Farm days are long and the work is never complete.
HERE, WE PAY tribute to the second of five innovative New Jersey farmers, who supply pristine ingredients to the Garden State's finest restaurants.
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Jonathan White, fussing over his hand-crafted cheeses in the crowded kitchen of the James Beard House, might call to mind an elf. With his snowy beard and his sack of goodies, he brings a single-mindedness to the job and remains oblivious to anything else until the work is done.
Nina White is equally intriguing and you aren't surprised to learn that she takes ballet classes in New York City several times a week, in part because of her lifelong love of dance, in part to stay in excellent physical shape. She always expects to be lifting a calf in the near future. A farmer's work is not delicate.
Jonathan is 70 years old now. Nina is sure he won't mind that you know this. What does that mean for the future of Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse?
The Hunterdon County dairy farm is known for its funky cheeses, made naturally and by hand using ancient techniques, as well as its homemade baked goods. At Bobolink, the cows are outside, the cheese is seasonal and the wheat for the hearth-baked bread is a classic strain, one that was harvested in the 1800s. Bobolink is simultaneously an idyllic fairy-tale re-enactment of a wistfully bygone past and an avatar of our best selves, a channel to a better future.
"You have to live to work," says Nina White, who, with husband Jonathan, owns the 186-acre Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse in Milford. It's no small mission. The artisanal values that led Jonathan and Nina White to buy a farm in the first place have remained solid. Through fire, through illness, through recent deaths in the family. Implementing those ideals, however, requires nonstop commitment.
"You have to live to work," says Nina. "You have to be the kind of person (to whom) people say, 'Will you sit down already?' Because 12 hours is a half-day."
This year is proving a transitional one. The Whites have hired a full-time cheesemaker, Geoffrey Buckmun. Bobolink is integral to a class in food and sustainability at Princeton University. (To be part of such a forward-thinking program at such a revered institution is tremendous validation of their work, says Nina.)
The Whites also remain ardent advocates for innovative care for those with special needs. They have three children on the autistic spectrum, and their son, Jacob, who is now in his 20s, requires the attention of experts. Nina, in particular, promotes the value of farming communities. For a vulnerable person, the routine work can be calming and exceptionally rewarding. "Agriculture and food production, in simpler times, had more room for people with disabilities."
FROM THE EXPERT
"I have always liked Bobolink cheeses for their wildness -- their natural rinds and intense flavor," says Tenaya Darlington, a poet and professor who is Madame Fromage, author of "Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese: A Guide to Wedges, Pairings and Recipes" and "The New Cocktail Hour," released this spring. Darlington is also a fan of Bobolink's wood-fired breads, especially the rustic bread made with whole garlic cloves.It was the great chef Jean-Louis Palladin (who died in 2001) who inspired the Whites to buy cows and go bold. Palladin was prescient about farm-to-table, Nina says. The Whites also are prescient. They bought their farm before hipster and artisan became re-appropriated vocabulary words. They've inspired their own competition.
For the immediate future, the Whites have decided to focus more on their wholesale operation and their relationships with restaurants, and less on the exhausting work of the farmers' market circuit. What Bobolink products do the chefs like? "All of them," says Nina.
Farm days are long and the work is never complete. For her birthday, Nina savored the four hours she gave herself to redecorate her bedroom. She put up hooks for her scarves; she loves scarves.
The rewards, meanwhile, are not easily measured. She often hears this: "Thanks for devoting your life to saving that corner of the planet."
In the end, it's not about scaling up. The Whites have only a certain amount of product - what can be produced, on a seasonal basis, from their 186 acres. In many ways, they are selling information, and, through internships and farm tours and the vibrant, grassy taste of real cheese, selling experience.
"Without sounding too poetic, I think we're selling hope," Nina White says.
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