No Kidding Aside: Bonnie Blue Farm

Kids, does, bucks—60 goats in all— are part of Jim and Gayle’s Tanner’s large extended family. Owners and operators of Tennessee’s only licensed Grade A goat dairy, Jim and Gayle produce goat cheese daily by hand on their 300-acre Bonnie Blue Farm in Waynesboro, Tennessee. Located about three hours east of Memphis, their farm is a great example of sustainable agriculture—almost everything the Tanners eat is grown or produced on their land.

Shoppers at the Memphis Farmers Market are the fortunate recipients of Bonnie Blue Farm cheese. On alternating Saturdays during market season, Jim brings feta, gouda, cheddar, chèvre logs, feta marinated in olive oil and herbs or just plain chèvre (French for goat)—all made from their goat milk. More easily digestible than cow’s milk and containing half the amount of cholesterol and fat, goat milk is one of the oldest foods in the world. It is also naturally homogenized; that is, its cream is evenly distributed unlike cow’s milk. According to Jim, more people drink goat milk around the world than any other kind today.

Along with their goat milk production and cheese making, the Tanners breed and sell their kids (young goats), keeping a few from their best producing does and bucks for replacement stock. Jim names his goats based on individual letters from the alphabet. Among the 46 kids born this kidding season, there was an X-rated, Xenia and X-spot. And last year using the letter “w,” there was a Widget, Wondra, and Wyzata.

Making cheese from goat milk is 24/7 type of job. The Tanners do all the work themselves rising at 5 am and often going to bed after 10 pm. A Jack-of-all-trades, Jim is the vet, plumber, builder and cheese distributor. Gayle is the principal cheese maker, animal feeder and milker. Their three Great Pyrenees dogs provide the only additional help by keeping a watchful eye over the herd.

As part of the Tanners’ daily routine, the goats must be milked twice a day, morning and evening. After the milk is pasteurized, it is cooled, cultures added, and the developing curds are cut and put into mesh bags or molds. Draining, salting, drying, aging and packaging follow. If this isn’t enough, they rent their log cabin out as a guest rental, and they give tours of their dairy. Their milking parlor even has an observation window for people to watch the process.

Their philosophy of sharing doesn’t end here. With their complements, the Tanners would like you to try their award-winning goat cheese recipe below. Bon Appétit!

(Check out their web site: www.bonniebluefarm.com)