What’s not to love about a summer morning spent at the local market? The River City Farmers Market in Marietta has been offering a rich cornucopia of colorful local produce lately, and summer is definitely the best season to be a locavore. Agatha Crusty has been eating her way through baskets of deep-hued, plump blackberries, apple crisp made from hard-to-find Transparent apples, and a ton or two of meaty red tomatoes–all recent acquisitions from the Market.
Last weekend at the Market, I discovered an award winner—Buckeye Grove Farm Cheese, one of Ohio’s largest producers of farmhouse artisan cheeses. Curious about the story behind the silver and bronze medals their cheeses received at the World Jersey Cheese Awards, I talked with Renae Scheiderer about their farm and cheese philosophy.
For over five generations Scheiderers have been dairying in Monroe County. Buckeye Grove Farm Cheese, located in Beallsville, raises their own herd of Jersey cows which give the richest milk of any breed. Al and Renae Scheiderer, who took over the farm in 2007, are continuing in this family tradition. The Scheiderers believe in living gently on the land, feeding the cows with the natural grasses and clovers that grow on the farm. They have a closed herd with cows who have not only numbers but family names some of which go back generations. They use only raw, whole Jersey milk, cheese culture, enzymes, and salt to produce their cheeses–never any artificial ingredients such as dyes, antibiotics, sodium nitrate or calcium chloride. These are hand-made artisan cheeses produced in the European fashion and, as a result, quantities are limited.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: The Anchor.
