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5 Spoke Creamery goes 100% for many things. From the beginning, we have used 100% raw milk with cows that are 100% hormone, antibiotic, and pesticide free. It was not until recently, however, that we decided to go 100% solar.

We knew that switching to 100% renewable energy would be the right thing to do, but we never dreamed of how easy it would be. Financing is perhaps the largest obstacle for people who would like to make the change to solar energy–especially for smaller businesses like us. However, organizations like Energize NY and NYSERDA made the entire transition practical, easy, and affordable. As Mark Ruffalo said in his speech,

“Any impediments that we thought up until now [that] were in our way are no longer in our way. We have the financing, we can lease, [and] we are moving towards policy changes. 100% is now. It’s today.”

We hope that our experience can pave the way for others to make the switch. Not only does making the switch help the environment in the long term, it’s very affordable in the short term. We pay back our PACE– Property Assessed Clean Energy- loan with our property taxes, so we have access to the loan money upfront. This allows us to use the money right away to expand our business. It is truly a win-win situation.

To quote Mark Ruffalo, “100% is about creating your own destiny… Whoever controls your energy controls your destiny.” We can now create the dairy operation we envision, without worrying about the incredibly high energy costs that would normally entail.

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Tumbleweed

We put out cheeses from both ends of the age spectrum: Welsh Cheddar, aged three months, and Tumbleweed, aged 14 months. The contrast between taste and texture is the perfect example of the difference between a young cheese and one that is more mature. Welsh Cheddar is mild and buttery with a creamy texture. It’s a great melting cheese and has even been the main ingredient for a delicious dessert- Welsh Cheddar Bavarian- at Post 390 in Boston. Tumbleweed, which is a cross between a young Cantal and  an aged cheddar, perfectly accentuates dishes like risotto, Brussels sprouts, salad, or eggs, but to get the full Tumbleweed experience, it’s best to eat it on its own.

We divided up the group and showed them three different parts of the cheese-making process. They picked a great day to visit because they were able to see the beginning and middle stages of our newest cheese, a mimolette.

We started off in the vat room, where the group saw the milk warming up. Check back with us soon to see a video of the making of the mimolette.

Next to the vat room is the brine room. After the mimolette is pressed, it goes to the brining room for several days to sit in the salt brine. The brine room also serves as a refrigerator for our cheeses that are ready to go. We had some of our Redmond cheddar in there yesterday.

Last, but certainly not least, is our below ground, European-style cave where we put our cheeses to age on cypress wood. A huge part of our mantra at the farm is sustainable energy, and this is partially why we purposefully built our cave underground. Not only is it naturally cooler underground, which is ideal for the cheese-aging process, but an underground cave also requires less energy. It was not long after building the cave that we decided to commit ourselves entirely to sustainable energy by going 100% solar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqRPye3Qk7c

We rounded out the day’s focus on local farmers by inviting our neighbors from Orange County Distillery, who provided samples of their spirits from their farm-to-bottle distillery.

Thanks for stopping by, @WholeFoodsParamus. We’ll let you know when our mimolette video is ready.

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Chris Himmel of Himmel Hospitality Group and owner of amazing Boston restaurant Post 390 visited us  the farm and made a lovely video. The film shows our 110 year old dairy farm which we are renovating and  building our new cheese making room and below ground aging room. Coincidentally, the soundtrack is Frank Sinatra’s “Fly me to the Moon”, one of Alan’s favorite songs from one of his very favorite singers!

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