Nettle Meadow

A one-on-one walking tour of the Nettle Meadow Farm at the base of Crane Mountain took nearly an hour. It wasn't to show off equipment or brag about their international award winning cheeses. It takes that long when Lorraine Lambiase, who owns the property with Sheila Flanagan, stops to introduce and greet the 300 or so goats. "Oh, Hokey Pokey, are you having a good day? Hi, Bubbles," she said, continuing around the many corralled areas, separated by fencing that is upright, but mangled. "We don't disbud our goats," she said, explaining the condition of the fences. Disbudding is a method of stopping the growth of horns in the animals while still young using a heated tool to cauterize the site. It's one of many animal-centered practices the pair subscribes to, ultimately with great affect on their net profit. There's the 600 to 800 goats born each year that instead of being sold, are given away to an agent that makes sure they will never be used for meat, only dairy or brush removal. There's the wool sheered from the dozens of sheep in residence that is donated instead of offered for sale. There's the collection of many, many animals that have found their way to the sanctuary on the farm, which serve no purpose to the cheese making. There are rescued horses, donkeys and a llama ill-suited to work as a guard. There are some blind, lame or three-legged animals in the mix. There are chickens and ducks and somehow, a bird-cage grew into a rather large aviary for the care of birds that couldn't be returned to the wild. Most of these animals came by way of donation or drop-off, the last chance at life for the bulk of them. Some came on their own, though, like the peacock that just appeared one day in their yard. "He found his way here, and I thought, what are we going to do with him?" recalled Lambiase. "Then he just opened up his tail and was so beautiful." Like always, they couldn't say no. The sanctuary animals, however, are nothing compared to the growing goat retirement community. It's a common farming practice to kill animals when they are no longer productive. For goats, their life providing milk is typically around eight years. "That's not something we are going to do," said Lambiase. "They provided for us. We are going to provide for them." All the goats, which typically have a life expectancy of 20 years, will live out their days on the farm in the same manner they did when giving milk and young. They receive the same medical care, natural grains, organic hay and lots of love. That includes the males in what they call, "the bachelor pad." The males can only be used two or three seasons as studs, for benefit of the flock growth, but they stay on at the farm, too. "Really, what would be the point," said Flanagan. "We didn't move from California to make cheese. We can do that anywhere. We moved here for the animals." It was in 2005 when they made the move. Bigger than the distance, was the change in lifestyle. Flanagan gave up a career as an attorney and they cashed in everything to purchase the century-old property in Thurman. "The first year was terrible," said Lambiase. "There were plenty of times I thought we weren't going to make it, but we did, and here we are." It had previously been a dairy farm, housing horses for a period, as well. Its most recent life was as a goat farm, which attracted Flanagan to it on a real estate listing online. They'd been producing goat cheese on their one-third acre parcel for themselves and neighbors in a residential area and knew they wanted something more. Though they have relatives in New England, they'd never been to the Adirondack region. The property was operational, but needed a lot of work and contained just 50 goats. The original homestead had burned and a barn had been converted into living quarters. Another barn remained, though how it stood was a mystery. "There were nights, when we'd hear the wind blow, I wondered if we were going to find it in a heap in the yard," said Lambiase. Restoring it would be no small task and take seven years before they were able to make it happen financially. It took a master craftsman, Andy Leblanc of Indian Lake, more than one year to replace the failing timbers, floors, walls and windows. Joel and Aaron Mosher took charge of the enormous gambrel roof, now a breathtaking masterpiece on the barn's second floor. Like most everything on Nettle Meadow Farm, there would probably have been a faster and cheaper way to approach it, such as bulldozing the barn and starting new. Taking the easy way out, however, is not in their nature. Their passion for the animals and the farm comes through in their cheese. Others around the world have noticed. In March, competing against 2,955 entries from 23 countries, their Apple Cider Fromage Frais brought home a gold medal, in mixed milk spreadable cheeses, from the World Cheese Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. Kunik earned a gold medal among mixed milk bloomy rind cheeses. It was the second time the cheese took top honors, after its Blue Ribbon award in the Triple Crème category at the American Cheese Society's annual North American Cheese Contest in 2010. The cheese operation goes seven days a week and employs a staff of nine on the farm. "This is true artisan cheese," said Flanagan as a crew poured and hand packed the cheese in the cheesemaking addition of the building. The cheeses are flavored with everything from horseradish to lemon verbena to honey and lavender, most recently a new blend infuses Irish whiskey and stout. Some of the offerings are pure goat's milk, while others are made from cow, sheep and goat milk- all from animals on the farm. The pasteurization takes place on site, and the steps to turn the milk into cheese are hours long. Lambiase focuses her efforts on the more delicate cheeses, while Flanagan has continued to hone her skills on the semi-aged cheeses. The cheese is moved to the aging room, a white-painted stone subterranean space original to the building. The spreads are frozen once packaged to extend their shelf life. When ready, the cheeses are delivered locally a little north of the farm and as far south as Albany. One distributor, however, gets much of the product to New York City where it goes to many stores and locations around the country. Lambiase said delivering locally will always remain important. "We want to have that contact with our customers," she said. She conducted a cheese sale for a local woman who is unable to eat cow's milk, therefore the goat cheese is one of her favorites. The entire time Lambiase held a newborn goat in her arms. She went to return the baby goat to a playpen. He was one of about 16 newborns that were filling up their living room. And so goes the life of goat farmers and artisan cheese makers in Thurman, where the animals always come first. The farm is open for cheese sales seven days a week, from 11 a.m to 3 p.m. Tours are given every Saturday at noon. More information about the farm, the animals and cheese can be found at nettlemeadow.com. Upcoming events at Nettle Meadow Farm, 484 S. Johnsburg Road, Thurman • Third Annual Cheese and Spirits Pairing Local artisans and craft beverages makers Saturday, June 18, 2015 5-7:30 p.m. in the restored Old Barn Loft $25 in advance, $30 at door For more information: www.NettleMeadowCheeseandSpirits.com • Nettle Meadow's 11th Annual Open House coinciding with the Thurman Fall Farm Tour Local artisans, musicians, menu favorites, tours, cheese samples and children's tent Saturday, Oct. 8 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. For more information: www.ThurmanFallFarmTour.com

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