FERNDALE, Wash. — You've likely heard the phrase "farm to table,” but what about "seed to cheese?"
That’s the motto at Ferndale Farmstead in Whatcom County, a family-run dairy farm and cheesemaking business.
On their property, they plant the grass that feeds the cows that produce the milk that makes the cheese.
"Farmstead cheesemakers means cheese is made on the site where animals live,” said owner Daniel Wavrin, who runs the farm with his wife Nidia. "It's like a dream come true."
Each day, milk is piped straight from the milking parlor into the creamery and turned into artisan Italian cheeses like fresh mozzarella, scamorza, caciotta, provolone and fontina.
"So when you get mozzarella at the grocery store, it's been a 24-hour cycle from when it was grass to when it's cheese on your table,” Nidia said.
The cheese business launched in 2013, but Daniel and Nidia's partnership goes back much further – they were high school sweethearts growing up in Sunnyside.
"I think we're definitely the youngest cheesemakers in the industry that I know of,” Daniel said.
He’s also a third-generation dairy farmer but the first in his family to study the art of cheesemaking. It’s a passion he's passed on to his small but hard-working staff of 10, who help him make every block of cheese from scratch.
While their award-winning varieties are based on Italian tradition, Ferndale Farmstead is distinctly local. Like wine, the flavors of cheese reflect the environment.
"The way I want people to see cheese is 'a taste of place,'” Nidia said. “When you eat cheese, you are literally tasting the abundance and the flavors of that location."
The farm also functions with purpose, operating with sustainability and tradition in mind.
"Then there's this history element, the cultural aspect of cheese, which is deeply rewarding because we're celebrating cultures from all around the world in the form of the foods that have held us together for all this time,” Daniel said.
That includes Nidia's Mexican heritage and the language spoken by most of their crew.
"The cheese is made almost 100% in Spanish here,” Daniel said. "We really celebrate that as a part of our diversity and our culture."
Their next planned line is called Familia del Norte – “Family of the North.”
For now, Ferndale Farmstead will keep planting, feeding, milking and making pure cheese the “Italian way” using hyper-local ingredients to serve their community.
"The Italian is the way where you're using whatever you have at your fingertips; it's the artist's way. So we really focus on being a taste of Ferndale like the Italian cheeses are a taste of Italy,” Daniel said. "We feel very blessed to be cheesemakers."
Ferndale Farmstead varieties are available at a wide range of grocery stores. They can also be purchased from an “honor stand” at the entrance to the farm. Nidia also coordinates school tours and private tastings so consumers can see exactly where their food comes from.
Ferndale Farmstead is located at 2780 Aldergrove Road.
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