Reynolds Barn
It All Began with the Kids
By Johnette Rodriguez

When Miriah Reynolds turned 4, her mother Melody, who’d grown up with a pet goat, thought it was time to get to work on the family dream she shared with husband Don: raising goats to make cheese. Thirteen years and 18 goats later, the Reynolds Barn farm became the first state-licensed and -certified goat dairy in Rhode Island this past August. That has meant that, in addition to the goat’s milk soap they’ve made and marketed, they now produce their own plain, roasted garlic and “blazing pepper” goat cheeses for wholesale and retail distribution.  Miriah and brothers Holden (14) and Hudson (12) share the responsibilities of the twice-daily hand-milkings, plus feeding, watering, blanketing, birthing, stall-cleaning and exercise—they take the goats on hikes, complete with saddle bags. “They’re our babies as much as our business,” Miriah emphasizes, and she and her brothers have won many ribbons showing the goats at agricultural fairs around New England.

Their goat breeds are Saanen, Alpine and Oberhasli, with mixes of those because, as Miriah explains, “crossbreeds mean more milk production and more variety.” The Saanen milk has a higher butterfat content, and the Alpine is sweeter, so together they make a multi-layered milk, which in turn makes a very flavorful cheese.  The Reynolds goat cheeses are crumbly, best used over salads, over pasta, in lasagna or, as Miriah likes it best, “right out of the container.”

The Reynolds family also still makes goat’s milk soap, in plain, oatmeal and oatmeal-lavender varieties; and herbal products, such as eye “spas,” for inflamed eyes; a sugar scrub with lemongrass and essential oils; and heating packs, with rice and spearmint, to ease sore shoulders or aching backs. Those might just come in handy on a goat farm!

Reynolds Farm products are available at the farm stand, 1240 Tower Hill Rd., North Kingstown, 401-294-6972; Green Grocer in Portsmouth; Dave’s Marketplace; and Eastside Marketplace. The cheeses are available at Farmstead in Providence; Sandy’s in Westerly; and the Alternative Food Co-op in Wakefield. They are served in Newport at The Mooring, Castle Hill Inn, Salvation Café and One Eighty. reynoldsbarn.webs.com