GOOD EXAMPLE – ORGANIC GOAT FARM IN ÖSTERFÄRNEBO
We visited goat-cheese maker Maria Brook at her organic goat farm Lars Pers i Fors, outside Österfärnebo. She showed us around her farm dairy, offered us goat cheese and shared her plans for the future. You can read about her plans and our visit here.
First, Maria took us on a tour of the farm dairy among jugs, hoses, milking stations and cheese in storage, and then we had a close encounter with the curious goats. Maria tells how she opens her farm to field trips – entire bus loads actually – and to people who “just want to be” on the farm. She also shows us her newly acquired food truck. An investment so that she can now drive around and sell her products at markets, outside shopping centers, and so on. Different types of goat cheeses, beer and pepper sausages made from goat meat, meat boxes, honey, jam, butter, yoghurt, marmalade, cheesecakes and quiches are some of the delicacies she offers.
What do people think about your products?
I’ve understood that some cheeses have become favorites, especially my self-invented “Västersocken cheese” – a goat cheese parmesan. People stand in line for it sometimes at markets. The yoghurt is also really popular. So are the cheesecakes. And lately, there has been a big demand for our grillable cheese made from goat’s milk, Sweden’s equivalent to the Greek halloumi.
What do you want visitors to get out of a visit to your farm?
I want visitors to get insight into how things work on a small-scale farm, meet the animals, and get to enjoy a moment of peace and quiet, some mindfulness.
What are your plans for the future?
I want to increase the number of visitors to the farm through more active marketing. We have just finished an outhouse and will now renovate our big woodshed for indoor activities, with various types of crafts. The idea is to practice a concept called “flow learning”, in which you experience activities with all of the five senses. The learning is practical and based on arousing enthusiasm and involvement. I also want to increase camp activities and similar for children and teenagers. Encounters with animals and nature are so important. The other day, my first motorhome guest arrived, a family with two girls who stayed a night on the farm. The girls bonded immediately with the baby goats of course, and in the morning they were right there, helping to milk the goats and move them. It means a lot to me to get to show people life on a farm and that it is actually possible to live and work like we do.
