Alyce Birchenough and Doug Wolbert have spent the latter part of their lives doing what they love and pleasing the palettes of many Gulf Coast locals and visitors with their homemade, all natural cheeses.

Birchenough and Wolbert own and operate Sweet Home Farm in Elberta where they tend to their herd of Guernsey cows and make cheese. They have been in Baldwin County for 27 years, and when they moved here from Michigan they became the first licensed cheesemakers in Alabama.

According to Birchenough, she and her husband came from urban upbringings, but they were both drawn to try farming and found they loved it. Birchenough grew up in New Orleans and was a clinical dietician before she and her husband took to farming. She said her husband used to work in an automobile factory glazing mirrors.

“They are different walks of life. This is great,” she said.

Alice and Doug got into farming after they were involved in the land movement of the 1960s.

“We just wanted to get away from processed things and do things towards a more healthy lifestyle and grow our own food,” said Birchenough. Their beginnings in farming came from the movement, she said.

The couple got started dealing with milk, cheese and other dairy products when they had a “family cow.”

“We had just one cow, a family cow and we didn’t realize how much milk they gave. It was like, ‘Whoa, we have to figure out something to do with this.” We started making cheese and butter and yogurt for ourselves but it was still way more than we could use,” said Birchenough.

One cow soon turned into a lot more than that and the couple began selling milk to a processor to get a cash flow going to start their own home-based business.

“Gradually, we got the cheese thing going. We just thought about it and pushed the pencil around and realized it was a good move for us to come here. We did the dairy in Michigan for about two years and then we came down here and built this place in 1984,” Birchenough said.

According to Birchenough, Alabama has a dairy deficit so there was a market which would allow a small dairy like theirs to prosper. The location is also preferable because there is grass almost all year, which she said is better for the cows and there is plenty of room so the cows are not cooped up in a barn all the time.

“It was a good move. I think they like it a lot better here because they can get grass all year round,” she said.

All of the fields on Sweet Home Farm are permanent pasture fields, which provide for the herd except in the coldest part of the year. Birchenough said when grass is not available they give the cows hay.

Sweet Home Farm is also a natural farm, which relies on other local farmers for feed and hay that can’t be produced on the farm.

“We try to use all local feed and buy our grains at the farmer’s co-op in Elberta. We don’t use any herbicides or pesticides or any kind of chemicals on the farm. We are not certified organic because we can’t get organic feed down here. But, we try to do everything as naturally as possible. So that means the cows can be out eating grass, getting fresh air and exercise,” she said.

The life of a dairy farmer is always busy and never boring, Birchenough said. There is always work to be done on the farm and the cows have to be milked twice a day rain or shine, holiday or not. She also spends three days a week processing the milk into cheese and Fridays and Saturdays are spent running the store and selling the cheese. Despite the workload, she said she loves what she does and she wouldn’t change it for anything.

“It keeps us busy from sun up to sundown pretty much,” she said. “We milk the cows twice a day and it is about an hour and a half each time. We have other animals to feed and take care of. Then, the cheese making day is always a long day. That is usually 7 to maybe 9 at night. The processing part takes a full day.”

Because of the workload they have had to cut their open hours in recent years, but it has also allowed them to make more cheese.

“We used to be open more hours, more days, but we just couldn’t keep up with demand,” she said.

“So, we just gradually cut back on our sales hours. We were able to make a little more cheese that way and we can sell it in two days now. We have refined our process.”

Birchenough makes between 15 and 20 different types of aged cheeses. She said the main ingredients are the same for all of the cheeses she makes, but slightly different processes create different consistencies and flavors.

“We only do aged cheeses, we are aging things out anywhere from three months to a year. We do a lot of different varieties. We use all cows’ milk. We try to give everybody a great product. We are in a pocket here where there is still a lot of agriculture so they can get their strawberries and their sweet potatoes in the same area. It was a good location for us,” she said.

She and her husband stay busy with their herd of Guernsey cows. Right now they have around 30 cows, with a few currently expecting. Fourteen of their cows are currently being used for milking. Because their dairy is relatively small they try to keep their milking cows between 12 and 15. Birchenough loves all of her cows and she knows them all by name.

“Ours are like big pets,” she said.

Because the cows aren’t pushed to produce milk and eat primarily grass, she thinks they are healthier and produce healthier milk as well.

“I think they are healthier, they don’t have to work as hard. We try to breed for longevity. We want an animal that is going to last for more than four years, which is the average lifespan in a big commercial dairy. Our oldest cow right now is nine. We have less employee turnover,” she joked.

She said she and her husband have never considered growing their business any bigger because they like it the way it is.

“We would have to buy milk to try to grow our production and we really don’t like the idea of not being able to control our quality. This is what worked for us and what we enjoy the most. We like to sell locally and serve the community. It is part of the American culture to keep growing your business because you can, but we didn’t buy into that,” she said.

Birchenough has always been interested in dairy products, but when she decided to start making her own she saw it as a challenge.

“It is something that had always interested me and there was not much information about it at the time so it was kind of a challenge. I was always interested in processed dairy foods. The more I got into it the more I enjoyed it. It is something a little different every day. The milk composition is a little different every day depending on what the cows are eating. So, it is not boring. Everyday with the animals and customers and cheese making, it just really fascinated me,” she said.

Sweet Home Farm is unique, and offers a homemade, natural produce not available locally.

“We try to give people a good product and a good shopping experience,” she said. “We are the last dairy in Baldwin County, which is kind of scary.”

The Sweet Home Farm is located at 27107 Schoen Road in Elberta. For more information call 251-986-5663.