Cheesy Day Trips: Harley Farms

Cheesemongers with Ruby the guard llama

cheesemonger Jane's goat shoes

        On a recent Wednesday morning, four cheesemongers (and an ardent sister) set off through the fog down a curvy road of mountain vistas, Bay-straddling bridges and some of the remotest furniture stores I've ever seen. To downtown Pescadero - we arrived - a picturesque beach town about 25 minutes south of Half Moon Bay.
        Now if you've never seen cows grazing by the beach before, this is worth the trip alone. But on this occasion the cheese peeps and I were heading to an artisanal but established goat farm minutes from downtown. (We sell their fresh chevres on occasion at Pasta Shop.) A 20+ acre property dotted with 100 year old buildings and country-house-meets-Urban-Outfitters decor, Harley Farms definitely has their stuff together.
        The glowing office manager Adriana Serrano amiably led us through a tour of their pastures and operations, with plenty of baby-goat holding along the way. (Tours are also open to the public. Plan through their website.) I left extremely impressed with the smoothness of their operation - and with the bigger picture in mind - how damn amazing California is during the summer. Honestly, it's torture even sitting down to write this right now. My bones are crying for the beach...

FIRST, QUICK PICNIC DOWNTOWN:

No time to cook, so we ate bread! Fresh from the oven,
stuffed with steaming artichoke hearts, with house-made
artichoke pesto cheese spread on the side. 

It's artichoke season at Arcangeli Grocery Co., one of two
cutesy country stores with fresh produce and specialty goods.

ON THE FARM:

Two of the 150 (+/-) Alpine goat milkers on the property. All these guys are descendants
of the original six that Dee Harley purchased back in the '80s.

Kids are born in the spring so that the
mothers give spring milk.

A five minute drive from the ocean, the farm is quite the
tourist destination. They've been able to sustain their
operation through profits from farm tours,
special dinners and two gift shops.

View from the loft barn, where they hold their seasonal farm dinners.

Yellow Calendulas and purple Johnny Jump-ups
decorate the property. 

The edible flowers are used to color the fresh chevre.

The Monet (left) and Van Goat (right corner) are surely tastier than a mouthful of canvas.

Other flavors include apricot pistachio, tomato basil and cranberry walnut.

When you walk onto the pasture, the goats
follow you and try to suck on your clothing.

Ruby was the most friendly of the three guard llamas,
who herd the goats and protect them from predators.

In the barn, baby goats play in their pin until they're old enough to be with the others. In the next pin over,
a baby goat who had just been born was struggling to walk, while it's mother - afterbirth still
attached - was helping it along.

In the early morning and again in the evening, the goats come to this room to be milked. Each goat gives
 about a gallon of milk a day, or one pound of cheese. 

The apricot pistachio chevre being made. After this, they
put a another layer of cheese over and then the apricots.

Fresh goat ricotta still in its basket: after being frothed
in a double boiler, it's curdled with white wine
vinegar and kosher salt, and then drained overnight.

AFTERWARD, SAN GREGORIO BEACH:

On the other side of the road, cows were grazing.