Jersey Cow

When we caught up with Elisabeth Fekonia she was clutching her new Cheese-making DVD as she was preparing for an official launch at the local library near her home at Cooroy in Queensland.

We had a number of people ask if you need to keep a cow or a goat at home in order to make your own cheese? Elisabeth says you can still make cheese from any kind of milk although raw milk is best if you can get it.

“Alternatively pasturised only milk is okay if you can find it on the shelves of your store.” she said.

Cheesemaking implements, knives, containers and presses can be easily made from recycled materials as long as they are sterilized with hot water before use.

If you’re in the market for a cow and have a small acreage Elisabeth recommends a Jersey cow as a great milking breed. “This cow produces the creamiest of cheese.” she said. “and also the most cream for making fresh butter.”

Anglo-Nubian Goat

As for buying a goat, not all breeds are best. Elisabeth recommends you get yourself a Anglo-Nubian breed. “They make the creamiest milk which is great for cheese-making.”

Cheese-making can be a complex process but Elisabeth has been teaching her popular cheese-making course for 15 years and says she regularly seeks feedback from students to help her improve her teaching skills. “You got to listen to your students and seek written feedback.” she says. “Over the years I have learnt to be particular over certain cheese-making techniques and explain things clearly so that any beginner can easily learn the process and not be left behind. I have tried to be very clear in this DVD and explain the whole process in simple terms that anyone can grasp.”

Elisabeth stresses that people need a healthy immune system to stay well. She is a keen supporter of Probiotics.

“Getting healthy bacteria into your gut flora to enhance your immune system.” she says. “Making one’s own fresh yoghurt with culture and kefired milk is essential in your family’s diet. It will boost your health and vitality.”

Elisabeth Fekonia

Elisabeth describes the cow as the matriarch of the Farm. “When you get a cow you will soon realize the advantages of getting a pig and even some chickens.” she explained, “When you make cheese you will have some excess Whey. That Whey is half the nutritional value of milk. You don’t throw it away and lose the benefit. You feed it to – the pigs!” she laughs. “But it doesn’t end there. The pigs are then herded into secure pens in the garden to root around in the soil churning over the mud, depositing manure and cycling nutrients that then feed our vegetable garden. This is typical Permaculture.” says Elisabeth. “The chickens are also part of the cycle. I grow Sunflowers and feed the seeds to the chickens and get eggs and meat in return. These cycles are common on Permaculture farms like ours.”

“Everyone should try and make their own dairy products and feel the difference.” She said.

Elisabeth Fekonia

Okay it’s taken a while and we were expecting to release this title last year. We even had a few people ask for it for last year’s Christmas but the truth is we took too long to finish it. So now its here! Ready to go. Elisabeth Fekonia Home Cheesemaking and All Things Dairy DVD has finally been released!

Elisabeth Fekonia lives on six acres near Mount Cooroy on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and over the last 15 years she has been teaching people how to make all sorts of dairy products from raw cow and goats milk. She has two milking cows and a number of assorted goats which all have different names like “Bambi” and “Lydia” and so on and in this true DIY permaculture title she teaches you the basics of making your own Cheddar Cheese from raw cows milk, a soft brie from goats milk, cottage cheese, Ghee, Kefir, Sour Cream and Yoghurt are all taught in this entertaining DVD.

She even shows you how to milk a cow or goat as well as many small tips on keeping your animals healthy. Mineralization of stock feed is an important ingredient in keeping you and your family healthy and Elisabeth shows you how to mix your own mineral blend for your dairy cow’s diet. From milking the cow she takes you into her colourful home and into her kitchen and Elisabeth shows you how to make your own cheese from simple no fancy implements that you can fashion yourself. My favourite was a stainless steel dogs bowl that she transformed into a new life as a cheese container!

If you really want to live an independent sustainable life – then Elisabeth is the real McCoy!

Elisabeth is a permaculture teacher who writes frequently for Australian lifestyle magazines as well as conducting frequent Cheese and Sour-bread making workshops in Queensland. She and her husband Frank have appeared on SBS-TV and frequently on Australian ABC Radio.

Learn how to make:

• Cheddar Cheese from Raw Milk
• Goat Brie Cheese
• Cottage Cheese
• Ghee
• Kefir
• Sour Cream
• Yoghurt
• plus tips on animal health

Home Cheesemaking and all things Dairy DVD

• PAL Format
• Region Free
• Over 90 minutes of quality information

Price: $39.95

Quantity:

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What started off as an introduction to building a basic shed for housing goats turns into a lesson in cycling nutrients and understanding Permaculture.
When Ecofilms asked Elisabeth Fekonia to show us her goat milking shed we wondered what those two covered bathtubs in the corner of the shed were doing there? What we got was a lesson in Permaculture nutrient cycling and simple effective design that just works without costing you a lot of money.

Elisabeth and her husband Frank have built their shed all from recycled materials found at the local rubbish tip. If you were ever wondering what to do with that old sofa you were trying to get rid of – why not recycle it into a stand for milking goats? Thats what Elisabeth did. And while you are at the tip, bring back a couple of bathtubs too. They are brilliant at being turned into an effective worm farm. Elisabeth explains her process of living the good sustainable life with everything she needs being close to hand in this video clip.

Whilst filming at Elisabeth Fekonia’s farm we noticed long hedgerows of Mugwort grown along the perimeter of her property.
Mugwort is well known in Medieval times as regulating the menstrual cycle in women. Men used it to flavour their beer as an alternative to Hops. It was widely used as a poultice claiming to heal or sorts of things.
But a lesser known feature of this woody plant is it’s health benefits to goats. When EcoFilms came to her property to film her Cheese-making course she mentioned to us the health properties of this famous herb as especially suited to be used as a de-wormer of Goats. Elisabeth does not use any commercially made drugs or medicines on her livestock and she says her goats are always healthy due to this plant’s amazing health benefits.

Getting goats to nibble on Mugwort is not easy. Elisabeth says it took her cattle and goats about a year of grazing before they attempted to nibble on this plant. Now they readily eat this plant when they feel the urge to expel parasites from their system. She says the older goats usually lead by example and teach the younger goats what plant to eat.