Rennet Workshops May 6th

Rennet Harvesting and Goat Kid Butchering Workshop

Every year, dairy farmers are faced with what to do with the male offspring of their cows, sheep, and goats. Come learn one creative way to use this resource and preserve one of the vital cheesemaking ingredients yourself. Participants will learn how to slaughter, butcher, and harvest rennet from a goat kid.

March 25 at Appleton Creamery in Appleton, 10am – 4pm (CONCLUDED)

May 6 at Fuzzy Udder Creamery/South Paw Farm in Unity, 10am – 4pm

$25-$75 workshop fee, sliding scale. Please email fuzzyudder@gmail.com to register or more information about work-trade/scholarships, or call 948-5268

Farm Business Skills Retreat

Interested in improving your farm’s financial and production recordkeeping?

Want to connect with your customers on Facebook? Lacking the time and expertise to learn these skills?

Participate in The Farm Business Skills Weekend Retreat
Friday evening, March 9th thru Sunday noon, March 11th

Hosted by Maine Sustainable Agriculture Society and Knowledge Transfer Alliance

Bangor Motor Inn, Hogan Road, Bangor, Maine

REGISTRATION: To register, please contact Andrew Files of the Maine Sustainable Agriculture Society at 207.843.7581 or afiles@mesas.org. Space is limited, so register early!!

COST: The cost of the Weekend Retreat is $190 (for those lodging at the Bangor Motor Inn) and $50 (for those with other lodging arrangements). Lunch and dinner on Saturday, as well as snacks and refreshments throughout the weekend, will be provided.

Click here to download a PDF with all the event information.

2012 Workshops

The Maine Cheese Guild will host two intermediate/advanced upcoming workshops featuring instructors from away. There are still beginner cheesemaking workshops offered this spring by Appleton Creamery, and the Guild may be able to organize one or more workshops featuring Guild instructors. Stay tuned to the web site for more info.

Get Cultured

***COMPLETED**

MONDAY, MARCH 26th from 10am to 5pm
Pineland Farms Creamery, New Gloucester, Maine

1 Day workshop all about cheese cultures and molds, presented by Rex Infanger of Danisco, ideal for beginning cheese makers, as well as experienced cheese makers, because there is always more we need to know about the organisms that do all the work for us cheese makers.

British Blue Cheeses

***FILLED***

Stay tuned for an announcement about the Blue Cheese Class Ms. Biss will be teaching in Vermont if you missed this opportunity.

SAT and SUN, APRIL 21-22nd from 9am to 5pm
State of Maine Cheese Co., Rockport, Maine

British Hard Cheeses

Kathy Biss

SAT and SUN, APRIL 28-29th from 9am to 5pm

***FILLED***

State of Maine Cheese Co., Rockport, Maine

According to legend, British cheese makers have always focused on making hard cheeses because they wanted to make cheese that could survive the days and weeks of travel to market in London where a dairyman could clear a year’s wages on a single wagon-load of well found cheese. Thence came Lancashire, Cheshire, Gloucester, Wensleydale, Double Gloucester, Red Leicester, Caerphilly, not to mention a rare style named after a small Somerset village in the West Country of England: Cheddar. Kathy Biss, a British cheese maker herself, from West Highland Dairy in Scotland, will teach a class on the techniques for making and aging these types of cheeses.

These workshops are limited in size. To reserve your spot send your contact info. (including your email address) and a check for the appropriate deposit amount to:

Maine Cheese Guild
c/o Mark Whitney, Treasurer
Pineland Farms
32 Farm View Drive
New Gloucester, Maine 04260