Lazy Lady Farm

Laini Fondiller has been making cheese at Lazy Lady Farm since 1987. A true pioneer, Laini began making goat cheese in the dark ages of artisan cheese making in the United States... There were no resources, no books, no equipment, no supplies, no anything to be had to help a young cheesemaker. But the things that Laini did have (and in no short supply) were gumption, tenacity, a love of goats, and a work ethic to beat all else. Together with her partner Barry, Laini built a small steam kettle pasteurizer and cheese vat and went to town. Today she produces over 20 varieties of goat and cows' milk cheese on her remote, off-the-grid, solar and wind powered farm. Laini milks a small herd of goats - roughly 30 to 40 - from March through January, and sources cows' milk from neighboring Butterworks Farm when her goats are pregnant and 'on unemployment' during the winter months.

Laini's love of her goats is what sets her apart from other farmers. All farmers have a fondness for their animals, but to Laini, they're family. She knows all the best breeders in the country, and seeks out the best genetic lines to introduce to her closed herd. The goats are the Lazy ones on the farm according to Laini, and she's absolutely right. While her goats luxuriate in lush pastures or listen to VPR in the barn, Laini flies about like a whirling dervish doing chores, making cheese, aging it, packaging it up for farmers markets, and then selling it herself at those same markets. Laini Fondiller and Lazy Lady Farm are American cheesemaking icons.