Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Barack Obama
If you could create the world of your dreams what would it be, how would it look?
Jet
People sometimes ask if our dog, Jet, is a Border Collie and 
we often reply that she is a “Mock Border Collie”, the people we bought her from were named Mock. Jet’s parents lived and work on a cattle ranch, they both looked true to the breed, but I think there may have been some hanky-panky going on with mom and a midnight visitor.
Even as a puppy Jet was “off the charts” the vet suggested she be put on a diet. We had never heard that a three month old pup could be overweight. She also has some interesting mannerisms that are submissive and aggressive combined, obstinate, but wants to please. (In all of these I can relate to her, so maybe she is simply picking up on something else)
All of you who have helped feed the poultry on our farm have seen her tendencies and display of bird dog instincts. Although, her number one obsession is cats. She might be helping hold the goats back at the garden gate and her eyes begin to drift towards a kitten over by the water bucket. Will she follow her pursuit or stick with keeping back the persistent goats?
Jet is the most outgoing dog on our farm. When new visitors arrive she is the first to greet them, she won’t rest until each person has been acknowledged, sitting at their feet waiting for a pat on the head or a few kind words.
Inspiration
Thierry Rautureau, the Chef in the Hat, recently announced his plans to sell Rover’s Restaurant. It set me to thinking about the legacy that a talented chef inspires.
Thierry bought Rover’s the same year we started Quillisascut Cheese Company (1987). He has always been a champion of our cheese and brought that French concept of cooking with fresh local ingredients to life. His announcement takes me back to those early years. This is a BOLD THANK YOU to Thierry, so much of what we do at Quillisascut Farm School has been influenced and shaped by his passion for excellence.
The enthusiasm coming out of the restaurant kitchens where we sold our cheese back in the late 80’s and 90’s – for local seasonal products- was explosive. I remember a fellow farmer who sold fresh produce to Thierry, relaying the story of bringing the first baby zucchini’s of the season into Rover’s restaurant and watching Thierry pick up the tiny squash with flower attached, kiss it and dance around the kitchen- so ecstatic for the new season of produce.
What Thierry gave to his kitchen staff was something unique; ambition, love for quality, inspiration to be the best. For years the highlight of our month were Rick’s cheese deliveries to Seattle. Entering the back door at Rovers was a celebration. The young cooks were enthralled with what was coming in the kitchen and “Chef” was their joyful ringleader.
Today you can find those mature cooks, masters of their own ships, spread out around the country continuing to share their own prowess behind the stove and inspiring the next generation of cooks. Sarah Hayden opened Cafe Sarah located in North Creek, New York. Chef /owner Viljo Basso opened the highly acclaimed Syringa Sushi restaurant in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Bill Morris delights the membership at The Rainier Club in Seattle. Rodger Babel has Creative Palate Works in Napa, California. And our good friend Chef Karl Vennes, who to this day challenges and shares with us his love for delicious well prepared meals. Our lives would be so much less without you. This is a little sampling of the reach of The Chef in the Hat.
It is hard to tell our story without telling the story of all these people who have touched our lives. A community of relationships, be they our family, neighbors, the people who support our farm or cheese business, and the ideas planted by our farm school.
Letter From Joanna
Dear Quillisascut,
I thought I loved you before we even met. I was an eager new culinary student excited about the farm to fork movement…you were the farm that was going to teach me about growing food, making cheese, cooking from the garden and “animal husbandry” (which meant what?). Our love affair was only going to be a week long, but I knew it was going to be magical.
Then we met. And…well…you were a little stinky. And a bit unfinished. And it was hot. How many compost piles are there around here? What on earth is that big hairy dog eating? Can she see? We are butchering what tomorrow? We are all waking up at what time? Oh my. You were a real, working farm that had only done this “farm school” thing once before, and I was a city girl who was living in a glossy magazine-inspired farming fantasy. We were learning together. And I had no idea who I was falling in love with.
You got under my skin. That first week rocked me to my core. We worked in your gardens, milked your sweet goats, and gently learned from Rick and Lora Lea how to understand your message. We cooked and cleaned and built and composted and ate – oh, how we ate! We met your friends and neighbors and I never wanted to leave. Somehow the compost stopped smelling and the unfinished projects started looking like promises. There was SO much happening on such a little farm, and this was just the beginning…for both of us.
Your primary lessons were clear: pay attention to your food; be aware of the impact of your choices; understand the cycle and how the current food system is failing; first local/organic, then local, then organic. Your lingering messages snuck up on me: do what you love, every day; build a lifestyle, not a career; start small, work hard, dream wildly and watch the ripple.
I couldn’t stay away. I visited when I could, helped out for a few sessions the following summer, and then finally gave in and moved in with you for a season. I had the honor of seeing your farm school transform from a concrete slab with a Christmas light chandelier to an amazing gathering space with real bedrooms and a commercial kitchen. I learned that the work never stops and that your stewards are tireless (but do get tired). I ate a lot of pizza. I milked a lot of goats and became quite smitten with a few turkeys. I shelled countless beans and kneaded just as much dough. I met Kären and have admired her ever since. I tried to keep up with Rick and I aspired to be more like Lora Lea. I listened to Daisy Mae’s stories and ate the best cookies ever made. I cried a little and laughed a lot. I was home.
It has been quite some time now since we have seen each other. Marriage, baby, distance and a job have had a way of keeping us apart. But please know that you are a part of me, and that I think of you more than you know. I hope that my daughter will get to meet you and know the satisfaction of watching your sunsets after a hard day’s work. I look forward to sitting around your dining table again soon, sharing stories, reconnecting and refueling.
Thank you, old friend, for changing so many lives while quietly living your own. Oh…and sorry I called you stinky.
With love,
Joanna
The General
One of the BIG boys here at Quillisascut.
The General staged a Coup d’etat and knocked Viceroy off his throne. He has the moves, the biggest set of horns ever and look at those invincible bangs, Stylin’. He drives the girls wild!
The General was super-sized when he was born late in February 2011. Butterscotch is his Mom (Freckles his Grandmother). His Dad was a Boer X buck that was visiting the girls that fall. The General was the only kid that we could see any Boer like qualities.
This photo was taken in the summer, before, well, before he started dosing himself with perfume. (For those of you who have been here in the fall you will know what I am talking about)
Truthfully, I have not spent much time with him, I leave the bucks to themselves. It is helpful if they are respectful enough to keep their distance from humans, yet tame enough that we can get a hold of them if there is a need. Which means he is admired from a distance.
Does he remind you of someone?