Milk stories

Just a quick hello to share a couple of media episodes we’ve been in this year.

First up we featured in a beautiful film about Bar Midland in Castlemaine, filmed over a year ago.

Sellar Dairy sells milk to three local restaurants Bar Midland (Castlemaine), Bar Merenda (Daylesford) and Guildford Winery. We are so grateful to work with these chefs for many reasons.

These businesses really practise what they preach when it comes to supporting local farmers. Small scale, local producers often don’t fit the mould for hospitality as our supply is not always as convenient or consistent as larger producers and we are usually not as cheap. Thankfully, the chefs at these three restaurants value what we produce and they are happy to work with the abundance and scarcity which is inevitable in farming. When all of a sudden I have heaps of milk, but know it’s only going to last a few weeks, I can send them a text ‘want a bucket of milk this week?’. Then just as suddenly, the milk drops off when the pasture quality drops and milk yield follows, I can say ‘sorry, that’s it for now’. This boom and bust is how real dairy production has always been. In the spring you make hard cheese and cellar it away for later when you might have no milk at all.

It’s also really interesting working with people who are making cheese from my milk, as we are looking for different milk characteristics. Subtle flavour profiles in milk can become much stronger in cheese. Fat and protein levels are more critical to a cheese maker.

But the best thing about selling milking to these restaurants is that they are bloody good chefs who make freakin’ delicious food! I encourage you to try each of these amazing eating experiences.

And don’t worry, I know at the start of this film it sounds like they are blaming Norma for destroying the countryside. She takes no responsibly and puts all blame back on us humans.

Our second share is an interview I did on the Producers podcast.

I spend a lot of time listening to podcasts while washing bottles and this is definitely one of my favourites. I love the diversity of producers they interview, some I would never cross paths with but each with a fascinating story and love for what they do.

LISTEN HERE

A big thank you to the storytellers. So much of my learning, networking and inspiration has come from series like these over the years. They work to build connections all over the place, sometimes igniting fires of fascination and purpose.