Our farm was featured in the October 17, 2014 article in The Weekly Independent
Buffalo Creek Takes Medals
Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery went five for five in the North Carolina State Fair’s International Cheese Competition this year, taking home two golds, two silvers and on e bronze medal.
The creamery was gold medal winner with its feta and its garlic, peppercorn and garlic feta cheeses.
They took a silver medals for their date and honey chevre and their red pepper chevre. Their unflavored chevre took a bronze medal.
Awards were based on the cheese technical and aesthetic merits using the American Cheese Society’s point system.
The winning cheeses will be on display at the Education Building at the NC State Fair from Oct. 16 through Oct. 26. In total, 26 cheeses were entered into the competition from fourteen North Carolina cheesemakers.
Our farm was mentioned in the October 15, 2014 Press Release from the N.C. State Fair
Winners chosen in State Fair Cheese Competition
RALEIGH – Chapel Hill Creamery took top honors in the North Carolina State Fair Cheese Competition sponsored by Whole Foods Market. The dairy’s Calvander cheese won Best of North Carolina and Best of Show, in addition to winning a first place for best hard cheese.
Chapel Hill Creamery also won ribbons in the Mozzarella, Smear Ripened, Open Semi-Soft Cheese, Open Hard Cheese, Feta, Swiss and Open Soft Ripened categories.
Fifteen N.C. cheese makers submitted 76 cheeses. Multiple cheeses can be submitted into each category.
The judging took place Oct. 10. A team of six judges rated the cheeses on technical and aesthetic merits using the American Cheese Society’s point system: first place, 93-100 points; second place, 86-92; and third place, 80-85, meaning you can have multiple winners in each category.
Cheddar
1st The Cultured Cow Creamery (Durham)
2nd Looking Glass Creamery (Fairview), Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery (Fairview)
3rd The Cultured Cow Creamery
Swiss
1st Chapel Hill Creamery
2nd The Cultured Cow Creamery
Mozzarella
1st Chapel Hill Creamery
3rd Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery
Feta
1st Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery (Germanton), Three Graces Dairy (Marshall)
2nd Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery, Chapel Hill Creamery, Paradox Farm Creamery (West End)
3rd Goat Lady Dairy (Climax)
Flavored Hard Cheese
2nd Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery, The Cultured Cow Creamery
Flavored Soft Cheese
1st Goat Lady Dairy
2nd The Cultured Cow Creamery with 2, Three Graces Dairy, Goat Lady Dairy, Chapel Hill Creamery
Smear Ripened Cheese
1st Chapel Hill Creamery
2nd Chapel Hill Creamery, Three Graces Dairy
Open Soft Ripened
1st Chapel Hill Creamery
2nd Goat Lady Dairy, Looking Glass Creamery, Paradox Farm Creamery
3rd The Three Graces Dairy, Goat Lady Dairy, Once Upon a Meadow (Kernersville)
Open Soft and Spreadable
2nd English Farmstead Cheese (Marion) with 2, Goat Lady Dairy
Open Semi-Soft Cheese
1st Chapel Hill Creamery
2nd English Farmstead Cheese, The Cultured Cow Creamery
3rd Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery, Oak Moon Farm Creamery (Bakersville)
Open Hard Cheese
1st Chapel Hill Creamery
2nd Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery, Goat Lady Dairy, Piemonte Farm (Burlington)
3rd The Cultured Cow Creamery, Piemonte Farm
Goat’s Milk Fresh Chevre Cheese (Flavored)
1st Holly Grove Farms (Goldsboro), Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery, Looking Glass Creamery, Three Graces with 4
2nd Buffalo Creek Farms, Once Upon A Meadow, Kilby Family Farms (Asheboro), Three Graces Dairy, Holly Grove Farms, Paradox Farm Creamery
Goat’s Milk Fresh Chevre Cheese (Unflavored)
1st Paradox Farm Creamery, Goat Lady Dairy, Holly Grove Farms
2nd Kilby Family Farms
3rd Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery
Goat’s Milk Aged Cheese
1st Looking Glass Creamery
2nd Oak Moon Farm Creamery
Sheep & Mixed Milk Cheese
2nd Three Graces Dairy with 2, Goat Lady Dairy
American Originals Open Cow or Goats milk
2nd Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery, The Cultured Cow Creamery, Oak Moon Farm Creamery, Goat Lady Dairy
3rd The Cultured Cow Creamery
All cheeses in the contest will be displayed during the fair in the Education Building. The Best of Show and other cheeses will be available for sampling and sale at the Got to be NC Dairy Products tent during the State Fair, Oct. 16-26. The tent is located between the Jim Graham Building and the Waterfall.
Our farm was featured in the September 11, 2014 edition of Roy’s Folks on Fox 8 WGHP
The sun hasn’t even come up yet but things are quite busy at Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery.
The Forsyth County goat dairy just outside of Germanton makes a variety of cheeses and sells at area farmers markets and at their farm store. They are also part of the North Carolina Cheese Trail.
Our farm was featured on Nothin’ but Nola on June 27, 2014
Getting to Know Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery
Who doesn’t love green pastures, sweet farm animals, and delicious cheeses? We do! And today we’re getting to know Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery, located in Germanton, NC. Our local stop for all things cheese! Family-owned and run, get to know Robin and Johnny Blakley’s farm where the animals are pets, the goats are milked every morning, and the cheese is made by hand, with love and care.
Tell us a little about you and how Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery came to be.
We purchased our 34-acre farm back in 1992 while we were working public jobs. Johnny was a Police Officer for the City of Winston-Salem and Robin worked in Fleet Operations at R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The area that the farm is located in is one of the last predominately agricultural areas in Forsyth County. We became a licensed goat dairy in 2012 producing both raw milk aged and fresh goat cheese. Before 1992 our farm was a cow dairy and a fish farm. Today, we have dairy goats, Katahdin Cross sheep, Hereford/Angus Cross beef cows and miniature Zebu cattle.
What type of dairy are you?
We are a farmstead dairy. Farmstead means that our cheeses are made on the farm and no outside milk is purchased – – – everything is done here and the goats live here too!
There are so many different types of cheeses out there! Tell us about some of yours and the best ways to eat them.
We make both raw milk aged cheeses and fresh cheese. Our two favorites this year are our feta of which one type is marinated in olive oil, with peppercorns, garlic and red pepper and our pimento chevre. The feta can be eaten as is, on a green salad, or the oil can be brushed on bread or pizza crusts with the feta crumbled on top. After the cheese has been eaten, any oil remaining can be mixed with red wine vinegar to make a delicious salad dressing. The pimento chevre is creamy and is great spread on crackers or bread. It also makes for a great spread to be added to those fresh tomato sandwiches.
Now don’t give away your prized cheese-making secrets! But can you walk us through how you make your cheeses?
The goats are milked every morning and the milk is stored in our chiller until needed. Being a micro dairy, we make cheese every six days or so. Some of our cheeses are made using raw milk and aged in our cheese cave at least sixty days before the wheels can be cut and the cheese sold. Other milk is pasteurized and turned into chevres, feta, farmers or queso fresco. These cheeses can be sold the same week. Our cheese is sold daily in our Farm Store and we attend four farmers markets weekly. Our goat cheese is also available at several local food stores, co-ops and CSA’s. You’ll even find some of our cheese on the menu at several local restaurants.
We love cheese! And we love local products! Why is it important to eat and shop local when it comes to cheese?
We believe it is important to eat and shop local. In our case, what better way can you meet the person who milks the goats, makes the cheese and samples the cheese to you at farmers markets. You can shake the hand who feeds you and build a relationship. We also enjoy that people can come to our farm and see the goats and know how they are cared for. Our animals are very important members of our farm. Without them, we couldn’t make the cheese that we enjoy.
We’re in the midst of the hot months of summer. Do you have any favorite summer cheese dishes for get-togethers and cookouts?
One of our favorite recipes, especially for July 4th, is a blueberry goat cheese tart. These tarts use a rolled puff pastry which is filled with plain goat cheese, honey, vanilla and lemon juice and covered with blueberries and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Sliced strawberries can be added too for a beautiful red, white and blue themed dessert dish.
Our farm was the Featured Farmer on LocalHens.com
Featured Farmer
Here is a Q & A with Robin Blakley of Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery
Where do you sell your eggs?
We sell our eggs in our on-site Farm Store along with our other products, farmstead goat cheese, grass fed beef, pastured chicken and lamb and goat’s milk soap.
How many birds do you have?
We have approximately 60 egg layers and two roosters.
How do you house your chickens?
Our chickens are pastured – – – so they go wherever they please.They do have access to laying boxes in a chicken house but some still love to lay their eggs in special spots in the barn.
What do you feed your chickens?
Our chickens get a commercial laying pellet to supplement their foraging and they enjoy whey from our cheesemaking.
What are your birds favorite treats?
Our birds love watermelon and cantaloupe and an occasional bit of cheese!
What is your favorite breed of chicken?
We’ve had many breeds over the years, but we love our Golden Comets the best. They are very docile and lay beautiful large brown eggs!
What do you like best about raising chickens?
My favorite thing about chickens is the eggs that they give. Their yolks are firm, bright orange and high in Vitamin D. Once you eat pastured eggs, you never want to eat any other kind.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
The chicken came first . . . at least that’s how we got them started.
Our farm was mentioned in the June 24, 2014 edition of The Stokes News
Piedmont Farms Tour: Buffalo Creek a farmstead creamery, farm
Nicholas Elmes nelmes@civitasmedia.com
For Johnny Blakley a little wedge of land along Route 8 in Germanton has become a dream come true.
Blakley and his wife Robin purchased the farm in 1992, initially looking for land in Forsyth County to house their horses and have since developed it into the the Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery.
“We had four horses and it had gotten to be more that our property in Winston-Salem could sustain,” said Blakley, adding that they had to find somewhere in Forsyth County to meet employment requirements for his job with the city. “So we found this place and it has worked out really good.”
The family started raising goats and experimenting with products they could make with the goats’ milk and visiting creameries throughout the state.
“We went to Sleepy Goat Farm in Pelham,” said Blakley. “Those folks are 26 miles from the nearest anything and I said if these people can do this well where they are located then we need to do it before we get any older.”
So the couple started volunteering with farm tours in other areas of the state and taking cheese making classes.
“If you volunteered to help at a creamery on a farm tour and half an interest in it the people would sit down with you after it was over and talk about what they were doing,” he said. “We were able to find out anything we wanted to know about it from them.
“We also started taking cheese classes anywhere I could find them,” he added.
In 2011 the couple started construction on their farm store and creamery and have been making cheese commercially for the past three years.
Today the farm is home to 40 goats, about 40 hair sheep, a small heard of grass feed beef cattle and hundreds of chickens which produce both meat and free range eggs.
The farm store, open seven days a week, provides a market for visitors to find a variety of goat’s milk cheeses, goat’s milk soap, eggs, and beef, lamb and chicken meat.
The store also sells a variety of products from farms throughout the state.
“When we built it, we ended up with a bigger store than we thought we would have,” said Blakley. “We have made contact with about 12 to 15 farms across the state and they send us the stuff they make and we sell it in our store. I gives us a better selection and gives them a bigger outlet for their product.”
The farm also partners with the Piedmont Farm School, providing tours of the creamery.
“We we go into the dairy and they get to see the cheese cave,” he said. “We also are one of the founding members of North Carolina Cheese Trail.”
The farm uses dogs and llamas to help protect their herds.
“Llamas are great livestock guardians,” said Blakley. “They are usually good for about 25 years, where dogs are only good for 12 to 14 years. They eat the same food as the goats and you only have to trim their hooves and wool one time a year.”
Additionally the llamas never have to leave the pasture and are extremely protective of their heard.
“They can even be trained to guard turkeys,” said Blakley.
Our farm was mentioned in the June 12, 2014 edition of The Stokes News and the June 13, 2014 edition of The Weekly Independent
Tour sustainable family farms on very first Triad Farm Tour
Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery (Germanton), Harmony Ridge Farms (Tobaccoville), Keep Your Fork Farm (King), and Plum Granny Farm (King) will be among the 17 farms open to tour goers the first full weekend of June as part of the inaugural Triad Farm Tour.
This self-guided tour, sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, features working farms and gardens and taps into the Triad’s growing passion for local food and farming. Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8, 2014 from 2:00-6:00 PM both days, a total of 17 scenic and sustainable farms throughout the Triad counties of Alamance, Forsyth, Guilford, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin counties will open their barn doors and farm gates as part of the Triad Farm Tour.
Some of the unique things to see and do at these four local farms during the Triad Farm Tour:
See lots of cute baby farm animals, including chicks and goats, and truffle hunting dogs;
Learn gardening and growing techniques such as composting, raised vegetable beds, and beekeeping;
Check out how they grow vegetables, fruits, mushrooms and more without harmful pesticides;
Learn more about and why farm animals love pasture; find out what a chicken tractor is;
Get a behind-the-scenes view of a goat dairy, a truffle farm, a farm that specializes in garlic, ginger and berries, a vegetable farm;
Enjoy a farm-fresh picnic or snack with food and treats sold at the farms;
Teach your children where their food comes from, take a hayride, and more!
“So many children have read story books about farms and farm animals, but have never actually seen a farm. By touring, children and adults learn where their food comes from and what a real farm is,“ said Roland McReynolds, CFSA Executive Director. “It’s a great way to see how food is produced on sustainable small farms and support the local farmer who grows it!”
Tour tickets, good for both days, are $25 per vehicle in advance. Tickets are available for purchase during the tour for $30 or you can also choose to pay $10 per farm (available for purchase at all of the farms during the tour). Groups of cycles count as one vehicle. Tickets can be purchased online now at http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft/ or at Cobblestone Farmers Market in Winston-Salem.
The tour is self-guided. Choose the farms you want to visit on the interactive map at http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft/ to plan your tour. Visit any farm in any order. And, don’t forget to take a cooler so that you can bring home some of the farm fresh products for sale at many farms! No pets allowed. The tour is rain or shine. Proceeds from the tour support the work of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.
Complete information about the tour and the farms, with interactive maps and driving directions to each farm, plus tour tickets are available at http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft/.
Our farm was mentioned in the June 2014 article by Our State
10 N.C. Creameries to Explore and Enjoy
There’s a new crop of cheese makers, connoisseurs, and consumers who are making room for real cheese at our tables. Enjoy exploring and eating at these North Carolina creameries.
1. The caring owners of Oak Moon Farm and Creamery in Bakersville believe at least one thing: happy goats make good milk, and good milk makes good cheese.
2. Visit the Alpine and LaMancha dairy goats at Round Mountain Creamery in Black Mountain for cheese tastings and farm tours.
3. The best way to enjoy the cheese at Goat Lady Dairy in Climax is by attending their “Dinner at the Dairy” series, offered one weekend per month in the spring and fall.
4. Every proper turophile will appreciate a visit to Blue Ridge Mountain Creamery in Fairview for their cage-aged cheeses.
5. Stop by the cheese shop at Looking Glass Dairy in Fairview to taste a variety of their cheeses alongside a few other Asheville-area accoutrements, like Hickory Nut Gap Meats and Lusty Monk Mustard.
6. You may go for the cheese at Buffalo Creek Farms in Germanton, but stay for the small group tour to talk about the importance of local food and life on a goat dairy farm.
7. Be sure to reserve your spot on a tour at Homeland Creamery in Julian where you’ll take a hayride around the farm, hand-milk Miss Betty, the simulated cow, and sample their ice cream.
8. For nearly 87 years, English Farmstead Cheese in Marion has been producing cow’s milk cheese. One bite and you’ll see why it’s just as popular today as its ever been.
9. With a vision for developing and sharing sustainable and energy efficient agriculture practices, Cultured Cow Creamery in Raleigh is producing some of the best cheese in central North Carolina on their 135-acre farm.
10. Escape the city for a night away at Celebrity Dairy in Siler City. Stay in the farm’s inn, enjoy a locally-sourced breakfast, and meet the goats who produce the award-winning cheese.
Discover more ways to get outdoors in North Carolina.
Our farm was mentioned in the May 22, 2014 edition of The Stokes News and the May 23, 2014 The Weekly Independent
Tour sustainable family farms on very first Triad Farm Tour
Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery (Germanton), Harmony Ridge Farms (Tobaccoville), Keep Your Fork Farm (King), and Plum Granny Farm (King) will be among the 17 farms open to tour goers the first full weekend of June as part of the inaugural Triad Farm Tour.
This self-guided tour, sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, features working farms and gardens and taps into the Triad’s growing passion for local food and farming. Saturday and Sunday, June 7-8, 2014 from 2:00-6:00 PM both days, a total of 17 scenic and sustainable farms throughout the Triad counties of Alamance, Forsyth, Guilford, Stokes, Surry and Yadkin counties will open their barn doors and farm gates as part of the Triad Farm Tour.
Some of the unique things to see and do at these four local farms during the Triad Farm Tour:
See lots of cute baby farm animals, including chicks and goats, and truffle hunting dogs;
Learn gardening and growing techniques such as composting, raised vegetable beds, and beekeeping;
Check out how they grow vegetables, fruits, mushrooms and more without harmful pesticides;
Learn more about and why farm animals love pasture; find out what a chicken tractor is;
Get a behind-the-scenes view of a goat dairy, a truffle farm, a farm that specializes in garlic, ginger and berries, a vegetable farm;
Enjoy a farm-fresh picnic or snack with food and treats sold at the farms;
Teach your children where their food comes from, take a hayride, and more!
“So many children have read story books about farms and farm animals, but have never actually seen a farm. By touring, children and adults learn where their food comes from and what a real farm is,“ said Roland McReynolds, CFSA Executive Director. “It’s a great way to see how food is produced on sustainable small farms and support the local farmer who grows it!”
Tour tickets, good for both days, are $25 per vehicle in advance. Tickets are available for purchase during the tour for $30 or you can also choose to pay $10 per farm (available for purchase at all of the farms during the tour). Groups of cycles count as one vehicle. Tickets can be purchased online now at http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft/ or at Cobblestone Farmers Market in Winston-Salem.
The tour is self-guided. Choose the farms you want to visit on the interactive map at http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft/ to plan your tour. Visit any farm in any order. And, don’t forget to take a cooler so that you can bring home some of the farm fresh products for sale at many farms! No pets allowed. The tour is rain or shine. Proceeds from the tour support the work of the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association.
Complete information about the tour and the farms, with interactive maps and driving directions to each farm, plus tour tickets are available at http://www.carolinafarmstewards.org/tft/.
Our farm was mentioned in the March 18, 2014 post on Bat Crow Farms
Farm Field Trips
As a wonderful part of Piedmont Farm School we get to take a monthly field trip to various farms. This month we visited two farms in Forsyth County, NC. We were greated at Brasfield Club Lambs by John Brasfield a very down to earth farmer. At his family farm we learned about his 10 acre experience raising 100 sheep or so at a time. We were able to see baby lambs, discuss livestock great pyrenees, see the pastural rotation system, as well as learn about electric fencing and getting water to travel to multiple pastures. The morning was loaded with new information to process including birthing, castrating, tagging ears, and parasite control.
Next on the list was the Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery. There we visited the micro dairy where we were very lucky to get a detailed tour (which if only offered for educational purposes). There small operation looked very efficient. On this 34 acre farm the family raises and milks about 20 Nubian goats. Other animals we saw were heritage chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl, some sheep and cattle, as well as guard llamas and more great pyrenees. This farm was so cute and charming. Definitely a great place to take the family. You can take a dairy tour for $50 a person, look at some beautiful animals and visit the farm store. The farm store has a little bit of everything you would want to see. You can purchase the farms cheese, as well a meat, goat milk soap, goat and farm themed presents, handmade gifts, unique farm themed children’s gifts and a delicious assortment of jams and other farm products. We easily spent a bunch here. We purchased 7 different frozen goat cheeses. Our favorites so far are the feta marinated with garlic and peppercorns and the farmstead traditional basil and sundered tomato chèvre. We can’t wait to thaw and try our other goodies.
This visit to Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery was an optimal educational experience. Everyone was very knowledgeable and friendly. The farm was clean and well maintained. We left with so much great information and a few recommended resources for “the best goat cheese books” by Giancalis Caldwell. This farm is a must see trip to Forsyth County open 7 days a week Monday – Saturday 9-6 and Sunday 1-6.
