mature and develop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cream separator is being fitted today and we will be making our first cream tomorrow.  We also start testing and there is plenty of that to do before we can sell our products, but we feel that we are on the homeward stretch with bottles, labels, pots and lids are all on the way.  We are working hard to try have milk and cream ready for sale by Christmas. 

I was interviewed live on Sadie Nine’s BBC Essex show just after 7.30 this morning.  Quite terrifying, but it did seem to go fairly smoothly.  I was asked to go on to talk about dairy issues regarding a recent national drop in milk production as a result of a lot of farms going out of business.  This has meant higher milk, cream and cheese prices and potentially a shortage of cream at Christmas.  There’s been quite a lot about this in the newspapers.  I also talked with Sadie about our micro dairy at the Farm and the milk and cheese developments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out on the Farm, the cows came in a couple of weeks ago too as the temperature dropped.  They won’t be out on the grass again until the spring and will enjoy being tucked up out of the rain.  The rain has come just in time, we hope.  The crops and grass have been so dry.  They will have needed the couple of warm days this week to finish germination before winter sets in.

After many months of planning and problems we are nearly there.  The rest of the milk equipment is finally on its way.  John collected the bottle filler last week and there is now just the pasteuriser and separator to come, both scheduled for delivery this week. 

Most of our equipment is refurbished and the bottle filler came from a lovely farm where they sell raw Jersey milk to the north east of London.  They have swapped to a vending machine from selling pre-filled bottles.  We need a bottle filler because we are planning to sell both.

Bottles are ordered, labels being designed and the vending machine being built.  The vending shop space will be finished at the end of the week.  Still some weeks of fitting, calibration and food safety testing, but the light can be seen at the end of the tunnel.  Then we can start making cheese with the pasteurised milk too. 

On the farm, the cows are enjoying being tucked up for the night.  We have been sowing grass seed to rotate some of the fields and are now desperate for some decent rain to help it germinate, but it looks like the fine weather is going to be with us for a little longer.  That’s the downside of farming in one of the driest parts of the country.

As well as the excitement of the milk kit finally arriving we should be getting the first milk price rise at the end of this month after about 2 years of cuts.  The current market price is going back up but it takes a while to filter through to many farmers and we are still at the lowest prices for years.  A penny rise for the end of October and another penny promised for November.  Still a long way off the breakeven point but a positive step in the right direction if the trend continues.