Our Quest:

We found it!
Raw milk aged cheese, from grass-fed goats.

We began making it.

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 Muscovy Ducklings

It's almost summer, and although it's been cold and wet, warm weather is around the corner and will bring with it: flies. The bane of a dairy. So, we've added some new Muscovy ducks to our farm to gulp the flies. We've been told they can snap them right out of the air with their little beaks. So, the ducklings took their first venture out of the barn, in the photo above. The goats were really intrigued, wondering who the new arrivals were. 

 

 

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It's Kidding Season!

Whew, it's been a whirlwind of activity here, as we saw 80-plus kids arrive here in the last few weeks. They've been coming in triplets and quads mostly, so it's been raining kids!  We worried when one doe only had twins so called the vet in. . . !

 

Where did all the kids go? Well, a few became family pets, some went off to futures as milking goats or herd sires, and many went to train as pack goats. Watch the trails in the Cascades this summer, you might meet up with hikers followed by a string of healthy, happy goats with little packs on their backs!

 

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We've been approved by the

Animal Welfare Institute

program as a farm that  engages in humane animal agricultural practices. We follow the Animal Welfare Institute's rigorous guidelines for healthy, safe, environmentally responsible and humanely raised livestock. We just had our second annual inspection and were granted approval again. 

 Learn more about them at:

 www.AnimalWelfareApproved.org

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New Arrivals! 

They are the core of our "whey management" plan. We are now licensed to sell meat, so you can look forward to tasting some excellent whey-fed pork soon.  The pigs, like the goats, are never fed wheat or soy, so they are gluten and soy free. We feed them whey, oats, minerals, and an occasional cracked hen's egg.This year we have Hampshires and Tamworths, both known for excellent tasting pork.  

We're taking reservations for half a pig right now. The price is $3.50/lb hanging weight. Butcher dates are mid-September and mid-October. Call or email to reserve yours now. (503)623-4744.

 

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We're wind powered, too.

Fairview Farm is completely wind powered!  We purchase all of our electricity from Pacific Power's Blue Sky program, using electricity generated by windmills located along the Columbia River gorge.  

 

Cynthian

 Aged cheese is "slow food" and we're seasonal, following the goats' natural rhythms, but now, 

the cheese is ready!

We are delighted with the delicious flavors of the spring cheeses. Made from milk while the goats are on early pasture and in their peak milking mode, the taste is excellent. Watch for us at the farmers markets and stop to say hello and taste the samples.You can find us at:

• Beaverton Farmers Market (Saturday)

• Salem Wednesday Market
• 
  
• Dallas Farmers Market (Thursday)

If you miss us, you can always stop by the farm and help yourself from the self-serve refrigerator and take a 10% discount.

 

You can find our cheese at:

• Cheese Bar in Portland

• Harvest Fresh Market in McMinnville
• Kings Valley Farmers Market in Wren, on Sundays (it's got to be the most out-of-the-way farmers market ever!)
• Now we're at the coast, too! Trillium Natural Foods in Lincoln City

 

 

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Got Culture?? 

Culture, the nation's first cheese magazine, profiled our cheese venture in their latest issue, Spring 2010. Click here to read the story.

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Read about our organic farming practices in the December issue of Salem Monthly: "The Organic Farmville."  They included a charming photograph of our goats, with our Alpine named Opal front and center! 

 

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 Laurie is a writer and historian with 20 books published, from Harry Houdini for Kids, to William Spillman and the Birth of Agricultural Economics, and Cattle: An Informal Social History. She finally found a career that combines her B.S. in Home Economics with her Ph.D. in history. Cheese making is a challenging combination of both.

Terry spent years working in the trucking industry, and after a cubicle career, he discovered the joys of managing a "fleet" of goats. When he was young his mother milked cows and sold cream, butter, and cottage cheese. Today he feels he's come back to his roots, working with livestock to create a valuable food product.

Brian, our fourteen-year old grandson, lives with us and helps with a variety of chores, as well as being an in-house advisor! 

 

 

 

 

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 Hooray! Our "Carried Away" won a first prize at the 2009 American Dairy Goat Association national cheese competition. 

It's an aged tomme, lightly sprinkled with caraway seeds. 

 

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Got Culture?? 

Culture, the nation's first cheese magazine, profiled our cheese venture in their latest issue, Spring 2010. Click here to read the story.

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Goodbye to Summer 2009

We ended the summer market season with the Montavilla Farmers Market in East Portland. Here's a photo and a link to the news story in the East Portland News.
(David Ashton photo)

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Our local newspaper, the Polk County Itemizer-Observer, printed a story about us!

 

 Lovable goats make for luscious cheese

by Jillian Beaudry   (photos Adam Korst)

"Once we looked at the goats, it was all over," says Laurie Carlson of Fairview Farm Dairy.

DALLAS -- A history professor and her retired husband have created a unique goat cheese operation in Dallas.
   Laurie and Terry Carlson, self-described "foodies," visited Portland about four years ago and were in awe of the fresh fruits, vegetables and fish at the Portland Farmers Market.
   The Carlsons left their 20-acre chicken farm in Cheney, Wash., for a 6-acre plot in Dallas at 2340 SW Fairview Ave. three years ago to be part of the local food movement.
   However, owning 32 dairy goats was certainly not in the plan. The couple was more interested in growing berries and maybe having a few cows.
   "Once we looked at the goats, it was all over," Terry said. "They're so personable and friendly."
   The Carlsons found goats through Craigslist and fell in love with their cocker spaniel-like personalities. They took this "why not?" frame of mind and purchased five goats. The couple has been buying and breeding to the point that their herd now numbers 32.
   "We just kept buying goats and the goats had more goats," Laurie said.
   Terry spends his days fixing the buildings and milking the goats at their Fairview Farm Dairy while Laurie teaches history at Western Oregon University. Soon, that very same carefree attitude that led them to purchasing the goats, led them to enroll in a cheesemaking course in Portland last year.
   The Carlson's found they both enjoyed the craft and wanted to pursue it more seriously, so they invested nearly $100,000 in creating a small cheesemaking facility on their property. Terry built a milking parlor and cheesemaking room equipped with a large refrigerator.

   "We fixed it all up like a mini Tillamook (cheese factory) in here," Laurie said with a laugh.
   The 50-gallon cheese vat used to be an abandoned ice cream machine found on the Internet. It was tweaked for its new purpose.
   To ensure the best quality of goat milk, the Carlsons go above and beyond to treat their goats well.
   The farm is Animal Welfare Approved, the only farm approved in Oregon through the Animal Welfare Institute. All of the goats have ample room to run outside and are fed kelp, garlic, molasses and munch on the blackberries on the property.
  
It takes four hours from start to finish to make the big round blocks of cheese, which retail for $12 per pound.
While on the milking stand, Terry will slip the goats an occasional peanut as a treat.
   Every 72 hours, after collecting enough milk, it's time for cheesemaking. The farm produces only aged goat cheese and adjusts it with different cultures, salt and curing, Laurie said. The rough brown rind on the finished product makes it look like a peasant cheese made in Europe. However, she has also experimented with red wax rinds.
   It takes four hours from start to finish to make the big round blocks of cheese. The finished blocks sit in the large temperature and humidity controlled room for 60 days before they can be sold.
   The Carlsons spent one year practicing milking the goats and experimenting with the cheese before they got the hang of it. Then they started showing off their new product.
   In early June, the Carlsons took their cheeses to a cheese festival in Portland and were surprised at the positive feedback from the professional cheesemakers.
   "I thought it was good cheese, but I wasn't sure what the connoisseurs would say," Laurie said.
   All of the trial and error and cheesemaking courses paid off. The Carlsons entered the American Dairy Goat Association's national competition last fall and took home second and third place in the unflavored hard cheese category.
   The cheese was picked up by small shops and sold to restaurants in Portland. It can now be found at Steve's Cheese and Elephant's Delicatessen in Portland, Abbie and Oliver's Artisan Cheeses in McMinnville, and at the OHSU Farmers Market on Tuesdays.
   However, locals can certainly stop by the Dallas farm and purchase cheese on site or through the couple's Web site www.Fairviewfarmdairy.com.