Gauteng Smallholder December/ January 2018 | Page 21

From page 17
SMART SMALLHOLDERS
four women who help
farmers. This is particularly
produce,
clean,
cut,
pack
and
helpful in the winter months
its fibres.
label
the
cheese.
These
when their goats are not
Rina and Norman believe that
women
have
developed
a
producing milk. They also
the key to their cheese is a
love
for
cheese-making
and
freeze large quantities of
wide range of products in
Rina
says
this
is
one
of
the
goats' milk curd to carry them
small quantities. This has
things
she's
most
proud
of.
through the down season.
allowed them to meet the
“It's
not
a
certificate
I
can
It's not all work and no play at
tastes of a broader range of
hang
on
the
wall
but
when
I
Belnori. Rina is particularly
buyers while maintaining an
see
one
of
them
take
the
care
fond of their small flock of
excellent quality product.
that
they
do
in
their
work,
it
sheep. Sheep milk cheese-
Their first product was a
fills
my
heart
with
pride.”
making is not viable economi-
gouda-style cheese, the
While
Belnori
is
predomi-
cally but Rina does enjoy the
Tanglewood. It has a strong
nantly
a
goats'
milk
cheesery,
variety it offers her in her
flavour and the Belchers soon
they
do
also
use
small
cheese-making. Their
found the palette of a lot of
quantities
of
cows'
milk
attention to detail carries
Gautengers lent itself to a
sourced
locally
from
small
through even to this small
milder cheese, so they
developed the Highvelder
Classic. Other popular
products include the
Snowdrop, a camembert style
cheese and the Forest
Phantom, a charcoal encased
log cheese. Their cream-
cheese style Chevre continues
to be a popular product
among their loyal customers.
Belnori produces more than a
ton of cheese a month.
The cheesery has a team of
Rina Belcher with the finished product
19
www.sasmallholder.co.za
pet-project. Their sheep milk
cheese, Benedictus, was
awarded a super-gold medal
at last years' International
Cheese Awards held in Spain
and was ranked the best
cheese in South Africa for
2016. Add this to being
named Farmer of the Year in
Gauteng by the Agricultural
Writer's Guild and 2016 was
a great year for the Belchers.
One of the many things Rina
and Norman both love about
Continued on page 21