Ploughgate Creamery

Fayston, Vermont

Marisa Mauro, owner of Ploughgate Creamery may be young, but she's got an old Vermonter's soul. She has been in the dairy farming world since she was just a teenager; before teaching herself to make butter Marisa was a cheesemaker for many years. Ploughgate Creamery is located at the historic Bragg Farm, a beautiful parcel of hilltop farmland in Vermont's Mad River Valley. It has been a farm since 1909, and the original barn is intact – complete with wooden milking stanchions and a glorious loose hayloft where horses used to pull wagonloads of hay up a ramp. It’s a Vermonter’s wildest agrarian dream.

Marisa won the right to purchase the farm from the Vermont Land Trust in 2013. The Land Trust is an organization that buys farmland in order to keep it from being developed into homes or retail. Once in a generation, a farm like the Bragg Farm will come up for sale, and when it does, the competition is incredibly fierce. Marisa went toe to toe with about 13 other young farmers who all submitted business plans and proposals for the farm. Ultimately, Marisa was chosen to purchase the farm and become its steward.

Marisa sources her cream from Monument Farms, a fourth generation family-owned dairy farm in Vermont's Champlain Valley. She cultures the cream using a proprietary blend of cultures for 24 hours before churning it into luscious golden butter. Each block is kneaded and shaped by hand, and the flavor is a balance of tangy, nutty, and sweet. 

Photo Credits: Emily Rak