{"id":37188,"date":"2019-10-09T09:00:55","date_gmt":"2019-10-09T13:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=37188"},"modified":"2021-05-06T10:29:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-06T14:29:40","slug":"changing-tides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/changing-tides\/","title":{"rendered":"Changing Tides on the Midcoast Maine Cheese Trail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photography by Greta Rybus<\/em><\/p>\n

W<\/span>hen a wrong turn off the Midcoast Maine Cheese Trail funnels me down a dirt road onto a tiny peninsula with a secret cove, I can\u2019t resist pulling over for some beach combing. Up close, I inspect bubbling clam shows in the sand, the contours of sedimentary rocks, and the heaps of rockweed kelp attached to them. This is not a bad place to get lost. I\u2019m tempted to ramble, hypnotized, through these tidal pools all day.<\/p>\n

But cheese awaits. A glimpse at a map offers a bird\u2019s-eye view of my surroundings.The landscape of the Midcoast, a swath of jagged shore north of Portland and south of Acadia, is a marine maze of endless islands and inlets. Here, isolation comes easy. One-cabin islands, with their rocky outcroppings and lone pines, beckon anyone who wants to get away from it all. Take note: If you plan to steal away to a hidden beach with a goat and start over again, this is a good place to do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing unique to Maine is the number of homesteaders,\u201d confirms cheesemaker Allison Lakin when I get back on the trail and locate Lakin\u2019s Gorges Cheese. \u201cThe back-to-the-land movement has shaped a lot of the agriculture in the last 40 years here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Allison Lakin, Lakin’s Gorges Cheese<\/p><\/div>\n

Lakin is first and foremost a cheesemaker, but her Waldoboro, Maine, property\u2014perched on a hill not far from the coast\u2014is a picture-perfect example of a small, diversified Midcoast Maine farm. Behind an overflowing garden, whey-fed heritage pigs are being raised for meat. Three Jersey cows munch happily on thick green grass. Lakin makes cheeses\u2014from the buttery, rustic Opus 42 to the local seaweed\u2013laced Rockweed to custom wheels washed in local beer or wine\u2014and sells them on-site (Lakin also sells cheeses online and through multiple distributors).\u201cFor us, farmstead cheesemaking is the model,\u201d says Lakin. \u201cWe embrace the idea of terroir.”<\/p>\n

Back to the Land<\/strong><\/p>\n

The sea never feels far away here, and lobster traps, fishing boats, and seafood shacks certainly form the foundation of Midcoast culture. But move inland and roads out of bustling ports transition quickly into idle towns framed by green pasture and teetering timber barns\u2014testaments to an agricultural past. This region was once a breadbasket of New England, but farming has waxed and waned over time. In the late 19th century, agriculture in Maine embarked on a century-long decline, culminating between 1950 and 1974, when the number of farms dropped from 30,000 to 6,500.<\/p>\n

That parallels a pattern seen throughout New England\u2014but curiously, it didn\u2019t last. In the late 1970s, the number of Maine farms started creeping up again. In a 1977 report to the Maine Legislature, Agriculture Commissioner Joseph Williams attributed that uptick to homesteaders: \u201cFor several years Maine has had an influx of people interested in farming,\u201d he wrote. The epicenters of the movement\u2014Sagadahoc, Lincoln, and Waldo counties in the Midcoast\u2014saw a population growth of over 20 percent between 1970 and 1980, despite lacking any major urban areas.<\/p>\n

In the 1980s, state agricultural policy shifted to favor small farms. New programs encouraged collaboration and direct sales. Farmstands and pick-your-own facilities sprung up. Transplants arrived seeking relatively inexpensive land to farm, and found ways to make a modest income. Often they started with small animals that were easy to manage. Although Lakin is a cow person, she tells me that most cheesemakers in Maine use goat\u2019s milk. \u201cAs a homesteader, you start with one goat, and it\u2019s all downhill from there,\u201d she quips. \u201cAt least that\u2019s what they tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fateful First Goat<\/strong><\/p>\n

At Barred Owl Creamery in Whitefield, Patti Hamilton tells me about when she got her first goat. It was 1997, and she\u2019d been busy keeping chickens, turkeys, and pigs while homeschooling her children\u2014but she wanted something to milk. With her first goat she started making cheese for family and friends. Later, her kids went away to college. \u201cI thought, Now what am I going to do?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Patti Hamilton, Barred Owl Creamery<\/p><\/div>\n

Hamilton, a sprightly, industrious woman with short silvery hair and muckboots, had no idea that someday she would hear her name announced at the podium during \u201cthe Oscars of cheese,\u201da.k.a. the American Cheese Society Judging and Competition. In 2015 she entered the contest seeking feedback from judges; She wasn\u2019t expecting to win, and wasn\u2019t even going to watch.But turning on the livestream at the last minute, she heard her mixed-milk goat\u2019s and sheep\u2019s milk feta, followed by her hot pepper jelly ch\u00e8vre, win first place medals in their categories. \u201cI was just flipping out,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a small producer, I was so excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Barred Owl Creamery’s Organic Blue Cheese<\/p><\/div>\n

What does it take for a one-lady team on a Maine homestead to beat out bigwigs from around the country? Hamilton shrugs. \u201cI\u2019m not a scientist or technician. I\u2019ve read lots of books, talked with other cheesemakers…I just like to try different things,\u201d she says. \u201cTo me, cheesemaking is magic.”<\/p>\n

Maine Magic<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to cheesemaking, Maine laws help magic happen: This is the only state that doesn\u2019t require technical equipment for milk pasteurization. Instead of requiring pricey chart recorders (which cost thousands of dollars) to track the heating and cooling of milk, cheesemakers here only need a thermometer and a clock\u2014so long as their cheese is labeled \u201cheat treated\u201d instead of pasteurized, and it\u2019s only sold within the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the analog version of pasteurization,\u201d says Jessie Dowling, president of the Maine Cheese Guild and owner of Fuzzy Udder Creamery, an ACS award\u2013winning farm specializing in soft-ripened cheese just a few minutes away from Hamilton\u2019s homestead. \u201cWe heat the milk to 145 degrees for 30 minutes. Scientifically it\u2019s the same thing, but it costs a lot less.\u201d The result? You don\u2019t need to invest thousands to make and sell cheese.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jessie Dowling, Fuzzy Udder Creamery<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe are so lucky to have these laws,\u201dDowling adds. \u201cOutside of Maine you don\u2019t see a lot of people starting creameries who aren\u2019t already rich. The exciting consequence here is that we can have middle-class and lower-income cheesemakers, and small cheesemakers can thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaine\u2019s a great place to have a very small creamery,\u201d echoes Lauren Pignatello of Swallowtail Creamery, a short drive up the road in Whitefield.\u201cWe don\u2019t have a pasteurizer and we don\u2019t need one to sell cheese here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Lauren Pignatello, Swallowtail Creamery<\/p><\/div>\n

Pignatello moved to Maine from NewYork City at the age of 23 to homestead. To raise money for her first cow, she hosted a Christmastime sale in her house, selling jams and baked goods and herbs. When neighbors saw her walking the cow to pasture, they asked to buy raw milk, and then yogurt. Her husband Sean, a carpenter (and now, a cheesemaker), built a tiny creamery. She got some more cows, and the rest was history.<\/p>\n

The Pignatellos\u2019 yogurts and ricotta have also snagged several ACS awards\u2014but since they can\u2019t sell outside of Maine, local customers have always been the business\u2019 foundation. \u201cIt\u2019s an extended family; Many of our customers have been here since we started,\u201d she says. And the couple has traded their products for everything from car maintenance to Montessori school: \u201cWe put our son Gus through fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade…all with dairy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gus, now 18, is one of the Pignatellos\u2019 seven children. He helms the farmers\u2019 market stand in Portland, where the family also runs a caf\u00e9 called Milk & Honey of Swallowtail Farm. A veritable food mecca and home to a third of Maine\u2019s population, Portland represents a reliable outlet for many of the cheesemakers here. \u201cWe have a really great customer base in Portland, people I see every week,\u201d Gus tells me. \u201cPeople there really care about small farms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Good Life<\/strong><\/p>\n

In summer and on weekends, residents of Portland, Boston, and beyond flock to Midcoast Maine. Aside from requisite seaside activities and the chance to explore quaint towns like Rockland, Camden, and Belfast, visitors can now access a different side of the region thanks to the Midcoast Maine Cheese Trail.\u201cThe Midcoast area seems to be a hotspot of cheesemakers, wineries, and breweries,\u201d says hobby-turned-career cheesemaker Caitlin Hunter of Appleton Creamery, an Alpine goat farm and dairy. In 2016, she teamed up with Jessica Farrar of ME Water BuffaloCo. (more on that soon) to apply for a grant to launch a cheese trail. \u201cWe run farmstands where people can buy our cheeses and farm products, visit the animals, and learn,\u201d Hunter says. In its three years, the trail has expanded to include nine farmstead cheesemakers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Caitlin Hunter, Appleton Creamery<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe tend to bounce customers back and forth,\u201d says Farrar at the trail\u2019s most unexpected stop: a water buffalo farm. \u201cIt\u2019s a long story, but it\u2019s not,\u201d Farrar adds, laughing. Back in 2008, she and her husband Brian went to a farm to buy a guinea pig for their son, and found their first water buffalo. \u201cI was like, Wow, this is love,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re just big pets,\u201d adds Brian, his head poking out from between several buffalo that surround and nuzzle him simultaneously. \u201cThey love attention.\u201dKeeping the gentle beasts became a hobby, and making mozzarella, ricotta, feta, fromage blanc, yogurt, and gelato with their milk was a means to fund it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jessica Farrar, ME Water Buffalo Co.<\/p><\/div>\n

Coined the \u201cgreat white whale of American cheesemaking\u201d by The New York Times<\/em> in 2012, buffalo\u2019s milk mozzarella is considered one of the most elusive cheeses in the US. I did not expect to see one in Maine. But the whole cheese trail is full of surprises. In part, that\u2019s because cheeses with heat-treated milk aren\u2019t sold outside the state\u2014but I suspect it\u2019s also because the makers I\u2019ve met never set out to build something massive. \u201cWe never, ever expected to be cheesemakers,\u201d says Farrar.<\/p>\n

I also notice that most makers here are women. I ask Jessie Dowling of Fuzzy Udder Creamery why that might be. She ponders a minute. \u201cMost famous chefs and cheesemakers in the world are men,\u201d Dowling says. \u201cI think these women aren\u2019t in it for the fame\u2014they\u2019re just awesome and they want to have a lifestyle milking animals and making cheese.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Appleton Creamery Maine Wild Mushroom Ch\u00e8vre<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t even set out to farm, to be honest,\u201d says Heide Purinton-Brown at Toddy Pond Farm in Monroe. \u201cWe were just homesteading. This happened organically.\u201d We\u2019re wading through thick pasture to visit her cows on a hill that overlooks a pond with mountains in the distance. Then we stroll past beehives to an old timber-frame barn where she and her husband, Greg, sell yogurt, kefir, cheeses, meats, honey, and local artisan goods. Heide says she loves the rural setting and proximity to the coast. There\u2019s bit of everything: sea, hills, ponds, and farms; not too far from the city but not too close.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a winning combination that draws people to the Midcoast, whether to escape for the weekend or for a lifetime.\u201cPeople come to Maine because it\u2019s beautiful, and because they want to experience something natural and real,\u201dDowling says. \u201cIt\u2019s not really about the notoriety. It\u2019s about the life.”<\/p>\n

 \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Where to Visit<\/strong><\/h3>\n

BARRED OWL CREAMERY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stop by Patti Hamilton\u2019s farmstand on a whim, or inquire ahead of time to rent a cozy cabin or organize a weekend-long cheesemaking workshop.<\/p>\n

6 South Fowles Lane, Whitefield.<\/p>\n

www.hamiltonfarm.wordpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n

FUZZY UDDER CREAMERY<\/strong><\/p>\n

An honor-system farmstand offers cheese and meat; Walk around the back to say hi to the sheep and goats.<\/p>\n

35 Townhouse Rd., Whitefield<\/p>\n

www.fuzzyudder.com<\/a><\/p>\n

SWALLOWTAIL FARM AND CREAMERY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Continue your tour of Whitefield creameries with a stop at this tiny farmstand with standout kefirs, yogurts, and ricotta salata.<\/p>\n

98 Main St., Whitefield<\/p>\n

www.swallowtailfarmandcreamery.com <\/a><\/p>\n

LAKIN\u2019S GORGES CHEESE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Discover Allison Lakin\u2019s wide range of cheeses, as well as cutting boards made by her husband with wood from the property. Check the website for hours and inquire about farm stays.<\/p>\n

2361 Friendship Rd., Waldoboro<\/p>\n

www.lakinsgorgescheese.com<\/a><\/p>\n

APPLETON CREAMERY<\/strong><\/p>\n

The farmstand at this Alpine goat dairy is open on weekends from spring through fall; Reach out via the website to organize cheesemaking workshops during the off-season.<\/p>\n

780 Gurneytown Rd., Appleton<\/p>\n

www.appletoncreamery.com<\/a><\/p>\n

TODDY POND FARM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rent a beautiful cottage on the farm, visit for one of the seasonal farm dinners, or simply stop by the farm store to sample local products.<\/p>\n

174 Carver Rd., Monroe<\/p>\n

www.toddypondfarm.com<\/a><\/p>\n

ME WATER BUFFALO CO.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to a farmstore open on Saturdays, Maine\u2019s only water buffalo dairy occasionally hosts on-farm events with wallow wagon rides and the opportunity to meet buffalo and taste cheeses.<\/p>\n

232 Old County Road, Appleton<\/p>\n

www.mewaterbuffaloco.co<\/a><\/p>\n

PUMPKIN VINE FAMILY FARM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check this goat dairy\u2019s website for workshops, kid-hugging events, and a farm camp for children.<\/p>\n

217 Hewett Rd., Somerville<\/p>\n

www.pumpkinvinefamilyfarm.com<\/a><\/p>\n

SPRINGDALE FARM<\/strong><\/p>\n

Visit the farmstand on weekends for delectable dairy made with Jersey cow\u2019s milk.<\/p>\n

165 Birches Rd., Waldo<\/p>\n

www.springdalejerseys.com <\/a><\/p>\n

COPPER TAIL FARM<\/strong><\/p>\n

293 Genthner Rd., Waldoboro<\/p>\n

www.coppertailfarm.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maine is becoming a mecca for small-batch cheeses\u2014but you’ll have to travel to taste them. Discover the hidden gems of the area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":37201,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26354,11],"tags":[20332,20325,20336,20340,1296,13128,20341,20337,20334,20333,20338,2598,19858,20342,20326,20331,20335,20339,20327],"coauthors":[290],"class_list":["post-37188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","category-travel","tag-allison-lakin","tag-appleton-creamery","tag-barred-owl-creamery","tag-caitlin-hunter","tag-cheesemakers","tag-cheesemongers","tag-jessica-farrar","tag-jessie-dowling","tag-joseph-williams","tag-lakins-gorges-cheese","tag-lauren-pignatello","tag-maine","tag-maine-cheese-guild","tag-me-water-buffalo-co","tag-midcoast-maine","tag-midcoast-maine-cheese-trail","tag-patti-hamilton","tag-swallowtail-creamery","tag-women-cheesemakers"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChanging Tides on the Midcoast Maine Cheese Trail - culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Maine is becoming a mecca for small-batch cheeses\u2014but you'll have to travel to taste them. 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