Shirley Hampshire
Shirley and her husband, Randy have 6 grown kids and 9 grandchildren, so far. Due to Covid, daycare options are limited so they are finding themselves babysitting quite a bit right now.
This is hard to imagine because their normal schedule alone is grueling by any standards (as in leaving home at 3am to go to farmer’s markets and getting home at 7-8pm).
Their business, Hampshire Farms demands their attention 7 days/week. They sell vegetables, herbs, chickens, eggs, wood-fired brick-oven breads and muffins, stoneground flour, soup beans and more.
Last month, in February, they did manage to take 19 days off. They took a road trip to visit family, friends, museums, a wedding and an organic farming conference. In 9 of those days, they drove 5,000 miles!
Despite all this, Shirley took the time to tell us about her life and how cheese making fits into it . . .
Shirley’s Story
I am a 30-year baker of whole grain sourdough breads baked in a wood fired brick oven from grains grown and milled on the farm.
Bread dough
Sourdough wheat, rye, cherry walnut and three-seed (sunflower, sesame and poppy)
My best selling sourdough spelt bread
We turned our one-car garage into a licensed bakery in 1992.
My husband with our grandson, Ben (8)
I can bake forty 1 1/2# loaves at a time, up to 3 batches on a firing. My record is 30 pizzas to feed a crowd.
Mother Loaf Eikorn bread
We have a 20-inch stone mill plus two 8-inch stone mills. We grow hard red wheat, spelt, rye, buckwheat and corn for flour.
Rows of our hard red wheat
Our farm has been certified organic since 1988.
September, 2021
January, 2022
We have 18 pastured Jersey cows not yet certified as organic because herd shares in Michigan are about as legal as marijuana.
We were working on biodynamic certification but the certifier went out of business and we haven’t looked into it more.
Valentine with her calf
Alexa gave birth in October, 2021. At the back of the stall, a surprise!
We provide fresh milk to about 150 families each week and we are listed on your Good Milk List.
When it snows, we have to put out bales of hay for the girls. If it melts off, they can go back on living pasture.
Aurora Bee with her young bull. And yes, she chose to birth him in that rich, organic soil instead of fresh clean grass. lol.
This is our Jersey cow Poppy, who one day thought escaping the pasture and sticking her head through a ladder would be a good thing. Our pasture is hilly, and I saw part of the ladder bobbing up and down behind a hill. She was quite upset, so it took awhile to corner her and remedy the situation with a hacksaw-on the ladder, of course!
After we fill jugs for our herd share twice a week, we run the leftover milk through a cream separator. Some cream goes to the herd share owners after I have all I want.
November 1st! Cream separator in action. The cows were still on lush green pasture which gave the cream such rich color.
Skim goes to the chickens and pigs when we have them.
Cornish Rock meat birds in their pen
These baby chicks are a mixed laying flock, and are now laying blue, green, brown, dark brown and grey eggs. I found them on sale for only $1 each at the feed store. (They were a week old and they wanted them gone. Lucky me.)
Every week, there are herd share owners who do not pick up their milk and some of it comes home. Those gallons find their way into my big cheese pot, where two gallons at a time is turned into cheese.
How I got started:
My neighbor bought the 30 Minute Mozzarella & Ricotta Kit years ago and shared it/made cheese with me. Luckily, I can buy rennet and citric acid locally at our bulk food store.
My granddaughter, Trinity (8) stirring curds with “Make Mozz” written on the white board behind her.
I also bought a few books.
A herdshare customer gifted me this book a month ago.
So many people ask me what can be done with a little milk or cream that has passed the fresh stage. There are many recipes that can be found for “aged” dairy products. Like buttermilk, the milk can be used in pancakes, biscuits, cakes…
A little sweetener can make soured cream into sour cream dressing, or the more adventurous can try cream cheese.
I only make a little cheese – easy stuff like full fat mozzarella and full fat ricotta for pizza, nibbling, and lasagna.
Ricotta draining
Draining ricotta in strainers. (Ran out of cheesecloth.)
Ricotta
Pancakes made of my sourdough starter with ricotta added in.
A big pan of lasagna is a good reward for time spent cheesemaking.
My 20-quart Hobart mixer can turn 6 quarts of cream into butter in short order. We also have a 1 1/2 gallon ice cream freezer and our own eggs, so we can make ice cream for a crowd.
Lightly salted sweet cream butter. I only make butter while the cows are on fresh pasture, and store enough in the freezer to last our family all winter. 6 quarts of cream is all the Hobart mixer can handle.
The buttermilk is drained off and saved for pancakes and biscuits and such.
The butter must be rinsed and rinsed until the water stays clear – plus one more time for good measure. Every drop of water is squeezed out, and the butter is lightly salted.
Granddaughter Verity (10) eating toast with butter.
Goals for cheese making:
As I ease into retirement, my husband has offered to make me a cheese press so I can expand my cheese making. I am very fond of cheddar, Gouda and provolone.
Hampshire Farms
7300 Legg Rd.
Kingston MI 48741
989-827-9067
E-Mail: hampshirefarmsorganic@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hampshirefarmsorganic/
Farmer’s Markets:
Royal Oak in Royal Oak and Eastern Market in Detroit
Royal Oak Farmer’s Market in January, 2022
Eastern Market in Detroit
