Michael Wascher

Favorite cheeses? There are lots of cheeses I like! A few that come to mind:

Pecorino Romano is a favorite to grate over pasta, it's made of goat or sheep milk so a bit of funk.

Mozzarella di bufala, it's made from buffalo milk. Yes, there are water buffalo in Italy.

Gouda, a yellow Dutch cheese is a favorite. Young Gouda is soft & mellow, it melts well. An aged Gouda is a completely different cheese, harder, drier, a bit crumbly, some funk, some crystallization. Great on a cheeseboard.

And of course sharp cheddars, cream cheese for bagels, feta cheese for Greek & Eastern European dishes, bleu cheese with wings ...

John Suavecito wrote:I have read that goats prefer tougher food than sheep. They may eat a lot of blackberry vines for example than sheep and less grass.  Maybe it depends on what you are growing, intentionally or not.

John S
PDX OR

... and I've heard they LOVE poison ivy.

-MikeW

A former coworker who spent a lot of time in Switzerland said they used sheep there.  It was hard to get any real details, he told the story as a humorous anecdote. FYI - this guy bought 20 acres "in the country" and spent every weekend on a mower cutting it because it was almost all in grass.

They put a temporary fence up, add sheep, and check on them every few days until the grass is suitably eaten. It sounds like they put more sheep in a than is sustainable then move them around insuring that the sheep eat everything, then move them. It's like a farmer cross-fencing his fields - if you let the your cattle access the entire field they'll eat the best food, then the less desirable plants grow & take over. Leave them in a small area and they'll eat everything, then the farmer moves them to a new area, and in his spare time the farmer also works to eliminate the less desirable plants.

Oh - and I presume they don't use goats because they have the same issues as sheep & are harder to contain, however they do munch on woody growth if that's an issue.

Is a long-handled version avaiable?

Very nice! But is there a long-handled version?