Hello again from your farmers here at Round Table Farm!
It certainly feels like summer here - we’ve been rapidly alternating between heat waves and thunderstorms, the grass is growing faster than we (or the heifers) can mow, and our sunflowers are opening up! It’s been both exciting and overwhelming to experience our first summer here as we continue settling into our routines on the farm.
We’ve been chugging along with the flowers and are looking forward to our first Flower Subscription drop off this week! We’re selling flowers a few different places these days - we usually have a few bouquets available at the farm store, bring plenty to the Belmont Farmers Market on Thursday afternoons, and will have extras for sale at Rose32 in Hardwick on Thursdays until they sell out, as well as Crust Bakeshop in Worcester on Sundays.
Our cheese production is ramping up! Now that I’m working on the farm full time during summer break we’re going to be making new batches a few times each week. The Arpeggio, a semi-soft taleggio-style cheese that we learned from the Robinsons, will be ready for sale in about a month once it’s hit the 60 day aging mark. Next week we’re going to start trying out a manchego recipe that we got from Rama at Cosmic Wheel Creamery in Amery, WI - a wonderful farmer and cheesemaker who I worked with a few years back! As we get started in the cheesemaking industry, we’re imagining ourselves as “community cheesemakers" who source milk from other local dairy farms and learn recipes from cheesemaking mentors.
Our Open Farm Day is rapidly approaching and we’ve been doing lots to prepare for this big party day! The party will be from 12-3PM on Saturday, July 10th at Round Table Farm (42 Jackson Road, Hardwick, MA 01037). We’ll have wraps from the Petersham Country Store, make-your-own bouquets with our flowers, tons of cheese for sale in the farm store, farm tours at 1:00 and 2:00 PM, some lawn games, and lots of good company! Come for the whole three hours or stop by for a quick round of badminton and a slice of cheese! You can find all of this information and more on the facebook event here. We can’t wait to see you at the farm.
Finally, as usual, we have our Round Table Farm by the numbers! In the time since we last updated you all, we have:
Replaced one sump pump (okay only one, but it was our first time, see picture below)
Hauled over 1,000 pounds of milk to make cheese
Harvested over 2,500 flower stems
Ran our cows 3/4 miles from our neighbor’s house where they had adventured far from their pasture…
In the next couple of newsletters we will continue sharing more about our story and our ethics in farming and being on the land here. We always love it when people respond to our newsletters - if you have any questions that you’d like to see us answer, please share them with us!!
Lots of love,
Archer and Marlo and the whole animal crew!
Marlo and Archer, sounds like you are busier than ever! Need to organize a Chicago cheese order when you are ready! Or just visit again! Mimi and I really enjoyed our visit last month. And thanks for the newsletter update too! John
I so much enjoy your newsletter and news about your adventures. I live in Chatham, MA - a friend of Marcia and Bob. You two look so happy, it is a joy to see and watch. Gloria