Ethos

I am Julie Cheyney, I loved milking cows at weekends as a teenager and this led to a growing fascination for milk and what you can make from it. Being interested in the whole cycle from pasture to milk to cheese I feel that good soil husbandry and respectful animal welfare is vital.

Deciding to relocate to the Crickmore’s family farm in Suffolk and use their cows’ raw milk was an exciting collaboration for me. Their approach and commitment to caring for their animals and farm provides me with the best milk for cheesemaking.

Milk

The Montbéliarde breed of cows give a high protein milk which is excellent for cheesemaking and goes into renowned cheeses such as Vacherin, Comté and Reblochon. My mantra is that our lactic style cheeses are made ‘slowly and gently’. This means that the production is very much handmade, watching over the process, trying to use as little intervention as possible while ensuring the conditions are right.

The milk is piped from the milking parlour to the cheese room where, barely an hour old, the cultures are added to acidify the milk and thus the cheesemaking process has begun. There are many factors that affect the milk composition throughout the year, such as the cow’s stage of lactation and what she is eating. These seasonal changes influence the taste and texture of the cheese which provide some of the characteristics of a true farmhouse, handmade cheese.

Ultimately, I feel that it is about working with nature, not against her. I am the dairymaid who gets to make her own cheese.

Awards