2013 Yellow Springs Farm Day Three -Helena

Wednesday was an exciting day. Wednesday was cheese day. In the morning I got to work with Al in the cheese room. Then in the afternoon after doing some chores, I stayed later and learned how to milk a goat.

The first thing we did was remove the cheese from the vat where it had been pasteurized and put it in bags so that the whey would drain off. 

To pasteurize the milk they have to heat it up in the vat. The vat is like a double boiler, with water on the inside of the outside section, which is heated up. Then there is a second, removable section into which the milk is placed. Not only do they have to heat the milk, they also have to heat the airspace above the milk in the closed vat so that the temperature is consistent throughout the vat. 

It turns out it’s very useful that part of the vat is removable. After taking out the cheese and washing the inside and outside of the vat you can take the inside to the sink for a final rinse out. As Al says, if you’re in the business of making cheese, a good seventy-five percent of your time is spent washing dishes.


One of my favorite places on the whole farm is the aging room. It’s kept at a cool temperature and becomes a very popular place to volunteer in the summer. As is obvious from the name, this is where the cheeses stay to age. It is also where the different cheeses are soaked in things such as wine, beer or brine to give them their unique flavors. Here are a few photos I  snapped inside: