Barbara Brooks established Seal Cove Farm and started handcrafting goat cheeses in the French tradition in 1976. At the time, she worked as a part-time lifeguard, swim teacher and a waitress and had two clear goals: to work independently and to make cheese. Though goat cheese would not catch on throughout the United States for a number of years, a handful of Maine farmers (including Brooks) started milking goats in the late 70s and early 80s and were pioneers in introducing goat cheese into the market. Soft chevre made from goat milk was already very popular abroad, but it took time to gain momentum in Maine. Goat milking and cheese has come a long way over the past few decades; with their cheeky personalities and tasty cheese, dairy goats have since captured the hearts of farmers and consumers across the country.
The story of Seal Cove Farm’s prize-winning cheeses begins in 1976, when Brooks adopted a Saanen doe named Jill and a Toggenberg doe named Heidi. Jill produced 1-1/2 gallons of milk per day and Heidi produced 2 gallons daily. As a novice in goat herding, she assumed such volumes were usual (but has since found that the average volume of up to 1 gallon per day is considered very good for most goats!). Jill and Heidi became the foundation of the Seal Cove herd. As the herd grew, Brooks participated in small goat groups, Dairy Herd Improvement Association (DHIA) testing (to make informed decisions about breeding, feeding, productivity and overall herd health), won several years’ worth of prizes for grade breed leaders for milk production, and, for a short time, attended goat shows with her children and various young farm apprentices.
The goats thrived in Seal Cove’s family farm atmosphere. By 1981, the herd had grown to 20 goats, which is also when Brooks started to sell her first raw goat’s milk farmstead cheese (chevre) at both a local store and a farmer’s market. They started out, as many have, making cheese in their kitchen, but soon constructed a small, dedicated cheese-making room.
Seal Cove chevre was well-received and a viable enterprise started to take shape. Two mentors guided Brooks through the earliest stages of this process, one of whom instructed them in the craft of cheese making and the other of whom helped to refine their knowledge of the many aspects of goat husbandry and breeding.
Needing room to expand, Seal Cove Farm relocated to their current location in Lamoine in 1996. Situated on the rocky coast of Maine (and on the road to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park), the landscape offers wonderful terrain, with ample room for all 125 goats to roam freely, rocks for them to climb on, and a large, airy sun-filled barn to shelter them. Each year, as many as 240 kids are born on the farm, many of which grow into high-producing does to further expand and enrich our herd. Brooks believes that happy goats give sweeter milk and has prioritized her herds’ well-being from the start. For much of the year, the playful Seal Cove herd is free to frolic and enjoy munching nutritious seasonal Maine grasses. The goats are milked at 5:30 a.m. every day, and then spend the rest of their time lying around in the barn or strolling the grounds. They chew their cuds, make milk, maybe nibble on the leaves of an ash tree, and – before long – they are milked again at 5 p.m. “Slaves” to the goats, Brooks and her interns work tirelessly in the small cheese-making facility, where their days start at 4 a.m. They milk the goats, process the cheese and constantly clean the pipes, tanks and dishes that allow them to milk more goats and process more cheese the next day. On top of that, Brooks works with wholesalers, and tracks the wine market to know what cheeses will go with this season’s popular variety.
In 2000, Brooks had the opportunity to learn traditional French cheese-making techniques at a farm in Provence. The farm, whose products are sold to the finest restaurants and shops in the region, was home to 50 goats. Here, she learned how to make tommes (small, aged disks), pyramides (natural and ash-covered), and bricks (aged and fresh). The bricks were sometimes filled with raisins— at home in Maine, she fills them with dried blueberries and cranberries, combining indigenous fruit with traditional French methods to produce an innovative Down East treat! Brooks recounts that shopping for (and eating) cheese in France was a fabulous experience. Small-town French grocery stores may offer 365 kinds of cheese displayed “au naturel.” Some of her favorite experiences were the open-air (farmers’) markets where you could purchase a fresh chevre, vegetables, fabulous olives and oils, glaceed fruits, and bread.
Having an immaculate, efficient cheese-making facility has enabled Seal Cove to greatly increase production of their prize-winning chevre and feta cheeses. In season, they produce over 700 lbs of cheese per week. There’s a lot of work, but the savory fruits of Brooks and her team’s labor couldn’t be tastier. Seal Cove’s prize-winning chevres, chevrotin and feta are sold wholesale at gourmet shops and restaurants across Maine and New England. Seal Cove’s farmstand pizza (made almost entirely from ingredients grown on the farm and baked in the farm’s wood-burning oven) won Yankee magazine’s 2015 Best Pizza Al Fresco award.
The first cheese Seal Cove Farm produced back in 1976 was their Classic Fresh Chevre, which is still a customer favorite. It is a versatile, fresh cheese with soft, tangy and mild qualities that can just as easily be incorporated into exotic, gourmet meals as it can be enjoyed at a backyard barbecue. Their aged chevres are handmade on the farm in the French tradition. Their Goat Milk Feta is made with raw goat milk aged over 60 days and is a classic Greek feta, meaning it is very salty and crumbly, and versatile.
The Blue Hill Co-op carries a number of Seal Cove Farm cheeses for your enjoyment! Be sure to look for 5 oz rounds of Seal Cove Classic Plain Chevre, Dill Garlic Chevre, Chevre with Herbs de Provence, and Goat Milk Feta in our cheese department. Their chevres are made from pasteurized milk from their prize-winning herd and their feta is made from raw goat’s milk.
If you are on your way to Acadia National Park or just looking for a break from your weekly routine, Barbara is always pleased to show visitors around the farm, introduce you to their working dog (Jina) and her companion (Frolic), and, of course, their hard-working family of dairy goats. Stay long enough, and they’ll even put you to work!
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