School Field Trip in its Tenth Year

Goatsbeard Farm has hosted La Petite Ecole, a local French Immersion School, each spring for the past ten years.  It is hard to believe, but we were reminded that the visitors were joined that first year by three year old Peter, our son who is now nearly fourteen!

Children and teachers from the school arrived the morning of April 24, a beautiful but cloudy spring day.  Parents accompanied the students, and all watched as older goats were milked and younger kids frolicked in the barn.  As a snack, the young students were offered fresh fruit to pair with Goatsbeard Farm fresh cheese spread on slices of baguette (very French!).

For more information about La Petite Ecole go to www.petiteecole.org.

Franklin Island Feta

Why do you call it Franklin Island Feta?  We get this question frequently.  With the exception of Walloon, we have named our cheeses after cultural, geographical or historical places of interest near our farm.  Our cheeses are unique to this part of Missouri--reflecting its soils, vegetation and climate.  We believe that it is appropriate that the name of the cheese originates near the farm as well.

So Franklin Island?  This is a beautiful area at the confluence of the Missouri River and Bonne Femme Creek.  It is in Howard County, about two miles north of Booneville and 20 minutes from our farm.  Now a state Conservation Area, it was once surrounded by water, and because of its bottomland timber and permanent grasses is home to a wide variety of wildlife.  

New Franklin Island Feta label.

The Missouri River conveyed French trappers and American explorers, many by canoe, and its shores provided campgrounds along the way.  The new Franklin Island Feta label reminds us of this history.

Try our Franklin Island Feta if you haven't.  It won a Silver Medal at the 2014 American Cheese Society competition.  It's made in the Greek style, and is held in a slightly salty brine.  It is perfect on a Greek salad, or any salad for that matter!

Omelets at Market

We have been at the Saturday Columbia Farmers' Market for two busy weeks now, and we're told attendance is up so far this year--a good omen for hard-working farmers and for the community, as its members discover the pleasures of fresh, local food.

One of the biggest special market events of the season occurs tomorrow (Sat., April 18) as the Columbia Area Career Center's Culinary Arts Program hosts one of its omelet making fundraisers.  Money raised will help send SkillsUSA Missouri State Champions Jacob Knerr (Baking) and Jerry Jo (Culinary) to the National Contest in Louisville, KY in June.

If you miss tomorrow's fundraiser, there will be a second round of omelet making on Sunday at the North Village Farmers and Artisans Market behind the Wabash bus station.

Goatsbeard Farm is proud to be providing the cheese used in the omelets; Stanton Brothers is providing the eggs.  Many other ingredients have been sourced at the Farmers' Market.  Omelets are prepared on site by Culinary Arts students, and we can say from personal experience---they are DELICIOUS!!!

http://www.caccculinary.com/p/omelet-fundraisers-for-nationals.html