Essex County Cheese Tour on October 12

On Sunday, October 12, 2014, Adirondack Harvest will host the first (and hopefully annual!) Essex County, NY, Cheese Tour. Three local artisanal creameries will open their doors to the public for a day: Sugar House Creamery in Upper Jay, NY; Asgaard Farm & Dairy in Au Sable Forks, NY; and North Country Creamery at Clover Mead Farm in Keeseville, NY.

Folks are encouraged to travel from farm to farm enjoying farm tours, demonstrations, cheese samples, prepared food and farm products for sale and more! Tours and samples are free of charge. Farm stores will be open, allowing you to stock up on the cheeses you enjoyed sampling and other farm goods.

Farms will be open from 10am to 4pm for self-guided visits. Tour the farms in any order.

You can schedule a farm stay at Asgaard Farm or Sugar House Creamery and enjoy a weekend in the Adirondacks.

Click here to access a Google map with the farm locations.

About Sugar House Creamery

Sugar House Creamery is located at 18 Sugar House Way in Upper Jay, NY.

Cheese Making at Sugar House Creamery (Credit: Sugar House Creamery)

This small mountain dairy is owned and operated by Margot Brooks and Alex Eaton who turn the milk from their eight Brown Swiss cows into a variety of farmstead cheeses.

All cheeses are handmade in small batches and aged in an underground cave on teh farm. Sugar House Creamery’s original cheese varieties range from the Little Dickens, a soft surface-ripened cheese with a creamy texture and fresh lemony flavor, to Dutch Knuckle, a hard Alpine-style cheese made from raw milk and aged 6 months on locally-milled spruce boards.

The Sugar House Creamery is open daily selling fresh, raw milk and cheese.

Visit their website and Facebook page to stay up-to-date and learn more.

About Asgaard Farm & Dairy

Asgaard Farm & Dairy is located at 74 Asgaard Way in Au Sable Forks, NY.

Asgaard Farm & Dairy "Whiteface Mountain" Cheese — Asgaard’s “Whiteface Mountain” Cheese (Credit: Asgaard Farm & Dairy)

It is owned and operated by Rhonda Butler and David Brunner who have been producing award-winning farmstead cheeses since 2008.

They follow the natural rhythm of the goats and milk seasonally, from mid-March through mid-December. Their core products include fresh chevre, soft ripened cheeses in the tradition of France’s Loire Valley, aged raw-milk feta and aged raw-milk tomme. A couple of other new cheeses are on the drawing board.

Asgaard welcomes people to the farm on Thursday afternoons and on Saturday mornings to buy food, tour the grounds and meet friendly goats. Visitors can also see a diverse array of other farming activities operating alongside the dairy.

Visit their website and Facebook page to stay up-to-date and learn more.

About North Country Creamery at Clover Mead Farm

North Country Creamery at Clover Mead Farm is located at 931 Mace Chasm Road in Keeseville, NY.

Cheeses at North Country Creamery (Credit: North Country Creamery)

It is owned and operated by Ashlee Kleinhammer and Steven Googin who are in their second season of operating the farmstand creamery, which produces an array of fresh and aged cheeses, yogurt, and raw milk. This spring they opened the Clover Mead Cafe and Farmstore, which allow customers to purchase goods directly from the creamery as well as from other local producers.

The creamery vends at local farmer’s markets and offers a Dairy Share to over 100 members by partnering with area vegetable farms. They also sell to several wholesale consumers in the Champlain Valley, Adirondacks, and the Capital Region.

The farm is Animal Welfare Approved, and abides by organic practices. Their herd of 100% grassfed Milking Short-horn and Jersey cows graze pastures overlooking Lake Champlain. Recently, a land easement has been obtained, making it forever agricultural.

Visit their website and Facebook page to stay up-to-date and learn more.

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