Ricki, Diane and Sarah ( Diane’s niece) |
The Smallest Licensed Dairy in Vermont!
Ricki first met Diane Wyatt at the Hanover Farmer’s Market in Hanover, New Hampshire a few months ago. Diane told her she has made almost every cheese in Ricki’s book, “Home Cheese Making.” Diane and Ricki talked cheese for awhile and Ricki decided Diane was one of the nicest folks she had ever met.
While Ricki settled in to chat and to eat her yogurt, Diane told her about the unusual history of her business. It was such an uplifting and life affirming story that Ricki asked her to write it out so we could share it with you:
By the following summer, we had built a small insulated barn that had a couple of 10′ x 10′ box stalls, a stanchion that we could lock her in for milking, and a loft upstairs to store some hay. We fenced in 2 large pastures and put up 600 bales of hay we purchased from a local farmer, all before Clover turned a year old.
I read and reread those 2 books a dozen times as Clover grew into a fine heifer and then a mother cow the following summer, when she gave birth to a heifer calf at the age of 2. That’s when the real fun began for us.
While observing this cheese producer in full swing, an idea came into my mind. What if we used the excess milk and our maple syrup to make maple yogurt we could sell to our customers? My sister, being the conservative one in the family, thought I was crazy since she and I both knew we would not be able to get the necessary license we needed with just one cow’s worth of milk. I, being the irrational and impulsive one, told her not to worry since we didn’t know if it would sell anyway.
So, as far as I could see, that summer marked the end of our yogurt business…until I received a call from a devoted customer and friend who insisted I call Roger Howes, the professor of the engineering department at Vermont Technical College. She told me if anyone could help me, it was him. So the following week, I called the professor and found out that he was looking for projects for his students to work on that fall. After we each explained our situation, we joined forces and put the plan in action for his students to build the necessary equipment that would pass the legal requirements of the Dept. of Agriculture.
This included a 25 gallon pasteurizer, a water-cooling unit, a can cooler that would chill the raw milk brought in from the barn, a rotary yogurt filling station and a mechanical capper that would cap the yogurt containers. I was emotionally overwhelmed at the unbounded charity I found in the customers who not only supported us throughout the years but also donated to VTC to help fund the project in order for us to become licensed. I can’t begin to describe my feelings when this whole plan went into action.
I talked to the students and led them step by step through the process of making yogurt so they had an understanding of the legal requirements of the pasteurization process as well as the packaging requirements. They needed to know time and temperature requirements for both cooling the raw milk and heating and incubating the yogurt. They worked tirelessly, designing, fabricating, testing and re-testing, and in 2 semesters they built the needed equipment and had it inspected and approved by the dairy inspector. To say I was amazed is an understatement. My family and I stared almost in disbelief when the equipment was delivered by the professor and his students the following spring.
That was the spring of 2009 and it set the wheels in motion for us to do our part of the requirements, which involved building an addition onto our house. It needed to have 2 separate rooms, one for storing the raw milk in and the other for pasteurizing the milk and turning it into yogurt. We also needed to have a bathroom and a dry storage room adjacent to the other rooms.
It was not until December 10th, 2009 that the project was completed and I received my milk handler’s license in the mail, which allowed me to legally process, package and sell “Green Mountain Yogurt” (our new trade name), anywhere in the state of Vermont.
Twelve years have gone by since Clover came into our lives and she has now passed away so she couldn’t be with us to share in our success story, but her legacy continues. She was the beginning of a journey that led us to where we are today. We will always remember that beautiful Jersey who gave us 6 beautiful calves, over 65,000 lbs of milk, and the sweet beginnings of Green Mountain Yogurt and our new homesteading life on a small-scale farm.
I asked Diane what flavors she offers:
Where can we buy Green Mountain Yogurt?
Lisa says
HI,
I’m trying to get in touch with Green Mountain Yogurt. Can you connect me with them?
Thanks!
Lisa
Sarah Carroll says
She changed the name of her business to Sweet Cow Yogurt – sweetcowyogurt@gmail.com
Lynn Talamini says
I LOVE your story! I lived in Newbury Village for 23 three years and being part of the Newbury community was a wonderful part of my life. Although I am lactose intolerant, I will tell all my friends about your fantastic sounding yogurt!
A.J. Lopez says
A very inspiring story, I love the integrity of your product and determination do it well and do it right. I look forward to making my way there sometime.
Our family is so happy to buy your yogurt at the farmer's market in Norwich each week. My daughter looks forward to the Maple yogurt so much! Thank you so much!
I just want to thank all of you for your support of Green Mountain Yogurt and your very kind comments. We are in our 4th year, milking 4 cows now and have tripled our sales because of the overwhelming support & loyalty from people like you!
Thanks again!!!
This is a truly great story and it brought tears to my eyes too….good for you and for your farm and your lovely cows! Your yogurt is utterly exquisite, the best, nothing comes close.
Green Mountain Yogurt is the best!! Love your story!
As an educator who offers service learning to non-profits and small businesses in my town, this brought tears to my eyes! I'm so glad there are folks who reach out to those in need. Students get so much from it, and so do the recipients… GREAT story! Thank you!
Great story. What I love best is that you are happy being a small local producer of high quality product. If more people believed in that, we'd have a healthier planet.
I am a huge fan of Green Mountain Yogurt ever since I first tried it at the Montpelier Farmers Market. So happy you can now get it at Hunger Mountain Co-op year round. The Strawberry Rhubarb goes fast!
What a great story. To be able to do this is what a lot of folks dream about.