FARMING, ARTSITS' EDITION : Greg Bernhardt and Hannah Sessions of Blue Ledge Farm

In order to avoid the often uncertain, hand-to-mouth existence that is traditional farming, two enterprising, small-scale growers craft affordable artisan goods, catering to both their Vermonter neighbors and a growing population of gourmet shoppers.

Of all the goat cheeses she and her husband produce on their Salisbury, Vermont farm, Hannah Sessions’ favorite is the Crottina. She describes it as a velvety smooth, semi-aged cheese that pairs well with everything, particularly honey and Sauvignon Blanc. Although it won first place in the 2006 American Cheese Society competition, it is less flashy than some of Hannah and Greg’s other cheeses, and their least popular in stores. Hannah therefore feels a particular closeness to those who share her love for it. She jokes, “I always respect people more when Crottina is their favorite cheese. It’s like Ah, I get you…you like classic, simple…you appreciate the subtleties in life.”

Hannah and Greg have been milking goats and making cheese at Blue Ledge Farm for thirteen years. They pride themselves on crafting nine cheese varieties--including the Crottina, a maple syrup infused chevre, and herb and pepper crusted chevres--in order to appeal to everyone from foodies right down to shoppers who are convinced they do not like goat cheese because “All they’ve had is this sort of overly flavored goat cheese that…smells like you just liked a goat hoof or something,” as Hannah puts it. In addition to selling directly from their farm, over their website, and at the Middlebury and Rutland farmers’ markets, Hannah and Greg maintain wholesale accounts with thirty regional stores and co-ops. They also sell to three distributors, who carry Blue Ledge Cheese throughout New England and as far south as Washington D.C.

Hannah and Greg both decided they wanted to work with their hands, close to the land while studying abroad in Florence, Italy. Over the course of their year there, they fell in love not only with each other but also with slow-food culture. Soon after returning to the U.S., they settled in Vermont, where an artisan food culture of its own was beginning to blossom. Hannah knew Vermont well having grown up in Cornwall, and Greg had become enamored by the bucolic beauty of the state when he visited Middlebury College in high school. They bought Blue Ledge Farm and their first four goats in 2000, a year after graduating from Bates College.

As studio art majors, Hannah and Greg wanted a lifestyle that was both agricultural and creative. They were drawn to cheese making for its artisan nature and because it allowed them to exert more control over their markets than traditional dairy or vegetable farming. Beneath the romance of an independent goat cheese business, however, lie lots of hard work. Hannah and Greg spent their first four years in Salisbury tending to their goats in addition to full-time jobs. Greg worked as a teacher at a private school in Rutland while Hannah coached skiing at Middlebury Union High School and sold ads at the local Addison Independent Newspaper. Not only were the days long, they were also lonely; most of Hannah and Greg’s Bates classmates had moved to major cities to pursue more traditional careers in business and finance or to earn second degrees.

Despite their isolation, Hannah and Greg steadily grew their goat herd, graduated from hand milking to mechanized milking, and officially began making cheese in 2002, two years after settling on the farm. One month after they began making cheese, Hannah gave birth to their daughter, Livia. Although a newborn exacerbated their workload, they welcomed parenting with the same determination they did farming. “You put up with a lot in your 20s, so it was actually the right time to do it,” claims Greg. “We were already sacrificing so much by having a farm, having to milk twice a day…so having a child seemed easy enough in the midst of it.”

It took ten years, but now Blue Ledge Farm is profitable and Hannah and Greg’s schedules are much more manageable, even if consuming. Hannah takes care of 120 goats along with the marketing and selling side of the business; Greg makes the cheese and handles the book keeping, haying and cleaning around the barn. Instead of breeding her goats together so that they all stop lactating for two months in the winter, Hannah breeds them in two phases and milks year round. This allows Greg to make cheese throughout the year and supply restaurants and stores faithfully.

It also means, however, that Hannah is needed at the farm every day, including weekends and holidays. She admits, “You have a different relationship with your home when it is your business as well. It’s hard to force yourself to have down time, especially when you look out your window and you’re always reminded of things you should be doing.” Adds Greg, “Most people come home from work and relax but we have to leave home to relax.” Despite the limitations of being tethered to her home and her goats, spending time with animals is ultimately one of Hannah’s greatest comforts. She gushes, “If I’m having a bad day, I just have to go out in the barn and spend some time with my animals. That’s what got me into this in the beginning. I’ve just, I’ve always loved animal companionship.”

Thanks to one full-time farmhand and three part-time farmhands, Hannah and Greg were able to take their first long vacation this November. They spent three weeks camping in state and national parks along the coast of California with their now 11 year old daughter Livia and their 8 year old son, Hayden. Hannah and Greg are quick to praise their dedicated, dependable sidekicks, many of whom have become close friends. “We’ve always found great employees, really great people,” Hannah says. “It’s nice to be in a position right now where we can pay them really well…It makes all the difference in the world, having the right people.”

In addition to year-round employment, Hannah and Greg also offer two seasonal positions in the spring and summer, peak cheese making and haying time. The short-term commitment gives young people the opportunity to learn about goats and test out farm life. Although most seasonal workers ultimately decide not to invest in their own goats because milking twice a day is so labor intensive, many of them go on to start their own farming businesses with other concentrations, like vegetable and meat farming. For Hannah, helping young farmers transition is particularly gratifying. “Yes, [seasonal positions] do help us out during the time of the year when there isn’t enough hours in the day to do everything, but it’s also our way of giving back,” she says. “I wish there had been places when we were starting out that we could have interned for, because there would have been some things that we would have learned and mistakes we wouldn’t have made. It’s our way to help foster new businesses.”

In addition to giving back through mentorship, Hannah and Greg now donate 10% of their profits to favorite causes in the Addison County community. “Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cheese that we make leaves the state, and all that money, it funnels back into Vermont through us. So that’s a very powerful thing about running a business. We created something from nothing, and in our tiny way we help fuel the Vermont economy,” Hannah says.

Although local food culture is what drew them to Vermont originally, Hannah and Greg acknowledge that it is far from perfect. They worry that many of the local, artisan products Vermont is celebrated for are actually too expensive for locals to enjoy. They are committed to streamlining their own production process in order to offer their cheese at a price that is not exclusive. Hannah explains, “Part of our mission was to make a product we could afford. Some businesses price themselves right out of the Vermont market…That would make me really sad, if my own friends couldn’t buy my cheese…I want to feed my friends and neighbors.”

Simply having the opportunity to contribute to the ever-evolving dialogue about food and food culture is ultimately what makes their work most meaningful. Greg explains, “I think as we get older and we’re thinking about what we contribute to things, it’s nice that our business has come to mean something to people…the fact that it can have this bigger meaning in our local community, the greater community, and even the whole conversation around food in this country…that makes it feel worthwhile.”

The following recipe calls for Hannah and Greg’s original fresh chevre and makes an easy, light appetizer. Blackberry jam compliments the salty crostini and savory cheese, adding a sweet, surprising depth to each bite.

WARM BLACKBERRY GOAT CHEESE CROSITINIS

Crostinis

One 8-10 oz baguette, sliced ½ inch thick (about 30 slices)

¾ cup olive oil

Course salt

Goat Cheese Spread

2 tbsp olive oil

2 shallots, chopped

1 leek, chopped

2 tbsp chopped fresh chives, plus more to garnish

8 oz goat cheese

1 cup blackberry jam

For crostinis:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Arrange baguette slices on two large baking sheets. Brush both sides with oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake until golden, 15-20 minutes, turning crostini over and rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool on baking sheets.

For goat cheese spread:

Add shallots, leek and 2 tbsp olive oil to a small saucepan. Sauté over medium-low heat until shallots are sizzling and leeks are bright, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add goat cheese and chives to pan. Mix cheese and chives with leeks and shallots until completely combined and cheese is soft and warm.

Assemble crostinis:

Spread each crostini with about 1 tsp blackberry jam. Top with warm goat cheese spread. Sprinkle with extra chives and serve warm.

Makes about 30 crostinis.