Beneath the blue Tennessee sky, a herd of goats roams carefree around what was once a working farm and sawmill in Old Fort, near Apple Valley Orchard. Old sawmill equipment, a steam engine and farm vehicles dot the landscape, standing silent in a setting very different from the days when the screaming saw split trees into lumber and the chugging steam engine provided power for the mill.
In what is now a serene country setting where the bleating of goats is the loudest noise around, the herd runs and plays in the green pasture. But, these goats aren’t simply for show — the group of 28 billies and nannies earns its keep by providing milk for Ocoee Creamery, a small family-run artisan goat cheese operation started a few years ago by George “Mack” Haynes and his wife, Anna.
The couple currently produces chèvre (pronounced “SHEV-ruh” or “shev”) and feta cheeses, in a variety of flavors and sell their product at area farmer’s markets. They hope to eventually build a cheese cave in order expand the types of cheeses the creamery produces.
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