The Farm Guide

What’s your idea of a great cheese? I prefer a cheese that’s multifaceted, one that appeals to kids as well as adults, something that can be used in recipes or for snacking or dessert. If you think that only imports can be great cheeses, think again! Vermont Shepherd, a 250 acre farm in Vermont, is the oldest maker of sheep’s milk cheese in the US; they began making the stuff before many Americans knew that cheese could be made from sheep’s milk. Their eponymous cheese is, I believe, one of the great examples of artisanal cheese-making in this country. Why? For starters, the sheep who give the milk for this cheese are pastured from April through November, enabling them to eat a varied diet of wild foliage. This is more natural for the sheep, and it gives their milk an especially good flavor (once the snow begins in earnest, milking and cheese making stop until the following spring). The milk for this cheese is not pasteurized. I’m a big fan of such “raw” milk cheeses, as I believe they contain a great range of complex tastes. In addition, the milk and cheese are treated with care and respect. Production of the cheese is limited, and the unrushed aging process happens on wooden boards in a cave with ideal temperature and humidity.

Once children were regularly led into the natural world to harvest food and medicinal plants. We’ve lost this education in recent generations and, with it, an appreciation for the healing power of our environment. Many children do not even know what dandelion or plantain look like, even though they grow between the cracks in the walkway to most front doors.

Our nation’s children rarely spend any time outside—let alone learning about useful and medicinal herbs. However, it need not be this way. With just a little inspiration, parents, grandparents, teachers, and program directors can lead children back out into the gardens, forests and meadows. You don’t have to be an experienced herbalist to take on these projects—together adults and children alike will awaken their senses and appreciation for the healing plants around them.

“Children shouldn’t miss out on (herbal activities),” says Nancy Phillips, author of The Herbalist’s Way (Chelsea Green, 2005) who runs the Nature and Spirit Camp in northern New Hampshire. “In many cultures, even today, this is just a part of their lives and it really isn’t for our modern American kids. I feel it’s my calling to make sure kids know how to connect with nature and add that richness to life, especially with the healing plants.”