Local Spotlight: Queso Cabeza Farm

If you've been following our sheepy endeavors, you've heard me talk about Queso Cabeza Farm, in Olivet, MI. When I first started researching sheep, I was really struck by the Icelandic breed. They're an ancient breed - hardy with independent and strong personalities. When I learned there were both horned and polled Icelandics, I was drawn to the polled. I'm honestly not sure why - maybe because I secretly also really like the traditional polled English sheep breeds. Anyway, it wasn't long before I was directed to the web site (and patient correspondence) of Laura Volkmann and Rick Boesan at Queso Cabeza. They were so amazingly helpful in assisting me with all of my tedious questions and newbie confusion.

They eventually sold me two beautiful ewes, Ingrid and Gertrude, and leased me a Ram, Herb. We ended up keeping Herb way past the point when the lady-sheep were bred simply because he got along with everybody so well. There was only a week or two of Herb butting into the ewes, probably working out his frustration with the fact that they were no longer cycling. After that he was a perfect gentleman, and actually became quite fond of Jeremy (and vice versa, as well).

This past Thursday, Jeremy and I returned Herb to his home at Queso Cabeza. It was a sad goodbye, but he will definitely enjoy his life over there with more sheep. We actually managed to load the crate, and then Herb, into our Subaru station wagon! I'm ceaselessly impressed by that vehicle. If it could pull a horse trailer, we'd never need a truck!

 When we arrived at Queso Cabeza, we loaded Herb into a trailer for safe keeping while Laura and Rick were at work. He was so polite about loading and unloading that we found ourselves waiting for something to go wrong. He didn't struggle at all when Jeremy lifted him in, and he marched right out of the station wagon and into the trailer like a pro. It was a big relief.

 

Of course after dealing with Herb we had to watch the QC lambs and their mothers in the barnyard. I cannot believe how adorable the lamb were! The best part was when we rounded the corner and realized we were watching the first steps of a just-born lamb, the mother nearby watching carefully over both the newborn, and it's slightly older sibling. I sent Laura a picture while she was at work and she later informed me the ewe's name is Kelly, and her lambs are a ram and ewe.

The whole experience of seeing the lambs has made me out-of-my-mind-crazy-excited for Ingrid's lambs to arrive. I am thinking they may come later rather than sooner based on the size of her udder, but I'll keep my eye out just in case! She is starting to get the relaxed-ligaments with the kind of sunken late pregnancy look.

I don't think the lamb on the right has the hang of where to suckle yet...

The barnyard was so peaceful and quiet; no lamb races today!

This little lamb was by far the most curious and outgoing in the yard. It even came right up and poked my hand with it's little nose, but only after mom said it was okay.

This is the sibling lamb of the one in the picture above. I got to watch this one jump off a 3' door stoop, try to fly, and do a near face plant on top of mom. Good luck with these lambs, Laura. They're sure to be escape artists!

 

Me and my shadow!

Mom has an itch. :)

There was one lamb and one ewe that I wish I had photos of. The lamb was playing hide-and-seek with the mother (both mouflan) and the mother was in a right panic. I felt so bad for her. The lamb would run and hide behind something, and the ewe would stress out and call and run around searching for her baby. When she got close to the lamb's hiding place, the lamb would jump out like "Gotcha!" and then tear across the barnyard to another hiding place. It was hilarious to watch, but you know the mother was freaking out. 

Anyway, if any of you are considering Icelandic sheep, I urge you to contact Queso Cabeza. They are a fantastically friendly couple of shepherds with some truly beautiful stock.

Local Review: Calder Dairy (Delivery!)

Local Review: Calder Dairy

You may remember I posted a video link to The Trip for Life Episode 17: The Calder Bros Dairy a few weeks ago and I wanted to expand on their amazing dairy a bit.

My husband, Jeremy, and I finally signed up for milk delivery last week. We have both enjoyed Calder milks before: he, growing up, and I, while in college. It wasn't until around Christmas that a friend mentioned their milk delivery in passing and we began to get excited. Milk delivery? How awesome! Of course there has to be a gigantic delivery fee, we said, we could never afford it. It'll never happen.

We were totally wrong.

Calder Dairy keeps their cows locally and fed on farm-raised forage. Their practices are leaning towards sustainable and, while they are not certified organic, they are all natural and there are absolutely no hormones or antibiotics used on their cows. Their dairy and farm are both open to visitors, and you can go see the cows in action, healthy and clean (as cows go). Their milk is bottled in recyclable and reusable glass bottles, which is their signature around here. They have been a family owned dairy for fifty five years! In addition to being a long-standing, local business with a great sense of community, they deliver their products to several local cities and communities (in Washtenaw, Wayne, Monroe and Oakland counties) with a minimal delivery fee of $2.50 a delivery!

Yesterday was our delivery day and we placed our cooler out by the fence. Right around 3pm, the dogs started barking and there it was - a giant, cow-spotted delivery truck in our driveway, and milk and bread in our cooler! Our weekly milk is what is called their "Natural" which means un-homogenized, old fashioned cream top milk. The milk is clumpy and thick with cream at the top, and more like skim at the bottom. All of Calder's milk tastes amazing, but their natural milk takes the cake and is amazing to drink, bake with and especially to make cheese with!

In addition to milk, Calder delivers their own butter, icecream, buttermilk, sour cream, eggnog, cream,and yogurt, as well as locally sourced bread (all natural), rice pudding, eggs and even cider!

I strongly recommend them to you if you live in any of the surrounding counties. They are friendly and pleasant to deal with, and if you have delivery they don't charge you for milk bottle deposits which is another bonus. If you don't live in the area, try searching for local dairies online. I was amazed to find that we actually have three local dairies but to be honest, Calder Dairy stands apart as being the highest quality local milk in the area.

Jeremy is such a good sport... Nothing like a milk mustache to show a satisfied consumer.

(We are going to be taking a fieldtrip to their farm this spring. Be sure to watch for the update!)

--
Do you have access to great local food? Were they easy to find, or more like a well kept secret?