After studying engineering, Eran Wajswol discovered his love of artisan cheesemaking on trips to Provence, Tuscany, and northern Spain. Soon his jaunts became less vacation and more research. He finally decided to invest in Dutch Friesian milk sheep and started producing a Pyrenees-style cave-aged cheese. And that was just the beginning. Since 2005, the goal of the 120-acre farm in Long Valley, New Jersey, has been to create a self-sustaining family farm—and the result has been around 20 varieties of artisan-style cheeses that are sold right on the farm and in his Park Slope, Brooklyn shop. Valley Shepherd has expanded beyond those few original sheep and has now raised and made cheeses using goat, cow, and sheep’s milks. Each batch is made by hand, giving Eran and his cheesemakers the opportunity to experiment with types and style. And every drop of milk used in the process comes from the farm. In addition to making Valley Shepherd’s cheeses, the shop sells their own grass-fed lamb, wool blankets, and even compost for overachieving Brooklyn gardeners.
