Yum. Cheese. Vermont cheddar. Even better. Find out their secrets.
Some people come for the riot of russet, orange and yellow leaves that flare for a couple of weeks in northern New England. Lots more come to sample and learn about cheddar cheese–a mouthful of crumbly, nutty, grassy tang. The place is Shelburne Farms, 1,400 acres of pasture, gardens and woodland, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, along the shore of Vermont’s Lake Champlain. Besides offering $450-a-night accommodations in a 24-room inn, the farm employs 200 shepherds, dairymen, cheesemakers, woodsmen and gardeners, all of them dedicated to living and passing along what the farm calls a “pasture to palate” ethic. Guests can milk doe-eyed Brown Swiss cows beside a milkmaid who knows the Bessies so well she identifies them by their udders. “It’s about teaching people to become part of the story of their food,” says Peter Bullock, who runs summer camps for kids on the farm. “We tell people, ‘Try this! Doesn’t this feel good? Isn’t this fun?'” – From Forbes