Mountain Lodge Farm - The Art of the Farm, Artisan Goat Cheese...

One day out of our weekend we devote to a day trip in search of places that are fun, educational and have yummy treats.

Mountain Lodge Farm is one such place with their wonderful and true slogan "The art of the farm".

Founder and Herdmaster Sherwin Ferguson welcomed us with  passion and a wealth of knowledge as she gave us the most pleasurable tour.

During our browse walk with the goats part of my daughter's favorite shirt was eaten by the lovely Francene and a couple of other goats, so be sure to keep your shirts tucked in.

Our tour ended up in the main house for a tasting and Sherwin shared the process of making such delicious cheese.

About Mountain Lodge Animals

Mountain Lodge Farm currently has goats, sheep, llamas and chickens.  We know this is just the beginning, so stay tuned for our evolving farming journey.

There are a number of different breeds of dairy goats in the world. We have selected Nigerian Dwarf and La Mancha goats to provide the sweet, fat-rich milk we need to make amazing cheese.  Besides yummy milk, we were looking for hardy breeds that are easy kidders (have baby goats without too many problems), intelligent, good milking parlor manners and just plain enjoyable to be around.  We have fallen in love with these breeds, which is good because we spend a lot of time with them.  The give us delicious milk so we can make exceptional cheese.

One of the things that makes us unique is that we browse our goats daily on the native shrubs, trees and forbs on our land.  We want our cheese to have the taste of this wonderful place in the foothills of Mt. Rainier.  We also think the exercise, sunshine, variety and nutrition is beneficial to our goats.

About Mountain Lodge Cheese

What We’re Making Now:

Fresh Chèvre:  This is just the simplest expression of our milk.  We’ve heard the phrase, “any fool can make a chèvre” and that may be true, but we think ours is a pretty good one.  We may even be fools for it.

Fresh Chèvre and then some:   We occasionally add seasonal flavor to our chèvre.  Right now we’re playing with some amazing lavender infused honey from Stringtown Farms down the road.  Also we have some great herbs popping up in the herb garden – look for those to make an appearance too.

Paradise:  Named for the last stop before the big climb up The Mountain, this cheese is a soft-ripened beauty. We call it our Northwest crottin.  It has a delicious downy rind that melts into a soft, lingering paste.  It just so happens, this cheese is AMAZING with bubbly.  It’s no coincidence that Champagne happens to be one of our favorite beverages.

What We’re Up To:

Our goal as cheesemakers is to show off the amazing quality of our milk.  We’ve developed cheeses to highlight and take advantage of the flavor profile inherent in our herd.  We monitor our animals’ milk composition and taste and blend depending on the cheese we are trying to make.

Our precocious La Mancha goats provide silky, delicate milk that lends itself to fresh cheese.  We blend a little Nigerian Dwarf milk to create something really special in our young cheeses.  Our Nigerians are incredibly efficient little animals.  Their milk is a concentrated protein and butterfat bomb (almost like sheep milk) that just calls out to be made into raw rustic tomes.

Another aim of our endeavor is to create cheeses that we want to eat… all the time.  We’re all food focused people on this farm and our taste for delicious things to eat feeds our passion for good cheese.

All cheeses are European in derivation.  This is where our country’s cheese tradition comes from.  We honor that institution with a grateful nod to classic technique, but we yearn to create something more.  We hope to contribute some amazing original American cheese to our country’s growing cadre of fine fromage.

What’s in a Name:

We live 25 miles due west of Mount Rainier.  We’re in the foothills, and when “the mountain’s” out, we’re looking right at it.  Because it is such a focal point in our lives, we’ve named all our cheeses after that beautiful volcano.

Mountain Lodge Farm currently has goats, sheep, llamas and chickens.  We know this is just the beginning, so stay tuned for our evolving farming journey.