Who: Cathy Palmer, How Now Dairy
Where: Gillieston, City of Greater Shepparton, Yorta Yorta Country
Cathy, you’re unique in the dairy world. Tell us more.
Yes, dairy has a dirty little secret. Shortly after birth, calves are removed from their mothers and are generally sent for slaughter at five days old. I decided to adopt a kinder farming method by keeping the calves with their mothers throughout milking. The calves receive 30 to 40 per cent of the milk, but it is of such high quality, with higher fat and protein content. They might get less milk overall, but the quality is superior. The milk is richer in protein and fat, making it perfect for cheesemaking.
We love cheese!
So do I. I collaborate with two cheesemakers. Jack Holman from Stone and Crow Cheese uses How Now Dairy milk to make the soft geotrichum-rind Galactic, as well as the rich and creamy washed-rind cheese he calls Nightwalker. He also makes a semi-hard cheese called Joe Crow, and an aged cheese similar to cheddar called Moonshine. I also work with Ballarat cheesemaker Nardia Baxter Keene from Goldfields Farmhouse Cheese. She, like Jack, adjusts her cheesemaking as the milk changes from season to season. I love the feta she makes from my milk and the Blue Blush blue cheese with its creamy texture and tangy blue flavour.
You also have a unique distribution model for your milk.
Like an old-fashioned milkman. All my milk is unhomogenised, and I deliver it weekly to homes, cafés, and food stores across Victoria. I also pack it into 18-litre kegs for cafés and food services, as well as self-serve milk stations in food stores.
Self-serve?
Yes. People bring their sterilised milk bottles to the store, fill them with fresh milk, pay for it, and take it home.
So, where can you get it?
You can bring your bottle to outlets such as Goods Grocer in Altona, The Fruiterer’s Wife in Port Melbourne, Merri Café in Brunswick East, and Wildings in St Leonards. We sell our bottled milk through Cannings Butchers, The Meat Room in Kilmore East, and many others. I also attend the Geelong, Bonbeach, Woodend, and Violet Town farmers’ markets. All the outlets are listed on my website: hownowdairy.com.au