Keswick Creamery

Melanie Dietrich Cochran, Ian Dietrich, Bill and Susan Dietrich, and stand helper, cheese apprentice, Lindsay Stambaugh. E-mail . Website www.keswickcreamery.com

Location: Newburg, Pennsylvania. Southcentral PA, 40 miles southwest of Harrisbug in the Cumberland Valley.

Major Crops or Products: Aged, raw-milk cheese. They are Cheddar, Wallaby, Dragon's Breath, Feta, Italian Herb Feta, Feta de Provence, Tomato & Basil Feta and seasonally Carrock and Calverly.

Acres: 110, own and farm.

About us: We have 45 Jersey cows that are rotationally grazed. Most of the farm is pasture and hay. We use some of the milk from our cows to make aged, raw milk cheese.

In an effort to make our farm more sustainable, we feed the whey from the cheesemaking to hogs raised on pasture. We also raise any bull calves that are born on our farm as meadow-raised veal. They are humanely raised on fresh whole milk and lots of pasture. We sell the frozen cuts under the label "Luscious Meadows."

Years Farming:
Our parents (Bill and Susan) have been dairy farmers since 1974. We grew up farming. Melanie returned to the farm after college in 1997 and Ian never left.

Why do you farm?
We all love the land and the cows. Cheesemaking and value-added products allow us to farm the way we like - small and sustainable.

Other markets attended:
Freshfarm at Dupont Circle, Sundays. Mount Pleasant Farmers Market, Saturdays. Old Pomfret Farmers Market (Carlisle), Saturdays.

Why do you like the Takoma Park Market?
We love meeting the customers and telling them about our farm.

Special features? You can always sample the cheese!

A member of Takoma Park Market since: 2002

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