Download For local cheesemakers, smaller is much better

For local cheesemakers, smaller is much better
October 5, 2004
By KIM PIERCE / The Dallas Morning News
Juan Garcia / DMN
All you need is good bread with Full Quiver Farms'
artisanal mozzarella, cheese spreads and snacking
cheese (those chunks on the right). But a good wine
couldn't hurt.
Two years ago, Michael and Debbie Sams faced the
prospect of giving up their 63-acre dairy farm near
Kemp, in Kaufman County.
"Milk prices were very low," Mrs. Sams says. "That's
when we would milk the cows, and the big milk truck
would back up and pick up all of our milk. Some went to
Blue Bell. Some went to fluid milk. We milked over 100
cows, then up to 150 at one point. There were times
when we were milking three times a day."
But all that milk didn't add up to a sustaining income.
So they began looking for alternatives. The light bulb
went off when they read Joel Salatin's You Can Farm
(Chelsea Green Publishing Co., 1998).
Mr. Salatin's answer: Get smaller, not bigger.
"He was trying to say rather than being a big,
commercial, huge operation, let's go back and be a
small family farm and sell what we produce," Mrs. Sams
says.
In that, the Samses had a natural segue.
"I had been making cheese in the house for our family
for years," she says, "and my husband said, 'Should we
try it?' and we did."
Today, the Samses make highly sought-after artisanal
Full Quiver Farms farmstead cheeses.
To be called "farmstead," it must be made with milk
from the farmer's own herd on the farm where the
animals are raised. To be called "artisanal," it must
be made largely by hand.
"We make fresh mozzarella," Mrs. Sams says. "We make
cheese spreads, and then around the holidays, starting
probably at the end of October, we start making holiday
cheese balls rolled in nuts. I don't want to brag, but
they are good."
By making and marketing the cheese themselves, the
couple has been able to do more with less. Their East
Texas herd is down to 30.
On Saturdays, Michael Sams travels to Austin for
deliveries and to sell at the farmer's market there.
That's when Mrs. Sams can be found at the Coppell
Farmers Market. Gourmet food purveyors handle the rest.
"Farming is not an end in itself," she adds. "It is a
way that we can work out our faith.
"We are not certified organic," Mrs. Sams says, "but we
try to follow those practices. We definitely do not use
hormones. Our cows are basically on grass. We just give
them a very small amount of grain. We plant winter
grass, so they're out grazing all year long."
And Full Quiver? The name, which they adopted years
ago, comes from the Bible, she explains.
"It talks about in Proverbs how 'happy is the man who
has his quiver full,' " she says. "The text is talking
about children."
The Samses, who are Mennonites, have nine, ages 9 to
34. "We didn't have nine kids at the time. We were
still in our childbearing years, and we wanted to have
our quiver full."
FULL QUIVER FARMSTEAD CHEESES
All the Samses' cheeses reflect the purity of the
ingredients and handling. They use no preservatives, no
added hormones and no added color. Neither are the
cheeses homogenized.
Mozzarella: Firm, slightly salty balls. Serve with
tomatoes and fresh basil.
Plain snacking cheese: Tempting, tangy chunks,
reminiscent of a light cheddar.
Spreads: Creamy, spreadable neufchatel plain or in
flavors such as chive, jalapeño, garlic-basil, spinachfeta or pineapple.
Cheeseballs rolled in nuts: Seasonal, beginning at the
end of October.
WHERE TO FIND IT
Full Quiver Farmstead Cheeses are labeled either
Farmstead Cheese or Full Quiver Farmstead Cheese. They
are available at Whole Foods Markets in North Texas
(except the Greenville Avenue store), Central Market
(mozzarella only), Heritage Market in Kemp, and Texas
Meats at the City of Dallas Farmers Market Shed No. 2.
Mrs. Sams is at the Coppell Farmers Market, 455 W.
Bethel Road at Coppell Road, from 8 a.m. to noon
Saturdays. If you'd like to special-order cheeseballs,
call her at 903-498-3884.
—Kim Pierce / Special Contributor