Friday, August 10, 2012

The Story of the Glory

Have you tried our cheese yet?  That’s right – we are now turning our cows’ milk into delicious cheese!  Our first product is “Morning Glory,” a soft, fresh, pasteurized cheese available plain or seasoned with chives!  “Morning Glory” spreads beautifully on a bagel or warm bread, has a mild tang that complements sweet, fresh fruits, and melts smoothly over pasta or in an omelet.  The chive variety is addictive – spread it on crackers, or eat it straight out of the tub!  We love to slather it on farm-fresh sweet corn for an unbeatable treat!

Our cows get the credit for our great tasting cheese, so it seemed only appropriate that they be honored in its name.  “Morning Glory” is named for one of our original Brown Swiss herd members, officially named Eldalechris Even M Glory, but known as Glory for short.  Sarah picked her out as a 4H project at a month old, in 1995, and she resided in Catskill until 2003 when she made the trip out to our new herd.

Glory never quite made it to stardom in the show ring. She was born in November, which made her one of the smaller animals in her class.  Her conformation was not particularly beautiful, as she only classified 80 points. Although Brown Swiss are known for their excellent feet and legs, Glory was not blessed with the best set of wheels to get around on.  In fact, she needed to see the hoof trimmer every time he came, just to keep her moving comfortably. Glory produced a good amount of milk, but she never broke any production records. 
Glory "supervises" cow-mattress installation when we farmed in Trumansburg.

So what made Glory so special?  She was a cow that never gave up!  She kept going, and going, and going, despite the challenges that life threw at her.  Adapting to 3 different farms, Glory was always the leader of the pack.  She calved 9 times, with 6 of those calves being heifers that helped to grow our herd.  Those daughters have added another 9 female offspring to our herd, with each generation improving on the last. 
Welcome to the world!

Our cheese label features Glory and her last heifer calf, Glorianna, a few minutes after her birth.  It represents the optimism that each new beginning brings: a new day, a new calf, or cheese making being a new direction for our dairy.  We draw upon her stamina and will to survive as we begin our new venture.  We lost Glory at 13 ½ years old, but her legacy lives on in her cow family and also in “her” cheese.  Bring her story home to your table today!