Back in September, Kari and I visited Cato Corner Farm in Colchester, CT. Cato Corner produces farmstead cow's milk cheeses. They sell their product in farmer's markets around the city, including Union Square in Manhattan and Grand Army Plaze in Brooklyn.

The farm is run by a mother and son team. Mark Gilman is the main cheesemaker. His mother, Elizabeth MacAlister, oversees farm operations. They have a few employees, as you'll see in the photos, including a woman who does the milking and another who assists Mark with the cheesemaking.

What was most interesting to us were the differences between Cato Corner and Bobolink. While they are similar sized operations - and both make a variety of cow's milk cheeses - they are strikingly different in some ways. At Cato Corner, the cows are milked year-round. Jonathan at Bobolink dries his herd off in the fall and keeps them that way until spring. The biggest difference, though, is probably in method. While the actual cheesemaking process and equipment is, of course, very similar, the two cheesemakers have different approaches. Mark at Cato Corner is much more precise in a way. And he's certainly more concerned with the possibility of infection during the cheesemaking process.

Last time we were at Bobolink, the cheesemaking room doubled as an open-to-the-public cheese shop. People were in and out of there during the entire process. At Cato Corner, on the other hand, we were required to bring with us two sets of fresh clothes - one for use in the cheesemaking room, the other for the cave. We had to change everytime we entered or left one of those areas. While in the cheese room, we wore hair nets - as did the cheesemakers. Everything in the room was white or stainless steel. This is not to say that Bobolink is dirty or unsanitary- far from it. It's just interesting to see the two approaches, both of which produce excellent cheese.