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Profiles of Farmers
In
Profiles of Farmers, I'll introduce
you to people who produce incredible
food using sustainable practices.
Bellwether Farms, Valley Ford, California
 Cindy Callahan The
business began with the sale
of spring lambs, and this
is how I met Cindy. As the
chef for an event at Chalk
Hill Winery, I was asked to
roast one of her whole lambs
on an outdoor spit. Despite
the fact that I'd never roasted
a whole lamb before, the meal
turned out perfectly, in large
part because of her great
product!
Cindy and Ed turned their attention to cheese, after a friend casually suggested that they milk their sheep. With customary enthusiasm, the couple traveled through Tuscany and Umbria to learn traditional cheese making methods.
That
initial quest continues to
inspire Bellwether Farms'
products today, especially
in their buttery Crescenza
and famously smooth Ricotta.
They have also created several
original cheeses, most notably
the full-flavored San Andreas
and their blue-ribbon cow's
milk Carmody.
To
get the special flavor and
quality of their sheep's milk
cheese, the Callahans use East
Friesian sheep, a Northern
European breed. These sheep
produce more milk than other
breeds, but still, that's not
a lot. They provide milk for
eight months after lambs are
weaned in the spring, and daily
production is only about a
half galloon per animal. What's
more, East Friesans can only
be raised
successfully under non-intensive
conditions, so the Bellwether
flock necessarily stays small
and on pasture. Their precious
milk is used to make the farm's
signature San Andreas and Pepato
cheeses. The other sheeps milk
and cows milk cheeses, are
made from milk purchased from
other small local dairies.
 Bellwether Cheese To
try Bellwether Farms cheeses,
visit their retail outlet
in Healdsburg's Plaza Farms
market, or go to www.bellwetherfarms.com.
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