Maine Specialty Cheeses

We entered the world of Family Farming to give our family good home grown food and a better appreciation for what we consume and where it comes from. We continue on our quest to eat local when ever possible.

 April and May-two of our original girls who have helped us on our journey!

       Zachary, Taylor, Noah and Gabby Roos

Our Story began in a far away land in a different place and time...

July of 2000 Don and I took a giant leap of faith. We closed our eyes, held our breath and moved our young family of five from our three bed room home on a postage stamp in Norwalk, CT to Jonesboro, Maine. It would be a nine hour drive from our family and friends to what would become a new life filled with passion, drive and faith.

Our inspiration behind our decision was a belief that somewhere we could give our children a better life. As they were growing up in suburbia we realized how far away we were from the reality of life and a full appreciation of the world our children were growing up in. Our life was good enough but as parents we yearned to give our children the freedom to grow, to find them selves and to fully appreciate the world around them. We needed to get away from our corporate consumer based reality and get back to basics. We needed to get dirty!

We moved with a u haul, Gabby 9, Zack 7 and Taylor 4,  my brothers help and a vision of eggs, milk and a garden. Our first year was spent fixing our old home built in 1860 and bringing it back to a livable state. The next spring came chickens and a garden which grows every year. We had never actually had fresh eggs before! What a find! Fall 2002 we added goats and started a herd with Willow, April, May and June! The following spring came babies and milking! We immediately were hooked to raw milk, cheese and yogurt. Word spread about our goat family and neighbors began to ask for cheese and milk. From that point on we have been slowly adding to our goat herd and our cheese selection constantly toying with the idea of becoming a commercial dairy. However this would involve a deeper family commitment and another leap of faith! We decide to put off our commercial aspirations for a while and concentrate on our small local word of mouth customers! From the early beginnings in goat farming to present day we continue to learn and grow. We have met many great people to aid us in our journey of good food and a more wholesome life. Our first years have been good and bad as life always is. We have been filled with hard work and many challenges. We have gotten dirty, discouraged, exhausted, exhilarated and encouraged-sometimes all in the same day! But through it all we learn, we love and we thank God for all we have.

Our children and our family grows. In 2005 Noah was born and we are due with Izzy May 2008. I think all that we have done and learned has made us stronger as individuals and as a family unit. Our children have thrived in our small town and have learned so much about nature. All have experienced birth and death on a farm. They now know how to garden, make cheese and soap, get animals to the butcher, milk goats and eat really good food! I hope that we have given them experiences to last a life time and  will continue to do so. This year we have made the decision that we will enter the commercial cheese making world and continue our lifestyle on a slightly larger level. We are going to be milking 6-7 dairy goats and hope to double our herd by next year. Our decision to add a meat herd last year has also been a learning experience but I hope by fall we will feel it has been a good and profitable one.

Taylor and Sadie's Doeling                                                                     Babies cuddling

As our family grows many of our children will be taking on new roles here. Gabby will be taking over Farmers Market Duty and manning our booth at the Sunrise County Farmers Markets. This will be a good opportunity for her to learn some great business skills. Zachary will hopefully be easing into a P/T Farm Manager position here which will free me up to make a lot of cheese. Taylor will be head of child care, both human and goat, my head milking partner and garden weeder! Hopefully all will run smoothly and we will be able to cut out for some well deserved beach time in the afternoons!