A couple of weeks ago, I visited the Flint Hill Farm Agricultural Center in Coopersburg, PA. I had heard of the farm—mostly because it’s one of the few places locally producing goat cheese—but the farm is much more than that. Their motto is “Feeding the Spirit, Educating the Mind, Preserving the Community.” And they’re doing all they can to live up to that motto.
The farm is located on 28 acres of rolling farmland. Kathy Fields (an appropriate name, I think), the president and owner of the center, met me and showed me around the grounds. There’s a farmhouse, a number of barns and animal residents (cows, goats, chickens, ducks, pigs, horses).
On the grounds, the farm hosts many community educational opportunities, including courses in horsemanship, spinning, knitting and weaving. Schools often bring classes to the farm for field trips, teaching kids all about the farming way of life. During the summer, they offer a kids’ horse camp. The farm is open to the public, so you can stop in any time.
They even have a “family farm stay” program, where families can stay overnight in the farmhouse and spend a day living on the farm—collecting eggs for breakfast, learning how to milk the cows and goats, helping tend the other animals. What a great way for kids to get in touch with a lifestyle that is probably pretty foreign to most of them.
Then I was introduced to the farm’s cheese maker, Eric Lipscomb, who was gracious enough to show me some of the ins and outs of small-batch cheese making. Eric is a graduate of Desales University (with a theology/philosophy degree) and spends his time making cheese at the farm simply because he loves it and finds it fascinating.
While I was there, he was making some cow’s milk cheese.
This cheddar was made the day before and was ready to go to the aging fridge.
Cheese made that day, hanging to drain.
In addition to their own farm store, you can find Flint Hill products at farmers’ markets in Springtown, Wrightstown, Stockton, Glenside and Philadelphia. They’re also featured at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City and at Rodale Press. If you can’t make it to any of those places, they will ship online orders overnight.
Although the artisan cow and goat cheeses are probably their most popular products, they also sell eggs, yogurt and butter—all freshly produced on the farm. They are a Certified Raw Milk Dairy through the PA Department of Agriculture.
So on one of these beautiful spring days, take a drive north and visit Flint Hill Farm. See the animals, taste the cheese and have your spirit fed.
Flint Hill Farm
1922 Flint Hill Rd.
Coopersburg, PA 18036
610-838-2928
They’ve got a fun blog too!
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