This is the first show in our summer summer special series on @3crmelbourne featuring our very own Carmen chatting about her new goat farming venture in France on the edge of beautiful Arbois, Jura. For more photos and videos head over to instagram @herdsandcurds

Herds and Curds

Carmen's mini goat farm in Arbois, the Jura, France

In this month's episode Lea wraps up her three part series on artisan farmhouse cheese makers of Georgia in conversation with Diana Vacheishvili who lives in a stunning gorge near viallge Arteni, Kartli with her winemaking partner Nika Vacheishvili. With their small herd of goats, Diana produces a small production of cheese for her family and guests.We round out the series in conversation with Therese Virtue, long time member of the Melbourne Georgian Choir.

Artisan farmhouse cheese makers of Georgia, Part 3 - Diana's home made goats cheese and Therese from the Melbourne Georgian Choir

This month”s Herds and Curds is the second part of a three part series on Georgian farmhouse cheesemakers. Lea is in conversation with Tina and Robison Lagazidze at their farm in the Caucasus mountain range in Tusheti. Tina and Robison discuss their seasonal herding life and how their son Giorgi is reviving the tradition of guda cheesemaking.Thanks to Ilia Lekishvilli for live interpretation ( @iliatourguide )Check out more photos on Instagram @herdsandcurds

Artisan farmhouse cheesemakers of Georgia Part 2: Tina and Robison on making guda in Tusheti.

This is the first in a two part series on Georgian farmhouse cheesmakers.In this episode Lea is in conversation with Georgian artisan cheesmakers, Sopo Gorgadze and Leo Tsaguria of Marleta Farm in Shalauri village near telavi, Kakheti.

Artisan farmhouse cheesemakers of Georgia, Part 1- Sopo and Leo of Marleta Farm

Carmen chats to Australian Specialist Cheesemakers' Association Secretary, Alison Lansely about the role of the organisation and how it supports the work of Australian artisan and specialist cheesemakers.

Alison Lansely on the work of the Australian Specialist Cheesemakers' Association

In this epsiode we feature Carmen in conversation with French cheese consultant Ivan Larcher. Ivan has over 20 years of incredibly varied experience in the dairy industry, from the big business of cultures to running his own microdairy. Ivan has been visiting Australia since 2013 running professional cheese technology workshops and is largely responsible for transforming/developing the knowledge of farmhouse and artisan cheese production. Ivan will be viiting Australia again this October. To find out more about his workshops head to the Australian Specialist Cheesmakers Association.

Ivan Larcher - cheesemaking trainer extraordinare!

In this week's epsiode Carmen heads to Gippsland to gasbag with low input dairy farmer Rob Monk of Viking Fleckvieh. You can check out some beautiful photos of the little known fleckvieh cows and stunning farm on Instagram @vikingfleckvieh

Searching for simplicity in Gippsland with low input farmer Rob Monk

This week we feature a great conversation between Carmen and her grandma Eva Bateson. We are proud to bring you the story of Eva Bateson and her life as a dairy farmer in Gippsland. It's a rare treat to hear older women's voices in the media and for them to publically document their working lives. What a privilege to hear this delightful intimate interation between granddaughter and grandmother.

Carmen in conversation with her granny Eva Bateson about her life as a dairy farmer.

Join us for part 2 of our conversation with Will Studd where we hear about Will's lengthy battle to have the importation and production of raw milk cheeses accepted by regulatory authorities in Australia.

Will Studd and the battle for raw milk cheese, part 2

This month on Herds and Curds, Carmen and Leanne chat to raw milk cheese advocate Will Studd about his life in cheese. This is a two part special. Part 2 will continue to follow Will's campaign for Australia to follow international common practice in allowing raw milk products to be available for import and production. The live program will air on the first Sunday of June at 7am on 3CR 855AM and be available via podcast. Instagram: @willstudd 

Will Studd and the fight for raw milk cheese - Part 1

Carmen heads just north of Melbourne to the beautiful Macedon Ranges to chat to Sarah Azjner of Dreaming Goat Dairy about starting up her small goat farm and cheese production.Follow Herds and Curds on Instagram @herdsandcurds

Do goats dream? Carmen heads to the Macedon Ranges to find out

In this month's Herds and Curds we continue our exploration of farmhouse cheeses in Tassie as Carmen chats to Nicole Gilliver of Grandvewe Cheeses about the joys and hard yakka involved in sheep farming and cheesemaking.Instagram:  @grandvewecheeses  

The sheep sure do have a grand view in Tassie

Herds and Curds on tour in Tas. Carmen recently visited kate and Ian Field of Tongola Cheese and recorded  this conversation on site. It'sd a wonderful insight into their farming methods, thier relationship with their goats and life as farmhouse cheesmakers in Tassie ....hard yakka.Instagram @tongolacheese

Carmen visits Tassie and finds a wonderful farmhouse goats cheese

This month's Herds and Curds features an excerpt of an event organised by the Australian Specialist Cheese Association (ASCA) that took place at Calendar Cheese earlier in the year. The event titled Revinventing Farmhouse Cheese bought together Bronwen and Francis Percival, authors of Reinventing the Wheel: milk, microbes and the fight for real cheese, Carla Meurs from Holy Goat Cheese, Andy Hatch from Upland Cheese (Wisconcin USA), Mateo Kehler from Jasper Hill Farm (Vermont, USA) and micro-biologist Ian Powell. Moderated by Richard Cornish with assistance from ASCA secretary Alison Lansley.Check out the speakers on Instagram:@holygoatcheese, @uplandcheese, @jasperhillfarm, @foodcornish, @bronwenpercival, @australian_cheese, @calendar_cheese 

Australian Specialist Cheese Association panel discussion - Reinventing Farmhouse Cheese

Leanne chats to Carmen in France having recently decended the Swiss mountains following her 2018 season on aplage with her small herd of ten goats. In this epsiode we go into more depth about Carmen's daily life with the goats, her cheesemaking techniques and experiments as well as her appreciation of some useful visits from industry professionals.

Carmen Bateson's 2018 cheese making season on alpage with her small herd of goats

Conversations with farmhouse cheese makers and dairy producers.