By Bob Groeneveld/Langley Advance Times
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Cheesemakers throughout BC are joining forces.
And at least one cheesemaker in Langley likes the idea.
Marianne Smith hopes that the newly formed BC Artisan Cheesemakers Association will help shine a light on local cheese factories like the one she and her husband Glen operate on Smith Crescent off Glover Road.
Milner Valley Cheese has been in opperation for about ten years, providing the local community with a variety of goat cheeses, from colby and jack to feta and caerphilly.
The simplest cheese that Milner Valley produces is a chevre that Marianne makes in weekly batches. The harder cheeses can take up to three months to mature, and Milner Valley has an old caerphilly that is aged a full year.
There are also gelatos to whet the appetite through the peak period of May to October.
The Smiths run about 200 goats and sheep on their farm, milking 80 goats on what Marianne refers to as a “natural” cycle, which means there’s plenty of milk for part of the year, but little or none while new kids are being born and drinking all of their moms’ new milk in their first weeks.
That’s why there will be little activity at the Milner Valley Cheese farmgate shop at 21479 Smith Cres. right now, until milk production picks up in April.
The shop is closed through January and February, and currently it’s only open on Saturdays.
When the goats are in full production, the “Milner Jack,” effectively a Monterey jack “but we don’t live in sunny California,” Marianne explained the local name, is produced in 750 litre vats that are filled twice a week. It’s the Smiths’ biggest seller.
The whole process has been a “continuing learning curve” for Marianne, who said, “You learn things every day.”
“I never thought I’d be excited about pH,” she enthused, adding, “And we have the best customers.”
The newly formed BCACA aims to “shine a light” on Milner Valley Cheese and others who are part of a growing industry across the province.
BCACA also hopes to act as a sort of liaison with related agricultural groups, like the BC Milk Marketing Board and the BC Dairy Association.
