A Tour of Rainbeau Ridge

April 14, 2010

UPDATE: Color Lovers Unite! Please check out Kevin Sharkey's blog today, amazing cake!

Some of you may have watched my television show when my friend and neighbor, Lisa Schwartz was featured. Lisa and her husband, Mark, are the proud owners of Rainbeau Ridge, a dairy and produce farm, well known for its delicious goat cheese. Established in 2002, Rainbeau Ridge has been committed to sharing with the public how a farm can be an important part of the social, cultural, educational, and commercial entities that hold a community together. Beginning with just two goats, Rainbeau Ridge has grown tremendously and offers a Community Agricultural Partnership - CAP - where members may purchase the farm's weekly produce of fruit, vegetables, cheese, and eggs, as well as from other vendors vetted by Rainbeau Ridge. It also has become a learning environment, where many classes and workshops are offered to adults and children, as well. Lisa is very concerned that the public should have the knowledge of where their food comes from. Please enjoy this little tour and also, please explore Rainbeau Ridge's Web site.

: This charming house is where Lisa makes her amazing cheese.

: Chickens roam free range style at Rainbeau Ridge.

: This hen is keeping cool in the hole she dug.

: Lulu is a six-month-old llama who likes to go for walks around the farm.

: All leashed and ready to go – Lulu is so soft and so sweet.

: One of the other llamas on the farm. Llamas are very protective of the sheep and goats.

: This goat is Rihanna and she was expecting at any minute.

: Faith is a new mother of this adorable 1-day-old kid. Notice her heavy milk sack? And notice the missing bark on the tree? – Goats love eating it.

: Carrie has long horns – their sharp points are protected with layers of hockey tape.

: More pregnant females waiting to give birth

: These Alpine goats are so friendly and curious about everything going on around them.

: This is a Bourbon Red turkey displaying his plumage.

: An adorable baby

: The Alpine breed has a very wide color range – this goat has beautiful markings.

: This goat is finding relief from the sun inside the barn.

: This is a buck who has just one horn. He wasn’t properly disbudded, a procedure for preventing the growth of horns.

: An important part of farming is composting. Lisa explained that this area will soon be transformed into a modern and efficient composting yard.

: Lisa feeds her goats a diet of grain and hay.

: The goats are also very communal.

: Lisa just received a delivery of poults. These turkey babies are all heritage breeds, including Bourbon Red, Narragansett, and Royal Palm.

: This is a Cotswold sheep, a rare breed from England. Although they are not milked for cheese production, their fleece is sheared and spun into wool for fiber arts. Shearing is scheduled for April 25th.

: A brand new sweet little lamb.

: A very regal llama – llama’s fleece is also used for fiber.

: Because of sanitary restrictions, the cheese facility is not open to the public. This photo, shot through the glass door, shows 5-gallon buckets of that morning’s milk waiting to be turned into cheese.

: And here are some of Lisa’s superb goat cheeses, freshly made and draining in their molds.

: Beautiful produce is grown in these two hoop houses.

: The fertile raised beds are in various stages of development.

: Tender and tasty leaf lettuces

: Lisa loves these long French radishes – D’Avignon. They have a really pleasant flavor – not at all bold and spicy.

: The garden beyond the hoop houses – The head gardener at Rainbeau Ridge is Isaac Jahns.

: A gorgeous array of colors.

: Isaac and Sara, a garden intern, are picking carrots planted last autumn.

: Amazingly beautiful!

: A bed of artichokes

: A spring crop of Johnny-jump-ups – organically grown and great in salads or as a garnish.

: This is a rather new greenhouse. Many seeds are germinated here.

: A healthy crop of tomato plants

: Lisa shared some of those French radishes and her special lemon-chive dressing.

: Rainbeau Ridge offers fascinating and educational workshops and cooking demonstrations.

: Over the Rainbeau is an inspirational memoir, complete with recipes, how-tos, and lovely photographs.

: The recipe for the dressing is in her book.

: This is Lisa Schwartz holding one of her newborn kid goats.

: Sara, the garden intern, also happens to be the proud new mother of Edith (Piaf). She was born 3 weeks prematurely and was celebrating her 0 birthday on this visit. Sara can look forward to many, many days of bottle feeding Edith.