Sheep Industry News March 2024

Rosemary and Thyme Creamery Makes a Name for Itself in Northwest Georgia

I t’s just about time to make the cheese at Rosemary and Thyme Creamery in northwest Georgia. Lambing is set to conclude by mid-March, and the lambs get the first month’s worth of their mothers’ milk. The five months or so that come after will be turned into a variety of soft and hard cheeses that have quickly made a name for themselves at farmer’s markets between Chattanooga, Tenn., and Marietta, Ga. “We knew when we started this, that eventually we would need to be able to sell the cheese,” said co-founder Brent Smith of the sheep dairy he started with Hannah Walker, whose mother worked with Brent in the Peace Corps in Thai land in the 1980s. “We’ve got Chattanooga fairly close by to the north and Atlanta and its suburbs to the south. That’s as big a market as we would ever need, so we’re kind of strategi cally placed between the two.” Atlanta hasn’t been introduced to the company’s products yet because Rosemary and Thyme consistently sells out of its award-winning, yet limited cheese supply. That’s a result of only milking 58 ewes in recent years. Brent expects to increase that number to 72 this spring, allowing the company to produce more than ever in its fourth year of cheesemaking. “We think the property can support up to 120 milking ewes,” he said. “But we’re still in the process of growing the business and growing the farm.” The property in LaFayette, Ga., was a “clean slate” when it was purchased in 2019. But the pastures had been neglected for several years, so it was an overgrown clean slate. And since the sheep didn’t arrive until more than a year later, “we

had some mowing to do.” An agricultural engineering major in college, Brent set about building everything from fences to production facilities and the milking area. His motivating factor from the outset was to make the land productive. “In my other work, I’ve traveled throughout the world. And in every other part of the world, if they’ve got a postage stamp size piece of property, they make it productive. I want ed productive land, but I knew I couldn’t do it by myself.” That’s where Hannah came in. She was the only agricultur ally inclined young person Brent knew, and she’d been learn ing to make cheese at Lark’s Meadow Farms in Idaho. “Like a lot of people, I didn’t know much about cheese until I started working in it. I liked cheddar and American,” she admitted. “I’m from Pennsylvania, and I had worked on a farm where they did some cheesemaking on the side. I learned the basics there. Then I went to Lark’s Meadow in Idaho and really learned how to do things the right way. When Brent came along, it was just perfect timing. I defi nitely wanted to do my own thing, and the winters in Idaho are pretty harsh.” THE CHEESES Tyri – a halloumi style grilling cheese – is often the com pany’s best seller. Uncooked, it’s similar to a cheese curd, but when cooked it has a savory flavor with a nice, creamy texture similar to mozzarella. “In our bigger markets – like Marietta – we get people that know halloumi, and they’re excited to see it,” Brent said. “I

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