11/14/09 - If The Moon Was Cheese

04/19/09 - Expecting

We are also expecting something else, fresh bread. We were shopping at Good To Go on Lauridsen Boulevard, and we heard the good news. The city has approved the installation of their oven. They hope to have their first batch of bread some time in the middle of May. They are also planning an outdoor oven for some time in the future. We'll fill you in when we taste our first loaf.

03/02/09 - Good To Go

01/24/08 - Cream at Dungeness Valley Creamery

10/30/07 - Fromage Blanc from Mount Townsend Creamery

10/30/07 - A Calf is Born

We bought some milk, and some cheese, and did some Christmas shopping for a friend of ours. Meanwhile, we could look out the window and watch the cow having contractions as she tried to deliver. It looked like hard work which is probably why they call it labor. One of the spectators, not one of us, remarked that it looked like she was having a cow, which indeed she was.

Suddenly, after a series of contractions, the calf was ejected. It was wrapped in a membrane and looked like something from a science fiction movie, perhaps Calf Cocoon II - The Cow Horror Continues. The calf didn't move much, but we could see she was breathing. Sarah Brown went to check her and announced that the baby was a girl, and then left her with mom.

Grandma was in the next field bellowing advice, and she was joined by a few other cows who watched for a while and then drifted off. Meanwhile, Mom set out to the serious business of licking her newborn while her newborn tried to figure out how to stand up.

We watched for a good half hour. Mom did a good job licking, and the cocoon disappeared to reveal a wet calf. Then the wet calf turned into a dry calf despite all the licking. Meanwhile the newborn rested a few minutes, then tried to stand, then rested a few more minutes, and so on. In the nature documentaries, they use ellipsis. A calf is born, then the calf stands on its shaky legs and nurses. With Dungeness Valley Creamery milk the calf had additional impetus to get to the nursing stage.

We hung around for the next half hour trying to be encouraging, and there were definitely signs of progress. Mom seemed to have satisfied herself that her baby had been adequately licked. Her calf could rise on her hind legs, and we could see her struggling to get her two front legs into position for that critical coordinated push.

All of the other cows had left some time ago leaving mother and child on their own, or rather, with us humans and our longer attention spans. We had other errands to run, so we decided that things were likely to turn out for the best. Sarah, having determined that the newborn was a girl, wasn't worried, and the calf looked helpful, so we assume that things worked out for the best.

07/10/07 - Death Cake 2007: The Best Ever

Of course, some of the difference may have resulted from our using Dungeness Valley Creamery milk and Dry Creek Farm eggs. If you study our recipe, you'll see that an important component of the cake is a chocolate pudding made of milk, brown sugar, egg yolk and chocolate. We used a full bar and a bit more of a Plantations bar (over 4 oz), and the chocolate flavor had a magnificent bitter note that was missing in earlier death cakes.

We also used a bar of chocolate for the fudge Cockaigne icing. It didn't dissolve all that well. There was a bit of chocolate residue that formed while we brought the batch to the soft ball stage, but the icing was creamier and richer than usual.

The death cake can be a challenge to make, but the proof is in the eating. As far as we Kalebergs are concerned, this is the best chocolate cake ever.

07/05/07 - The Dungeness Dike Trail Revisited

We were in the Dungeness Valley today and decided to stretch our legs on the Dungeness Dike Trail. Those cows are the Jerseys at the Dungeness Valley Creamery. Those mountains in the distance are the Olympic range. The trail along the Dungeness River dike is easy going, and there are several paths down to the river itself, but we spent most of our time admiring the view.

06/05/07 - Dungeness Valley Creamery Development Rights

According to the Peninsula Daily News, Dungeness Valley Creamery should be staying a dairy for a while now. The Friends of the Fields and the North Olympic Land Trust say they've raised the money to buy the development rights! We've been following this for a while. There's a state matching grant involved, and most likely a number of hurdles remain, but the grant has been matched, and preservation is on the march.

12/24/06 - The Dungeness Dike Trail

We were exhausted from all our Christmas preparations and just wanted a place to stretch our legs so we checked out the Dungeness Dike Trail off Towne Road. It is right near the Dungeness Valley Creamery and Nash Huber's farm stand, so we could get some exercise and do some shopping.

The trail is a little gem. We had seen cars parked at the dike access area, and we had heard that this was a good area for birding, but now we have discovered another little treasure. Read our report for more info.

11/16/06 - A Few Words From Dungeness Valley Creamery

We've just gotten word from Sarah Brown on what's happening at Dungeness Valley Creamery:

Hello to all,

Things are going well on the farm and in the creamery and we thank everyone for their support!

Fall is in full swing and that means two things for us. One, the fields are muddy and cows must come in...and two, the Holidays will be here before we know it. Thanksgiving is next week! Can you believe it? Although we will be closed Thanksgiving Day, we hope that you bring your family and friends out to the farm and visit our creamery beforehand (or after). Come pet the new babies and visit the mamas who provide you with the freshest and creamiest raw milk. Along with the whole raw milk you'll find nummy cheeses made by Mount Townsend Creamery from our "girls'" milk. These cheeses are sure to delight the palette of your Thanksgiving meal guests. Special ingredients make the feast special. Be sure to pick up local foods including the raw milk (with cream on the top), eggs, and freshly baked breads and dinner rolls. Remember, Nash's organic produce store is just down the road from us for your Holiday veggie needs.

Our Creamery store also offers other locally made gift items. You'll find cards, scarves, lavender products, herbal salves, photographs, artwork(BarnArt) and more. For our first Christmas, we will be featuring handmade "KeyAngel" ornaments made by my sister, Kim Bergstrom! All proceeds from the "Key Angels" will go to benefit Children's Hospital. At birth, the Children's Hospital performed emergency surgury and saved her life! She was a patient at Children's for the first six months of her life and wants to support a cause that means so much to her!

Next Holiday season we would love to offer fresh raw jersey cream and that is one of our goals. Another goal is to start making an aged cheese. For this to be possible we must have more help! We need four night milkings covered and one or more morning milkings. Calf feeders are needed as well. We just cannot add on any more projects until this happens. If you or anyone you know is interested please contact us.

One addition to our farm that has helped a lot is our new manure separator! This may sound strange to most of you but this is a huge relief to us as my dad usually spends most of the winter making the separator work. Well, our new one actually works...by itself! That means more time for our new creamery and also more manure solids for your gardens.

On a side note, a few new stores are carrying our raw jersey milk! They are The Olympia Food Co-ops east and west, Nash's (Sequim/Dungeness) and The Gifting Place (Port Angeles). We also have new drop points in Bremerton (Evergreen Market in Bremerton went out of business), Mercer Island, Poulsbo, and Quilcene. Please feel free to contact us with questions about any of these locations or possible new drop points!

Thanks again for supporting local farms and farmers! A community that depends on and supports one another is a healthy community!

Sarah Brown

Dungeness Valley Creamery
1915 Towne Rd.
Sequim, WA 98382
360/683-0716

11/07/06 - Nash Huber's Farm Stand

We recently paid a visit to Nash Huber's farm stand in Sequim, not far from the old Dungeness School House. Farm stands are always at their prettiest in the autumn, which is, for us, the time to round up the usual vegetables. That is, the brussels sprouts are in, as are the lacinato kale, the collard greens, the mustard greens, the beets, the cauliflower and even the cabbages. There are some pictures of some of the goodies and one of all our loot down below.

Also noted was the new sign on the door announcing that Nash's farm is salmon friendly. That's a big thing out here since Clallam County is sort of fish crazy. There are signs with little fish on them along the road side, usually at bridges. They mean that someone is likely to brake hard, leap out of their car and throw in a line to try their luck, so you had better drive carefully. Salmon channels are important out here too, and not just the kind they carry on cable. The county recently rebuilt route 112 where it crosses Salt Creek to give the fish a better shot at spawning.

07/20/06 - Mount Townsend Creamery's Seastack Cheese

We finally tasted the third cheese in Mount Townsend Creamery's trio, and we were quite impressed. Seastack is right up there with the great triple cremes like San Andre and Explorateur. We'll have to see how it ages. Unfortunately, the scientific Kaleberg testing procedures resulted in the complete ingestion of the cheese, so we'll have to drop by Dungeness Valley Creamery and get another one or two.

Read the Kaleberg review, and learn more about Mount Townsend Creamery and their local raw Jersey milk cheeses.

06/05 - Our Own Ricotta Cheese

Now that we have our own local creamery to provide us with whole, raw Jersey cow milk how could we resist making our own cheese. We started simple, with a home brew ricotta, and the results were spectacular. Who says you need a six ton cooling unit and gigantic stainless steel tanks to make your own cheese? We cooked this one up on our stove top, and we tell you how in our Dungeness Valley Creamery web page.

04/28/06 - Harbinger Winery Is Open for Business

This is actually a busy week out in Clallam County. First, we learn that Dungeness Valley Creamery is selling raw milk in the Dungeness Valley, and now we find that Harbinger Winery is selling their own wines in Port Angeles. We've been following this for a while, since Sara Gagnon had been making wine for Olympic Cellars for some time, and rumor had it she was striking out on her own. Well, we dropped by her winery, and the wines, all reds, are quite good, and we are looking forward to some good drinking. The winery itself might be in an industrial area, but it is warm, cozy and charming inside. We wanted to settle down on the couch, sip some wine and pass the time o day. You'll get the feeling too. Drop by 2358 Highway 101, Wednesday to Saturday 11AM-5:30PM, or call (360) 452 4262.

P.S. The official Harbinger Winery Opening Bash will be on Saturday, June 17th, running from 7PM-10PM.

04/26/06 - Dungeness Valley Creamery Is Open for Business

We just got word from Dungeness Valley Creamery (see their email below). They are open for business and selling raw milk. Apparently, they have taken the big jump and left the milk marketing co-op and are going it on their own. If you have never tasted raw, milk, drop by and try it. It is clearly the inspiration for ice cream, and it will make just about any other milk you have tasted seem washed out and watery.

Dear raw milk supporters,

Thank you so much for your patience! We know how
excited many of you are about finally getting access
to wholesome raw milk. We can now say we will open on
Wednesday, April 26th! Our hours are 7:30 am - 1:00
pm Monday through Saturday.

Dungeness Valley Creamery is now certified raw by the
state and the building has been checked off by the
county! This is a big step of faith for our family
and we invite you to be a part of it! Please come and
see our beautiful new Creamery and enjoy the view of
the Olympic Mountains from the front porch. Oh yeah,
and don't forget the fresh raw jersey milk on your way
out! We are offering quarts, half gallons, and
gallons ($2.25, $3.75, $6.75 respectively). Cash and
checks only. Other local products soon to come.

Look for our products soon in the Port Townsend Food
CO-OP, Sunny Farms, Good to Go, Country Aire, and
Marlenes in Tacoma and Federal Way. We have purchased
a refrigerated truck and are able to deliver.

Also, our milk is going to Mt. Townsend Creamery to be
made into wonderful cheese (which we have tasted and
love)! This too, will soon be availabe in our on farm
store.

Thanks again for all of your support!
Sarah Brown

Dungeness Valley Creamery
1915 Towne Rd.
Sequim, WA 98382
(360) 683-0716

 

For our earlier notes on Dungeness Valley Creamery,
click here.

For more farms and wineries in Clallam County,
click here.