This weekend in the Berkshires, we visited a small farm that makes goat cheese. Google Maps threw us on a 2 mile long dirt route through a forest to get there. As we entered the farm, we saw goats surrounded by wooden and electric fences, but no people. Another couple was proceeding to leave the premises. We walked around alone, saw the facilities but weren’t sure if we should stick around.
Suddenly, a woman drove in from a dirt road in another direction. She seemed approachable and smiled when we walked over to talk. Her name was Susan and she introduced herself as the owner of the farm. Susan told us about how she and her former husband set up the farm by sawing trees from the patch of forest land. “We did it all by ourselves, it didn’t cost a lot of money, but took our time and effort for 5 years. I’m fond of design..and my father taught me to put all of this woodwork together, so we used all the wood to make the barn, shed and these facilities.”
“We did it all by ourselves, it didn’t cost a lot of money, but took our time and effort for 5 years.”
Susan has been running Rawson Brook Farm for over 30 years, making goat cheese every day that she supplies to local restaurants and stores. Her website is under construction for years and they’ve managed to grow only due to word of mouth. “Do you have any kids?” I asked her. “Yes, we adopted a girl from India and we belong to an entire group of parents that have adopted children from India. That’s why when I saw you, I wondered if you belong to that group! Your face looks familiar. Not to say that all Indians look familiar.”
In the next hour, she threw open the fenced doors and lovingly directed the goats close to the milking unit (and boy, how obedient were most of them!) Milking begun soon after by her employee on the other end. Susan and her team milk the goats twice a day, and the cheese is made fresh daily. We planned this visit after reading about the farm in NY Times. Coincidentally that same morning, our Airbnb host served us cheese from Susan’s farm for breakfast. It was delicious, and after hearing Susan’s story – it was possibly the most inspiring cheese I’ve had! Listening to her speak taught me something no talk or article could – if you do something well enough constantly, you don’t need to advertise. People will seek you out, just like we did.
Good to know
- Rawson Brook Farm is located at 185 New Marlboro Rd, Monterey, MA 01245. To avoid taking the route through the forest, (though Susan mentioned that it’s her favorite route) – set your GPS / Google Maps to take you to the town of Monterey first, and then set it to the address of the farm.
- We tried the chive & garlic cheese and the thyme & olive flavors and loved both! Since it’s freshly made, the cheese is creamy and light.
- Try to time your visit between 4-6pm to watch the goats being milked.
- Things to do in Rocky Mountain National Park with Kids & Toddlers - December 9, 2021
- 15+ must have items for traveling with a baby - September 7, 2021
- COVID-19: How we’re using our time to plan future travels - April 16, 2020
19 Responses
Chloe GoGo Budget Travel
Oh I love farms and those animals! I used to squeeze goat milk once when I was in a farm in Taiwan. Quiet an experience!
Supriya
Whoa – never imagined anyone doing that in Taiwan. Would love to read about it if you’ve written about it somewhere 🙂
Charles McCool
Cool discovery. I love scenic drives on the Mohawk Trail through the Berkshires. Next trip I will strongly consider visiting this sweet farm.
Supriya
Mohawak Trail is an absolute favorite. This time around we threw in a short hike and it was wonderful 🙂 Yep, you must try and visit them – their cheese is delicious.
Carol Colborn
We love road trips and also cheese. This will be perfect for us. We will remember this when we are back in the Northeast!
Supriya
Glad you found the post useful Carol 🙂 Hope you get to revisit the northeast next fall!
Beth | Adventuring the Great Wide Somewhere
I’m not a huge fan of goat cheese, unless it’s hidden in a flaky pastry and disguised with other flavors, ha! The farm looks really cool, though. I love stories like this that show people living out their dreams. You’re probably lucky to get to visit now, before it becomes a better-known attraction!
Supriya
Yep we were lucky Beth. I love cheese in any form so this was perfect..plus the people were genuine and it was great to meet someone living and working for their passion everyday.
Vedante | The Lavish Nomad
It looks like the goats on this farm are treated well. Also Susan’s words are gold “if you do something well enough constantly, you don’t need to advertise”. Glad to know you had a fun time here 😀
Supriya
Technically, those are my words or rather observations. But the inspiration is all them 🙂
Knycx.journeying
The animals looks really sweet and it must be a great experience; I stayed in a farm too in New Zealand where they kept hundreds of Alpacas… that was so fun!
@ knycx.journeying
Supriya
Oooo that sounds like so much fun knycx. Bet you had a great time!
Rodrigo Pittman
Frankly speaking I love to live in the area like that, no noise,no traffics and no polluted air.
Supriya
You just echoed our dream, Rodrigo 🙂
Rashmi Gopal Rao
So nice; always a pleasure to visit farms. We visited one in Coonoor, near Ooty in India.
Bharat
True that Rashmi, this is definitely a welcome luxury for us given the times we’re living in. What was the name of the farm that you guys visited?
Rashmi Gopal Rao
It was Acres Wild, a farmstay in Coonoor.
Supriya
Oh wow – I know about it and also hoped to visit when I was in Coonoor – but never ended up going. Owned by Mansoor Khan the movie director right? 🙂
Rashmi Gopal Rao
Yes Supriya; it is the one:)