Randolph Cheesemakers
Win National Awards

The Neighborly cheesemakers of North Randolph are, from left to right, David Goldsworthy, Linda Dimmick, and Melissa Komorowski. The company just won its first two prizes from the American Cheese Society for its Green Onion Cheddar and its Monterrey Jack cheeses. (Herald photo / Bob Eddy)

Neighborly Farms of North Randolph has joined the ranks of nationally-ranked cheesemakers.

The family-owned company, which has been making cheeses for less than five years, came away from the annual conference of the American Cheese Society with two second place ribbons for their specialty cheeses.

"It's sort of like the Oscars in cheese," explained Linda Dimmick, who attended the conference in Lousville with her husband Robert. The two run Neighborly Farms on the site of his family's former dairy farm.

Vermont cheesemakers have recently done very well in the Cheese Society competition, which has helped place the state in the forefront in the world of specialty cheeses which, the Society says, "have taken the specialty world by storm."

Specialty cheeses are finding their way into supermarkets, leaving specialty stores to work even harder to find new varieties for their own customers, the Society noted.

The Vermont success continued in this year's contest. Cabot Creameries won five ribbons, include first place for its five-peppercorn cheddar and first for its unsalted butter. The Vermont Butter & Cheese Co., started by Allison Hooper of Brookfield, won four awards including seconds for its goats milk feta and for its unsalted butter.

First Success

The success this year was a first for Neighborly Farms, however.

The company had competed once before—in its very first year of business, Dimmick said. It was a learning experience.

"We got a not very good report card," she remembers.

This year it was different. Neighborly Farms competed in four divisions—cheddar, flavored cheddar, Monterey Jack, and Colby, she said. They won their prizes for their green onion cheddar and for their plain Monterey Jack.

Dimmick, who started the cheesemaking business at the farm, gave credit to her two full-time cheesemakers David Goldsworthy and Melissa Komorowski.

"They are actually the award-winning cheese-makers," she said. Komorowski has been making cheese three years, Goldsworthy two.

The green onion cheddar is Neighborly Farms' best-selling cheddar, Dimmick said.

"I've been making it ever since day one. Somebody told us to just try different things, and we did."

To make the cheese, she goes to the Randolph Cooperative Market and buys 20 bunches of green onions. They spend the rest of the day chopping the unions very fine and sprinkling them into the cheese late in the process.

"It permeates the whole cheese," she said.

Both the onion cheddar and the Monterey Jack have been good sellers at the Co-op, along with their raw milk cheddar, she noted.

Success = Sales

Success in Louisville will quickly translate into increased sales, Dimmick predicted.

"All of a sudden we were surrounded by interested buyers," she noted.

Neighborly Farms makes 2000 pounds of cheese a week, but currently usually sells only about 1500 pounds. She's guessing that the new interest will take care of that extra 500 pounds a week.

Neighborly Farms is on the North Randolph Road about a mile from its intersection with the Ridge Road. It has become one of Central Vermont's best agricultural attractions, offering tours in which the cheese-making can be watched. Tourism has been increasing every year, Dimmick said, with about 100 people a week now visiting the farm.

(By M. Dickey Drysdale)