Sad News, No more Rucker Farm Goat Cheese

[sdelgato]

Heidi Eastham has pulled the plug on her award winning goat cheeses. Sadly she wants to pursue other farming options and was tired of dealing with over zealous city folk showing up at all hours of the day and night clammering for her cheeses. It's a shame the few ruined it for the many... What a shame, it really was great cheese.

[shelly59]

Heidi Eastham has pulled the plug on her award winning goat cheeses.  Sadly she wants to pursue other farming options and was tired of dealing with over zealous city folk showing up at all hours of the day and night clammering for her cheeses.  It's a shame the few ruined it for the many... What a shame, it really was great cheese.

What a shame. City folk, the kind you are describing, have no concept of rudeness, except when they feel THEMSELVES the victims...then LOOKOUT!

I lived on an old-order Amish farm on and off for about 3 years, and let me tell you, the attitudes of a certain type of "city people" , or "Tourons=Tourists +Morons" was appalling...

[sdelgato]

I hear you. We get out that way as much as we can and are floored by the general attitude of people that visit the area. Wow. It's like they are owed something, it's like they are saying "look at the simple country folk Muffy". It make me sick how self important people are sometines.

[bilrus]

If I was someone selling a product - I'm not sure I would feel victimized by a clamor for my product. Ann Amernick was hammered on this board not long ago for the same attitude on her doughnuts.

[sdelgato]

if Ann Amernick sold her doughnuts from her house and had a sign that said when she was opened and it was ignored, she would have every right in the world to complain. The problem is people. Whatever happened to people accepting things for how they are. If the farm closes at five does it give people the right to interrupt dinner with her family at 7 just because they didn't have the brains to call ahead for hours of operation... So I'd say it was VERY different than Ann Amernick.

[Steve Klc]

No she wouldn't--because she would have been the one to make the decision to start selling them from her house in the first place. You don't want to risk being interrupted once in a while when you're having dinner? Then don't start selling cheese out of your house just because it is convenient to sometimes. In this Rucker goat cheese example, of which I'm completely in the dark, business decisions were made that likely led to later frustrations--other avenues were always open for distribution, for sales, her cheese could have been sold solely to restaurants, solely to markets or to Wegmans, at farmer's markets, via the web, fed-ex'd nationwide instead--please, I'm sorry to see someone, anyone, passionate about what they did decide to pull the plug--but it's just as likely some inexperience, misjudgement, or miscalculations along the way, that had nothing to do with the cheese, led to this, don't you think? Someone made the decision to sell the cheese from their home in the first place--and that wasn't the "city folk." At some point in a retail customer service business you accept the rude city folk and the self-important clients because they help you make a living and the onus is on you to figure out a business plan: you figure out how to deal with them on your terms--you target different clients or change those terms--or you get out of the customer service business. If the demand was there, and still is there, perhaps it is not too late to change the terms of that farmer-client relationship.

I go out to Linden Vineyards every now and then and am amazed Jim Law lives there--what a beautiful property so I wasn't surprised, but he closes at a certain time, 5 PM I believe, and then that becomes his time. He refuses to rent out his winery for weddings and special events just to protect his time. He likely keeps rude city folk off his grounds after 5 PM by...closing his gate...so no one can drive or walk up his driveway to interrupt him. But without the rude city folk buying his wines and partaking of his tours and tasting room generosity before 5PM, without the Muffys pulling up in their Mini Cooper or Mazda Miata clamoring for his product he wouldn't stay in business. He found a way to make the farm/business/personal co-exist, I'm sorry Heidi didn't but please don't lay the blame where it doesn't belong.

[Joe H]

Steve, I am one of the ones who is guilty of "interrupting her." About a year ago in the summer, on a Sunday afternoon about two o'clock, my wife and I drove down her gravel driveway. We saw her in front of a building and asked her, in a friendly way, if she was sold out of cheese? Her answer floored us, "I'm closed on Sunday."

We asked, politely, if there might be a possibility that she would have a bit that we could buy since we had heard so much about her goat cheese and she said no and walked away.

Since then, I've returned when she was open several times and bought her goat cheese. It's fantastic, perhaps the best I've ever had. On the return trips I found her to be friendly. But the first trip was another matter. That day there was NO SIGN saying she was closed on a Sunday afternoon.. There may have been one on a door somewhere but we never got that far.

I would suggest that if she had put a sign up, displayed prominently, that she was closed this problem might not have happened. As for selling from her house I suppose she only wanted to sell on days which were convenient for her. Still, a sign at the entrance to her long driveway would have helped.

[sdelgato]

Steve perhaps I misstated... ONE of the reasons she stopped was "city folk" but not the entire reason. But it is a major reason she stoipped doing it. People not understanding that cheese is in fact not a resource that can be picked or cultivated but on that is made and made in very small batches. I guess some people cannot accept the fact that they missed out and were nasty with here about it. The same type of people that show up during times she wasn't open and were nasty to her. I for one cannot blame her. I will just miss her cheese, it was amazing.

[Roger Troutman]

This is quite unfortunate.

Do you know to whom she has sold her goats? They must surely be saddened by this turn of events as well. Perhaps Ms. Eastham's legacy will live on, in a different location. I am sure that she loved her goats.

Edited May 26, 2004 by Roger Troutman (log)

[sextons]

This is quite unfortunate.

Do you know to whom she has sold her goats? They must surely be saddened by this turn of events as well. Perhaps Ms. Eastham's legacy will live on, in a different location. I am sure that she loved her goats.

I'm not sure if she has sold them all off yet. When we first heard this news a couple of weeks ago she had not yet sold them. I also know she had something like 75 babies born this past winter so it could be possible that they haven't all sold yet.

I mentioned in another thread that right before she made the announcement to quit making her cheese she won two awards (sorry - not sure in what competition) that placed her cheese 10th in the world and 3rd in the nation. What better time to get out than when you're on top?

But man will her cheese be missed .... :(

[CarrotStick]

without the Muffys pulling up in their Mini Cooper or Mazda Miata

I drive a Mini Cooper. It is great for hauling goat cheese and wine. And it gets 40 miles to the gallon- but my name's not Muffy

[DCMark]

This is quite unfortunate. 

Do you know to whom she has sold her goats? They must surely be saddened by this turn of events as well. Perhaps Ms. Eastham's legacy will live on, in a different location. I am sure that she loved her goats.

I'm not sure if she has sold them all off yet. When we first heard this news a couple of weeks ago she had not yet sold them. I also know she had something like 75 babies born this past winter so it could be possible that they haven't all sold yet.

I mentioned in another thread that right before she made the announcement to quit making her cheese she won two awards (sorry - not sure in what competition) that placed her cheese 10th in the world and 3rd in the nation. What better time to get out than when you're on top?

But man will her cheese be missed .... :(

Well those kinds of competitions are pretty meaningless. Budwieser beer has won a ton of medals too. I seriously doubt that Rucker farm chevre is better than most of the chevres farm-made in France. I am sure it was great though. Can anyone make any comparisons to existing cheeses? Was it sold unaged in the log form? Was it the small disk chevres or perhaps the aged pyramids?

[sdelgato]

Yes, in fact Mark her cheese was better than 70% of the chevre I bought during the 12 years I lived in Provence. It was truly amazing. She also made a Tomme style, fresh cheese, a goat milk cheddar and a lavender scented semi-dry cheese that would bring me to my knees. If you didn't get a chance to try some, you really missed out. One that come close is Pipe Dreams out of PA.

[sput]

Ya know...

Maybe she just got tired of the EXCEPTIONALLY LONG, ARDOUS AND PAINSTAKINKGLY CRAPPY hours a passionate cheesemaker must endure....

Best of luck to her in her new ventures and if her cheesemaking abilities are any indication, much success will follow...

[sdelgato]

perhaps you are right... it sounds like it would be a grind. still the "evil" customer thing bothers me. why can't people behave civily?