The Briar Patch

Midge & Reba enjoying some weeds in the 18 acre wood

Though we're deep in the tomato project, with all its eccentricities, at the moment, one thing is clear--summer is heaven for our Oberhasli goats at Stargrove.

They wander around nibbling at the endless buffet that is a 'wild managed' wood, the 18 acre tract we fenced a few years ago.

Our goal this fall is to make some delicious goat cheese and get started on that part of our farm project. We'll make artisan varieties of organic goat cheese for restaurants and foodies.

Oberhasli are native to Switzerland. They're sweet and friendly (one of our first goats, Goatee, used to spend a lot of time each day staring lovingly at whatever human was around. They are also more focused on the wilderness than more domestic breeds. They love weeds and briars. They love roaming through the forest.

Here's what I love--creating a place that is sustainable and not so 'heavy on the ground.' Growing foods that chefs and foodies can enjoy in their own creations. Making a difference while preserving something I was fortunate enough to be given.

Last night we made a pasta dish, a riff on a bruschetta recipe one of the chefs who uses our product developed. Our version was a few cups of our freshly harvested organic cherry tomatoes, some fresh basil, cippolini onions, black olives, garlic, and ground walnuts over penne pasta. We let the cherry tomatoes burst in the skillet and then hit them with an ounce or so of vodka, mixed in some cream, added the above-referenced add-ons, and sprinkled the ground walnuts on top. It was delicious.

The chef's version offset the acidity of the cherry tomatoes with some honey and added some ricotta cheese.

"This would go nice with some goat cheese," I remarked after we were polishing off our third plate. "Or some shaved truffle."

We're working on it.