Margot Brooks
Margot Brooks was raised on her family's dairy farm in central NY state and grew up seeing her family struggle to make ends meet within the conventional dairy model. A 4-H kid who kept her own goats and at ten years old made her first cheeses from their milk -- a simple stovetop ricotta. Margot studied conservation biology in college where she met Alex Eaton, her life partner. After graduating, they worked together for five years at Consider Bardwell Farm where Margot had the privilege to train with and work alongside Peter Dixon. In the fall of 2012 they purchased a little farm property in Upper Jay, NY (within the Adirondack Park) where they started their own farmstead cheese biz; Sugar House Creamery. Today, along with their daughter Harriet, Margot and Alex keep a mixed herd of 12 cows (Brown Swiss, Montbeliarde, and Jersey genetics) and turn all the milk into a handful of cheese varieties that they sell regionally (mostly straight from their on-site farmstore). They practice rotational grazing May-Oct and milk their cows once per day. In
additional to cheese income, the Sugar House Creamery business includes two airBnB rental spaces.
