Vendors Lou and Tamara Sorichetti offer goat’s milk products and seasonal items
Market vendors Lou and Tamara Sorichetti are brave souls. A week after moving into their farm on Solanum Way outside Pontypool from Ajax last summer, they purchased 14 goats. Theirs is a mixed herd of dairy goats they somehow find the time to milk each day, between Lou’s day job, Tamara’s part-time massage therapy practise and homeschool three children ages 2, 4 and 7. Among other herbs and vegetables they also grow asparagus. An entire acre of asparagus. The farm they purchased was the Ayer asparagus farm. Lou grew up on a farm but the experience is new to Tamara and she is embracing the lifestyle with the pragmatism required to keep a level head when your plate of responsibilities is loaded. There is no time to coddle plants or animals, it’s sink or swim at the Homestead.
The name they have chosen for their business is indicative of the path they are following- natural and somewhat old fashioned. There is no fancy equipment; work is done manually. During the winter months they draw water to the barn for the goats. From the goat milk they produce goat cheese and kefir, a fermented drink similar to a drinking style of yoghurt. It has a tart flavour and contains beneficial yeast as well as friendly probiotic bacteria found in yogurt. The naturally occurring combination of bacteria and yeast in liquid contributes to healthy digestion and the liquid is loaded with valuable vitamins and minerals and contains easily digestible complete proteins.
Tamara is very keen on fermenting as a method of food preservation over other processes like canning, as it provides natural source of probiotics. She also produces sauerkraut and is experimenting with other fermented products. Visit their booth at the Millbrook Farmers’ Market to find seasonal herbs and vegetables, goat cheese and kefir as well as homemade pestos and other products from the Sorichetti kitchen. KG
