This fresh Manitoba cheese is a winner! W
hat makes the difference be- tween a good-tasting cheese and one that excites your taste buds beyond compare, leaving your mouth watering and eager for more? One of the secrets to a recipe for such a scrumptious treat is a heaping of fresh in- gredients and a big dash of tender, loving care, the kind of care that typifies artisan cheese-making. The largest, best known and arguably best artisan cheese-maker in Manitoba is Bothwell Cheese Inc., just a short drive south of Winnipeg in New Bothwell. “You can really taste the difference in cheese that is made with fresh, locally produced milk. There are absolutely no modified milk ingredients, fillers or pre- servatives in our cheese,” declared Mike Raftis, sales and marketing director for Bothwell Cheese. Fresh milk for Bothwell means milk that is literally collected from cows within hours of being turned into cheese. All the milk used to produce Bothwell’s cheese is produced on dairy farms just a few miles away and delivered daily to the plant. The company has been producing its artisanal cheese since 1936. It was started by a group of area dairy farmers who in the early years hauled their raw milk in
Hours ago, cows had sole possession of this new-flavoured dairy product.
milk cans to the Bothwell plant. Today the milk is picked up by large tanker trucks and then delivered to the plant.
Initially, the company produced just cheddar cheese. It today produces 25 differ- ent cheeses, ranging from traditional gouda and cheddar to specialty creations like Mad- agascar Green Peppercorn and Chai Tea, and even black truffle cheese made with Italian black truffles. Many of the products are now Orthodox Union kosher certified. The independently owned cheese-maker produces and distributes its cheese through- out Canada where it can be found in larger grocery chains and smaller specialty retail- ers. The company has 60 employees, op-
Tips for a brighter, greener more vibrant lawn
1. Leaf it be. We used to spend backbreaking
hours raking leaves and grass, piling them into bags and carrying them off to the nearest recycle bin. But the latest advice (and the wisest, too) is to use your lawn mower to mulch both leaves and grass clippings into the lawn. Try it! It may take a couple more passes with the lawn mower to make the leaves disappear, but eventually they will be cut up into small nutritious bites that will feed your grass. 2. Your trees will love you. It is not only the lawn that will ben-
efit from not raking. The trees from which the leaves fell will also be grate- ful. After all, that is the natural cycle: leaves fall. Worms and other creatures pull the fallen leaf underground. The nutrients stored in the leaf are returned to the earth and then to the tree. 3. The myth about thatch. You may also have been bagging grass clippings on the understand- ing that doing this will avoid “thatch” buildup. If thatch does become an is-
sue, it won’t be from leaving or mulching lawn clippings, unless you have been mow- ing very long grass on a regular basis. Thatch buildup comes mostly from the interlinking grass roots of the living plant. This happens most often with lawns growing in acidic conditions, seldom the issue in Winnipeg or where grass has been overwatered and over- fed, causing it to grow too quickly. 4. Don’t damn the thatch.
A little thatch can even be good as it serves as mulch, keeping moisture in and roots cool. Grass seed will grow in it, too, and it gives you a nice springy lawn. 5. Nitrogen from grass.
If you leave grass clippings on the lawn, and even better mulch them with your mower, you will be adding nitrogen from a natural source (grass clippings will return about one kilogram of nitrogen to every 100 square metres). This will keep the lawn that bright green colour; if it turns yellowy, that’s a good clue that it needs fertilizing from an additional source. In fall, keep the nitrogen level low, while providing the grass with some phosphorus and potassium and even iron. In spring, bring on the nitrogen.
We're learning to use the lawn food nature gives us.
6. Should you top dress your lawn? If you haven’t been mulching leaves and grass and want to give your lawn a treat this fall, consider this formula: six parts sand, three parts soil,
one
part peat moss. Add some lawn seed as a final constituent. Come to think of it, add the seed whether you top dress or not.
7. Scalping your lawn.
Don’t! Even if you are super busy and want to reduce mowing time, resist the temptation to cut the grass too short, which can result in actu- ally scalping in some areas where
the ground is a bit uneven. Cutting the grass too short can also cause the lawn to need more watering, make it susceptible to diseases and promote the growth of weeds. What is the best mowing height? Six to 7.5 cm (2 ½ to three inches).
If grass gets too long,
mow it even higher up, wait a few days, then mow again.
8. Yes, you can have a green lawn under trees and in shady places. There are great new mixtures of fes- cue that thrive in shade. These plants are also drought resistant and grow slowly, reducing mowing times.
erating out of a 35,000-square-foot facility, whose features include a new cheese-aging facility capable of hold- ing 700,000 kilograms of cheese. Further testimony to Bothwell’s ability to produce a very special prod- uct is the many awards it has garnered for its cheeses. The most prestigious is the first place award for its marble cheddar at the British Empire Cheese Competition held in Canada each year. Bothwell won the award in six successive competitions from 2006 to 2011.
Both occasional nibblers and cheese connoisseurs will enjoy a visit to the
company’s fully stocked on-site store. Cheeses are offered in a wide variety of sizes and formats, along with other prod- ucts ranging from honey, maple syruip and jams to teas, chutneys and pasta. The store is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., except for long weekends. Bothwell’s success also stems from the
strong ties it has maintained with Mani- toba’s dairy farmers and the local com- munity. The company is known for its great support of the Manitoba dairy in- dustry, and especially local dairy farmers and the local community.
The company employs many local people and does fundraisers, providing its “Squeak’rs” at discount prices to local schools to help raise money. Squeak’rs? As part of cheese-making, cheese is formed into small morsels or curds be- fore being pressed
together to form
cheese blocks. The very fresh curds have a springy texture and make a squeaking sound when eaten.
If you’re looking to take a relaxing country drive this summer, and reward yourself with a slice of heavenly-tasting cheese, there’s a cheese plant in New Bothwell that would much enjoy meet- ing you.
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www.lifestyles55.net
MAY 2013
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