Sangha Farm: Grown the Way Nature Intended

Tava Cheese - All-Natural Goat Cheese

Sangha Farm doesn't just grow vegetables; we are also a licensed goat cheese dairy. We began making our chevre and feta cheeses in the spring of 2008. Milking eight Nubian goats makes us one of the smallest dairies in the state, but we are also one of five dairies operating in Ashfield. We pasteurize our milk in a four-gallon stovetop pasteurizer that was designed by Tricia Smith of Carlisle Farmstead Cheese.

A retired dairy farmer in Maine once said to me…."a farm only needs one milking animal." Well, she was right, but she neglected to say that one milking animal always leads to two, then three... and before you know it you have more milk than you can drink so you make cheese and goat milk fudge, and then you move onto goat cheese truffles! The construction of the barn and the inclusion of a cheese room and milking parlor allowed us to become a commercial dairy. We introduced Tava Cheese on opening day of the Ashfield Farmers' Market in 2008.

Our Goats

Our goats graze on sustainably managed pastures, where browsing and luscious grass are available. We currently hand milk and are very proud of our consistently low bacteria counts. Our goats' health is very important to us; we include herbal supplements in their diet along with kelp, minerals, and greens from the field, plus local apples when available.

We appreciate the individual personalities of each of our goats and honor that with a nickname to which each of them answers. Many visitors to the farm comment on how quiet our Nubians are; we feel it's because they are content and happy.

Bennie The Big B, as we like to call her, was the first goat to arrive here at Sangha Farm. Her claim to fame is walking in the first (and only) Ashfield Mardi Gras Parade, dressed as a butterfly. Bennie had been a show goat before coming here, so being in a crowd was not new for her, and she didn't even mind all the dogs. Truth be told, she did better than our German Shepherd, Jebbie! Bennie also likes to stand on her hind legs to reach high branches.	Targa Targa (TT or the Big T) was second to arrive and considers herself our herd queen. In 2008 she gave birth to our only doe of the year, so maybe she's right. She tends to be a bit of a bully, but we love her and her daughters, Artemis and Bell.
Hershey What can I tell you about Hershey? We lovingly refer to her as THE HERSH. She really likes to do her own thing. While going out to pasture or coming in, Hershey always goes to the apple tree, whether there are apples on it or not. She just likes to check, in case she happened to leave one last fall; she LOVES apples. One morning this March, when Derek and Lisa were coming in for breakfast after morning chores, there was Hersh walking in the kitchen after them. Apparently she snuck out of her stall, probably went to the apple tree, saw that there were no apples, noticed Derek and Lisa walking toward the house, and decided to follow them. Hershey is six years old. We aren't sure if she is bred or not, but we love her just the same.	Artemis Artemis has the honor of being the first goat born here. We like to call her Smarty Pants. If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, she's going to find out. Miss Smarty Pants likes to climb trees and use her horns to scratch her back. We have made the conscious choice not to disbud our goats. We feel that it's a cruel practice to burn their horns when they are a few days old. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Biodynamic Agriculture, said "livestock need their horns to connect them to the cosmos" and we agree with that. All the goats born here keep their horns.
Cybele Cybele was our only doe born in 2008, the year of the buck. We like to call her Bellie-Bellie. She's a very sweet girl who enjoys lying with her mom and sister. Cybele is also the name of the oldest creation goddess. Since she was our only doe in a buck year, we wanted her to have a powerful name. She's very sweet and likes to climb trees.	Delta Dawn Dawn has a very horse-sounding bleat, which she only uses while waiting to be milked. She's a very sweet girl and moved here in June, 2008. Targa is her aunt. Dawn gave us triplets this year: Dali, Damu, and Dongo.
Reflection Fleck will freshen for the first time this spring. We are anxiously awaiting the birth of her babies. She is a very sweet goat with beautiful markings along her face. Fleck never gives us any trouble; she follows the leader out in the morning and in at night. She is also very fond of apples and kale.	Dark Star Star is a very beautiful goat and very easy to handle. We aren't milking her this summer; we look forward to her milk next year. She did give us a very handsome buck whom Maia quickly claimed for her own and named Ralfi. Derek and Maia are going to train him to pull a wagon.
Fricke We call her Big Momma. Fricke is one of the largest and strongest goats we have. Unless you have grain to encourage her, she's not moving! She came to us in March from a farm in Connecticut. Fricke kidded the end of May; currently she is giving us a gallon-plus daily. She is also very attentive to her babies.	Joie Joie is a very sweet goat, who is a full sister to Fricke. This will be her first freshening. She is also a big girl, though not as stubborn as Fricke. She quickly adjusted to our routine of going out in the day and coming in at night. She loves to scratch her back by rolling around on the ground. We have also seen her rolling down the hill. At first we thought something was wrong with her, but when she got up, shook herself off, and did it again, we realized she was just playing.

Our Cheese

We began last season with chevre. We were also working on perfecting our feta but didn't have it for sale until mid-July when we were finally happy with the results. Feta is one of my favorite cheeses and turns out it's also a favorite of the people of Ashfield - I don't seem to be able to make enough of it!

We grow almost all of the ingredients we use in our cheese. If we do buy ingredients, they are from certified organic sources.

Chevres:

• Chive & Garlic
• Creamy Dill
• Herbed
• Roasted Red Pepper & Garlic
• Cracked Peppercorn
• Dried Tomato & Pesto
• Honey Roasted Walnut & Cranberry
• We also do a few seasonal flavors:
  • Strawberry
  • Pumpkin Spice

We also make a marinated feta, which we marinate in organic olive oil, thyme, and cracked peppercorns. It's just perfect on top of grilled pizza in the summer.

Goat Cheese Truffles

One of our favorite things to make and eat are goat cheese truffles. They are a delectable treat anytime of the day or night. People always ask where the truffle idea came from, and honestly I don't know. A few years ago a pregnant friend combined chevre and goat milk fudge to satisfy a craving, which sparked the idea in my mind. I love chocolate and I love cheese, so putting the two together seemed liked a good idea. I introduced the truffles at the Ashfield Fall Festival in October of 2008, and they became a big hit.

Truffle flavors:

• Vanilla Cheese
• Chocolate Cheese
• Strawberry Cheese
• Pumpkin Spice Cheese

...all dipped in semi-sweet chocolate. The common response when someone tries them for the first time is..."OH MY GOD! That is so good!!!"

Where Can You Find Our Cheese?

• The Ashfield Farmers' Market: Center of Ashfield, Sat. 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
• The Florence Farmers' Market: Wed. 2:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
• Elmer's Store & Restaurant in Ashfield (7 days a week)
• The Olde Creamers in Cummington (truffles)
• The farm (call or email for availability)

About the Name

You may be wondering where the name Tava Cheese came from. Tava is not a goat at all, but one of our sheep; she inspired us at a time when we needed inspiration. Tava was the last born of triplets on a very cold night in April 2007. She barely weighed 3 pounds, and we really didn't think she would live but had to try.

We brought her into our house and fed her colostrum with a syringe hourly. She was very weak, not able to hold her head up, and couldn't suck that first night. By the next day she was able to suck from a nipple and could hold her head up. The first week of her life she required hourly feedings which meant babysitters when we weren't around. There was no shortage of those; she was even a guest during a sermon at the Congregational Church in town! She lived in our house for three months because she was so small that whenever we put her out with the sheep, she'd run through the fence and come back to us.

We met with a lot of red tape while dealing with local health ordinances for the dairy. There were many times that I became very frustrated and wanted to give up, and then Tava would reach another milestone. She gave me the strength to keep trudging through the red tape.

Tava's name is actually Otava which means ‘great bear constellation' in Egyptian mythology. I have always had a strong connection to bears, so in honor of the strength Tava showed those first few months of her life, we named our cheese after her. The label picture, however, is Artemis and was drawn by a local artist. One of our interns last summer was a graphic designer by trade, and he applied the color to the picture and helped get it ready for printing. (Thanks, Brian!)