Do you know what your great-great-great-great-grandparents did for work? Seth Leach at Woodlawn Farm does. Seven generations of his family have been raising cows for milk in the town of Pawlet, Vermont (population: ~1,500) since 1831. In that time, the Leach clan has seen the commodity market for milk rise and fall more times than anyone could count. These days, small farms like Woodlawn are beholden to whatever prices giant dairy buyers set, and most can't make the economics work. So Seth and his wife Kate decided to do something different.
Earlier this year, Consider Bardwell Farm—makers of our Pawlet and Rupert—shut down operations. Woodlawn Farm was one of Consider Bardwell's milk suppliers, and after "a lot of talking and planning," Kate Leach says, the Leach family has bought the recipes to continue making these wonderful cheeses. Woodlawn Farm now supplies all of the milk to make Pawlet and Rupert, and leases Consider Bardwell's equipment to do so. Former Consider Bardwell cheesemaker Leslie Goff Tyminski is back in the make room producing them for Woodlawn Creamery, in what has become a true farmstead operation.
As lovers of artisan cheese, this is a rare success story. Creameries close all the time, either by choice or due to market forces. When they do, their beloved cheeses often disappear. Here is a case not just where two cheeses are preserved, but in as close to their original forms as possible, with continuity in both the milk supply and the people making them.
For the Leach family, making cheese with milk from their Holstein herd is a way to sidestep the commodity milk market in favor of a value added product they can sell themselves. "Farming has always been tough," Kate Leach says, "and we were lucky the family has done a good job managing changes through the farming industry. We're in this for the long haul."
Seth Leach has been focused on more ways to make the farm self-sufficient since taking over operations in 2015. In 2018, he stopped buying corn for his cows in favor of growing his own along with hay that the farm has always produced. In 2020 he started growing his own soy feed as well. He bought a press to separate the valuable protein from his soy beans, and can now directly control the nutrition of his herd. "The costs are lower, the quality is higher, and we're not paying to truck in feed from anywhere," Kate Leach explains.
Woodlawn's advances into premium dairy have been matched by a new program for premium meat. Since 2018, the farm has been selling American wagyu beef that's been bred into their Holstein herd. They work with local restaurants and sell directly to customers, both in the form of beef shares and at an on-site farm store that opened in 2019.
Pawlet is a raw milk tomme with an inviting orange rind, formed by washing the cheese with a saltwater brine for three months. It has a rich, grassy flavor with an earthy savory-sweetness, and just a touch of twangy funk. Rupert, named for the next town over, is a regal cheese similar to Gruyere that tastes in turns fruity, butterscotchy, and nutty. Keep an eye out for our first batch of Rupert from Woodlawn, coming in November.
Both cheeses have an emotional hold on the Leach family. "My husband had Rupert for us at our first date," Kate Leach tells us. "We had an opportunity to keep these cheeses from going away. It's fascinating how much farmers love to produce, and it's wonderful to get to share the results of the hard work and love."
Taste Woodlawn Creamery's wonderful cheeses!
Farm photos courtesy of Woodlawn Farm.
