Pennyroyal Farmstead is Navarro's sister ranch in Boonville, where we produce cheese from 120 pampered goats and sheep. The term "farmstead" is the dairy equivalent to the winery term "estate bottled". In both cases, the farmer is passionate about the long term care of his animals or vines, with the goal being quality, rather than quantity, of cheese or wine. At Pennyroyal we work hard developing an outstanding herd, producing goats and sheep with luscious, high butterfat milk. Jubilee is a six year old doe who wowed the crowd with her third straight year of being named Grand Champion at the Mendocino County Fair. This winter she is being bred to the Nubian herd-sire Onassis. Flashy six year old Roosevelt also proved herself in show rings and her third win makes her a Grand Champion. She will be bred to a two year old son of Jubilee, crossing two of Pennyroyal's most successful family lines. Great cheese starts with great animals, which explains why we name and pamper each and every animal.

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Balancing the diet of Pennyroyal sheep and goats is especially important this time of year and is part of the reason Pennyroyal cheeses reflect the seasons. In addition to silos of grain, we have two kinds of hay in our barn: grass hay that we grow at the farmstead and richer alfalfa hay, that we purchase out of a ranch in Willows. This time of year our sheep have stopped lactating and the goats' milk production is decreasing dramatically. The animals get less grain and a higher proportion of their hay is lower protein grass. As milk production decreases, there is an inverse increase in the amount of fat and protein in the the milk. In the creamery, we respond to this change in milk composition by adjusting our cheese recipes and increasing the amount of lactic acid bacteria added to fresh milk since additional protein in the milk buffers acidification. On the other hand, Pennyroyal Farm does not standardize the fat content of the milk, embracing seasonal changes with winter cheese having more butterfat and a creamier taste and texture, perfect for the holidays.