The panting of two golden-brown dogs mingles with the distant noises of the residents of Landeria Farms. A mountain of dirt with tiers of limestone and budding flowers decorates the cheese cellar adjacent to the milking parlor. The source of the noise appears. Alpine goats. Kansas may be known for its beef, wheat and corn production, but a humble goat dairy south of DeSoto draws attention for its classic, artisan cheeses.

Kathy Landers, owner of Landeria Farms and a member of the American Cheese Society, puts it best, “Done it everywhere, always done goats.” Whether in Alaska or Kansas, Landers manages to produce quality goat cheese wherever the wind takes her. She casually exclaims, “Bloom where you’re planted.”

Landers oversees her flock of 100 Alpine goats and produces artisan cheeses right on the property. By raising the goats, milking, and producing the cheese, Landers can control every aspect of her business.

The milking parlor connected to the pen begins the process. A dozen goats march into the milking parlor like school children playing follow-the-leader. The goats wait, munching on hay, to be mechanically milked. This process comprises the only mechanical agitation of the milk. According to Landers, more agitation of the milk will increase the “goaty flavor.” Collecting in an elevated jar the milk will encounter no other mechanical pumping. With a confident smile, she exclaims, “Gravity is my friend.”

The milk then travels through a large pipe into the cheese parlor. The sights of manual machines, weights, and silver tanks create the ambiance of Frankenstein’s lab.There Landers brings life to her creations. Elevated by stilts, the holding tank stores the accumulated raw milk. The cheese vat rolls under the tank and gravity takes over. The raw milk combined with natural bacteria solidifies the milk into curds. Transferring from the vat to a weight press, compaction of the curds forms the familiar cheese wheels.

Aging of the new cheese allows for the maturation of the cheese’s unique flavors. Traveling into the cheese cellar feels like entering an ancient, musty catacomb filled with unknown surprises. Silhouettes of aging Swiss, Gouda, and Cheddar stand among the wooden shelves. Engulfed by colorful green and white molds, the cheeses age 4 to 12 months to acquire the desired flavors.

Landers states the demand for her goat cheese has sky-rocketed. Large gourmet companies including Better Cheddar and Dean and Deluca have shown interest in her cheeses. Shipping of her cheese is feasible, but Landers values staying local. Her cheeses have gained fame, but her desire to stay small enables her to remain focused on her current operation. As she puts it, “We just want to make cheese and milk the goats.”

During the summer months, cheeses will be available at the Lawrence farmers market. Additionally, Landers expressed that local restaurants will use her earthy, bold goat cheeses.

From raising the goats to aging cheeses in the cellar, Landers dictates the flavors and tones of her beloved goat cheeses. In the musty, natural cheese cellar, Landers’s words echoed off the walls, “This certainly isn’t Kraft.” Nothing could be truer.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 2:31 pm and is filed under Featured, Features. This entry is tagged with the following keywords: cheese. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.