Last month we had the honor of putting on our sixth annual Farm Potluck hosted by Mountain Laurel Jerseys in Trout Lake, Washington. It was a beautiful time of fellowship, breaking bread with friends new and old. Folks brought in wonderful dishes to share, from homemade cherry pie and cherry crumble to delicious Mexican corn and many others in between. We smoked brisket and roast from Windy River Livestock and lamb leg from Umpqua Valley Lamb. We baked sourdough bread using flour from Camas Country Mill. And of course there was cream for cold brew coffee and milk to go with the desserts. In addition to food and fellowship, there was a kefir making demonstration and tour of the farm. It was a lovely excuse to spend a warm sunny afternoon in Trout Lake, show our overwhelming appreciation to our loyal patrons, and for the opportunity for customers to meet their dairy farmer and see the farm first-hand. If you’d like to attend next summer, RSVP as soon as the announcement/invite goes out (usually around late spring). And now for the real reason for this blog post!
[The sign telling you “you’ve arrived!”]
Mountain Laurel Jerseys (MLJ) is a fourth-generation dairy farm in Trout Lake, Washington specializing in organic, grass-fed, raw milk. The farm is owned and operated by Jesse and Megan Pearson with quite a bit of help from their ten children (the fifth generation!). Jesse’s great-grandparents, Charles and Suzy Pearson, were the second settlers to Trout Lake Valley back in 1883 and the family has continued the tradition of stewarding the land through dairy farming since.
In 2015, after working for Megan’s parents, Jim and Char Lambert, on their raw milk dairy they had started in 2011 (North Land of Milk & Honey Dairy), Jesse and Megan officially took over the business and moved onto the Pearson Family Dairy that Jesse’s dad, Monte, had operated for so many years before him. Since those early days, the herd size has grown and the distribution/reach has grown. And while there have been many sustainable changes along the way, the farm is still operated with much intentionality and care – and that is evident when you meet the Pearsons, visit the farm firsthand, and/or taste the milk.
The farm was named in honor of Jesse’s parents, Monte (Mountain) and Laura (Laurel). The herd is still mostly Jersey with other breeds bred in (such as Norwegian Red and Holstein) for genetic diversity and health resiliency. MLJ is certified organic and the cows are 100% grass fed (yes that means hay production is vital to make it through the long winters). These benevolent bovine are provided mineral salt blocks from Redmond to help ensure they are receiving enough salt and trace minerals such as calcium, iron, and magnesium (to name just a few). And they love it! The herd is moved three times a day onto fresh grass and into a new paddock every week. The cows being milked (about 30 right now) are milked in the milking parlor early each morning, except Saturday when they are milked in the evening after the family’s sabbath (can I fit another “milk” word into this sentence!?). The cows give about two and a half gallons of milk per day, significantly less than a conventional dairy that feeds grain, but the quality and nutritional value is much higher because they only eat grass.
This may seem like a lot of “fact sharing”, and it is, but it only scratches the surface of the intricacies and details associated with running such a dairy farm with this much intentionality and care. Last one, did you know that each MLJ cow is named instead of just numbered like everywhere else? Okay, last last one, did you know that MLJ allows their calves to wean off their mothers instead of being bottle fed like is so common in production-and-profit-maximizing conventional dairies?
[Jesse putting his herd on display]
During the hayride out into the field visiting the herd, to help explain the importance of healthy soil (for the grass à cows à milk à us), Jesse reached down and grabbed up a handful of soil pointing out that there are more microorganisms in that little amount of healthy soil than there are people on Earth. Let me restate that to make sure it’s not missed. Because the land has been nurtured for so many years and blessed in many ways, the soil is very healthy and teeming with life so much so there are more living creatures in his handful of healthy soil than there are humans on our planet. This does not happen by accident and cannot be said with soil found on all farms. Here’s how Wendell Berry describes the importance of soil health in his 1977 book The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture, “The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.”
Reflecting on the importance of healthy soil, reminds me of the parable of the sower that Jesus told his followers in the thirteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel account. Jesus said, “Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus went on to explain, “Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon [quickly] with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth [endures] for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” (Matthew 13:3-9,18-23)
There is so much here and I do not attempt to expound, I’ll leave that between you and Jesus, but I’ll say that the parable works because good ground, healthy soil brings forth good, healthy food in abundance. And this, to me, more than anything else describes what Mountain Laurel Jerseys dairy and the Pearson family have been to us and all that enjoy the blessed fruits of their labor. So, Jesse and Megan, from Leah and I, thank you for saying “yes!” to partner with us back in 2020 and continually since. It’s been a pleasure to grow alongside you. I hope we’ve been an encouragement to you like you’ve been to us.
[Peter, Leah, Megan, and Jesse]
Side note: We have a lot of photos from the event and the farm so it was hard to only pick three for this blog post!
Fun fact: Jesse’s brother, Travis, (along with his wife Karissa) own and operate Charis Way Dairy in Trout Lake from whom we sell their organic beef.
You can buy Moutain Laurel Jerseys’ products from us here, check out their website, or give them a follow on Facebook or Instagram. Supporting them supports us and supporting us supports them.
Farewell, until next time!
~Peter Hatfield
P.S. I’ll remind you, however from my improper use of punctuation I don’t need to tell my high school English teachers (Mrs. Dillard & Mrs. Dakroub), that AI was not and will not be used to write these blog posts :)