On my second visit to Sprout Creek Farm and Educational Center in LaGrange, N.Y., I was not surprised to see a large school bus parked in front of the main house.
“Welcome back!” Georgie shouts, as I get out of my car.
“It”™s a busy-busy morning. We are hosting an elementary school tour, launching a new cheese, and trying to catch up with our animal chores.”
For Sisters Margo, Georgie, Anne Marie and Jean, this is just another chaotic morning on the creek. They run a nonprofit, fully working, farm observing the theme, “a woman”™s work is never done.”
Situated on 200 pristine acres, the center offers agricultural education, spiritual development and a peaceful place for those who need to exhale from the hustle and bustle of life.
“This is a farm where everyone is welcome. During the spring, summer and fall, calves are being born. The animals are happy and the camp children are engaged in a variety of chores. It”™s awesome!” Georgie says. Their mission statement is honest and simple: to provide educational experiences for children and adults that will foster appreciation for what is grown and harvested on the farm.
One particular brochure that caught my eye is a summer program called Project Harvest. Boys and girls ages 13 and 14 can milk a cow, plant a seed, and till the land while making new friends. Margo reports, “After one week on the farm, the teenagers have been transformed. They get a sense of how the world should function and where their food should come from. By the end of their session, the kids return home tire, in a good healthy way.”
As I walk over to the barn, I spot Cosmos the Jersey Cow. Noted by Georgie as her favorite animal and one of the oldest cows on the farm, I can”™t wait to make her acquaintance. Pretending I am Dr. Doolittle, and I can talk to the animals, I ask Cosmos, “How do you like this place?” She moo”™s, “in the summer, we rotate from field to field eating gourmet grass. Now I am eating hay because the weather is cold. My winter milk produces some of our best cheeses.
You should try the Barat; it”™s whey delicious.”
Continuing my tour around the beautiful pastures, I notice a small herd of goats huddled in a corner. I am anxious to say hello to another superstar called Columbus, a Nubian breed goat, and Margo”™s favorite animal. Born in 1992 and named after the explorer Christopher Columbus, this animal is in remarkable condition for an old goat.
“Hey, what”™s your story?” I inquire. Columbus replies, “I am part of the seasonal herd. Our milk produces the famous Sofie cheese beginning this April and ending in October. Next month don”™t be an April Fool. You must go-oat for it!”
Taking the animal”™s advice, I decide to roam over to the farm”™s retail store and start tasting some of their artisan cheese. At the counter, Margo and Georgie are patiently waiting for me with cheese samples produced by Colin McGrath, their head cheese maker. Through a large glass window I see Colin, explaining his role at Sprout Creek to a group of second-graders. A former Culinary Institute of America graduate, Colin and his assistant handmade 12 farmstead antibiotic-free beauties. On my tasting plate I sample three new gems ready for their coming out party: Batch 35, Mr. Blue and Bogart. What a great spring awakening for a cheese lover! After tasting what is home grown on Sprout Creek, I understand why the sisters are so passionate about their mission. “Let”™s start growing food responsibly. People need to know that we must change the way we manufacture our food and we must support our local enterprises.”
As they look to the heavens for additional financial support, I sense the “fierce urgency is now” for residents of Hudson Valley to take a proactive role. Go out and plant a seed at Sprout Creek Farm.
Help finance a new fruit orchard. Register for a Saturday morning cheese-making class with McGrath. But for me, simply hanging out with cows and goats, eating great cheese and watching the sunshine into the creek sheds new light on the word “pleasure.”
Note: You can order Sprout Creek Farm cheeses at www.sproutcreekfarm.org or call the farm at (845) 485-8438.
Celebrate Hudson Valley Restaurant weeks, Sunday through Friday,
March 9 to March 21. Sprout Creek cheeses and many other Hudson Valley farms will be featured on a variety of menus.)
