From Pasture to Plate: A Visit to Pacheco Family Ranch

Driving through emerald, green pastoral hills of Sonoma County, en route to the newly named Pacheco Family Ranch (aka Achadinha Cheese Company), it’s hard not to be dazzled by bucolic tableaus of grazing cows, red barn and tractor still life’s and wide-open pastures. With the arrival of spring, cheesemaker Donna Pacheco, her husband Jim and their four children are busier than ever raising and milking their herd of cows, producing farmstead dairy products, feeding chickens and much more. Theirs is the definition of a working farm. It’s no surprise that farm life is challenging, but a visit brings the solutions and rewards into focus as well.

Diversification in Action

Achadinha cheeses aging photo credit Tanya Henry

Upon arriving at the Petaluma farm, a friendly black and white border collie bounds up to greet us. An equally effusive Donna also offers a warm welcome and launches into her family’s story. She is disarmingly honest and peppers her discussion with plenty of humor. She explains how challenging it is to run a farm and says it’s the reason they have diversified their production to raising cows (no more goats), pigs, sheep, horses, chickens, and ducks. Their initial cheeses were made with goats’ milk, but a glut of cheap goats’ milk from the Central Valley made it too hard to compete. They switched back to cow’s milk and now also sell eggs, beef and multiple cow’s milk-based products including kefir, fromage blanc, and curds (in multiple flavors).

Feed Matters

Cows on the ranch at Pacheco Family Ranch — Cows on the ranch photo credit Pacheco Family Ranch

It soon becomes apparent that Donna is passionate about her “girls” aka the 125 Jersey cows they milk on their 230-acre farm. “We feed our girls brewers grain from Russian River Brewing Company and Seismic instead of corn as we have found their bodies can’t digest it,” she explains. The cows are also pastured all year long and are even fed the whey (which is high in protein) that is left over from cheesemaking. Jersey cows are prized for their milk. While they produce less milk than the more common Holsteins, their milk has 4.9% butterfat versus 3.7% for Holsteins. The milk from Jerseys also contains more protein.

Cheese Reflects the Seasons

Achadinha Cheese Company Fromage Chevre photo credit Pacheco Family Ranch

Donna stresses the importance of feeding their herd a more alkaline diet of easily digestible foods which in turn make it easier for humans to digest. She also notes how the season completely affects the flavors in the cheeses due to what the girls are eating. “In the winter months you can taste the sweetness from the grass; in the summer there is bitterness from the brewer’s grain,” she explains.

We are led into a pristine concrete floored room with a large rectangular vat where all of the dairy items are produced. As lead cheesemaker, Donna describes the process she uses for her various cheeses before moving us on to see the drying room. And for anyone who literally wants an up close and personal experience—Donna offers private groups of 10 to join her to participate in an actual cheesemaking class.

Achadinha Cheese Company Broncha photo credit Pacheco Family Ranch

And then the tasting begins. One of Donna’s daughters joins her at a long rectangular table where samples of their cheeses are laid out and labeled. We begin with the aged Broncha which was initially made with goats’ milk and named loosely after the Portuguese word “bronco” which means white. But as they no longer use goats’ milk, the cheese is now more yellow tinged due to the switch to cow’s milk. It has a lovely tangy flavor and just the right bite for a cheese aged 2-4 months. Multiple flavors of her California Crazy Curds were offered and included a cayenne and crushed pepper version and an herb and garlic option. A kefir cheese and fromage blanc were also on hand and were memorable for their silky luscious texture and flavors.

Takeaways

This is a farm visit that goes beyond inspiration. Not only is Donna a dedicated and knowledgeable advocate and steward of her family farm—she is also a hard-working cheesemaker and can often be found at one of the 60 farmers markets across the state where their array of dairy products is sold.

While supporting the Pacheco’s at local farmers market and enjoying their delicious cheeses is a great idea, a visit to the family farm offers true insight to what a working dairy and farm looks like. Donna offers tours on Saturdays that include seeing the milking barn, meeting the animals, and, of course, a taste of their fresher-than-fresh farmstead cheeses. The farm also offers private and group cheesemaking classes, demonstrating, once again, the importance of diversification.