Jess Trethowan.
Almost exactly a year has gone by since I wrote the first Diary of a Cheesemaker and so once again, I am sitting, looking at a beautiful autumn-scape of trees on the turn, berries and beautiful sunlight. I can see the cows munching away on the rough ground. It won’t be long before they go inside for the winter months and begin their silage diet, which produces that lovely creamy milk we so value for our Christmas cheeses…
Kim Trethowan.
As producers of a handmade, unpasteurised product, slow food is not a concept for us, but a way of life and working. This does not mean we are backward looking; indeed it places Gorwydd Farm at the centre of a modern, yet traditional, community of slow food devotees, made up of interwoven and ever increasing circles. What community actually is provokes significant debate, but for us it represents all the people and groups who have contributed in some way to who we are, what we do and why we do it…
This entry comes from Kim Trethowan who along with Maugan works day-in-day-out at Gorwydd so knows the seasonal changes in the cheese and at the farm better than anyone.
Winter has a habit of letting you forget the warmth and colour of any other season and the one just passed has been no exception. Starting so early, Mother Nature turned the landscape monochrome and reminded us with every bitterly cold intake of breath just how powerful she can be. It’s all about survival during those dark months; keeping our heads down and clearing away snow and ice from the drive, trying to maintain the temperature in the dairy, guarding the equipment from failure… So when you catch the first signs of new life hugging the stark stone walls around the farm, it takes you totally by surprise…
Our regular column from the Trethowans, makers of Gorwydd Caerphilly – one of Britain’s great territorial cheeses. This month Jess recounts the hard work and equal delights of a cold winter at Gorwydd farm.
The early snow this year has brought with it some of the jobs we usually tackle closer to Christmas and into January. Clearing the long driveway of snow and ice needs to happen at least twice a day in order that the milk tanker and the couriers can make it to and from the dairy, delivering milk and picking up cheese.
Our new column comes from the Trethowan family, makers of Gorwydd Caerphilly – one of Britain’s great territorial cheeses. This month Jess writes of their beginnings in cheese, her husband Todd’s perfectionism and attention to detail, and of their mutual love for the seasons…
Cheese is an assuredly real food. It’s the product of passion, attention to detail and science. It is a living thing with a rich history. It is tied to the land, to the weather and the seasons, to animals, to people, to ideas and to farms.
