Melanie dietrich cochran
Melanie Dietrich Cochran grew up milking cows on her family’s dairy, Carrock Farm. Her parents started milking cows in 1974 with a herd of twenty registered Jerseys and many of the current cows are descended from those original twenty. Melanie graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Dairy Science and returned to the home farm in 1997 with her husband, Mark. They founded Keswick Creamery in 2000 as a way to add value to the farm.
Carrock Farm now milks 26 registered Jersey cows. A true multi-generational farm, Melanie’s mom still milks the cows and works in the cheese room and her daughter works on the farm and attends farmers markets.
The dairy switched to rotational grazing in 1990 and now the herd is completely grass based, grazing in season and eating dry hay during the winter. Depending on the season the cows are milked once a day or twice a day. All of the milk is turned into cheese in their small, on farm cheese room. Keswick makes over thirty varieties of cheese. Melanie started making raw milk cheeses in 2001 and added a pasteurizer in 2005. Currently she makes aged, raw milk cheeses, fresh pasteurized cheeses and bloomy rinds. Almost all the cheese is sold at Farmers Markets in Washington, DC, participating in the Dupont Circle Freshfarm Market since 2001 and Takoma Park Farmers Market since 2002.
Melanie has been deeply involved in the local food movement since 2000, helped start the first PA cheese alliance, and served on the boards of PAFACA, Pasa, and the PA Cheese Guild. As well, Melanie has helped start three local farmers markets and served on those boards, as well as currently serving as vice president of the Takoma Park Farmers Market.
Cheesemaking and dairy farming can be a challenging career and Keswick Creamery has had its share of ups and downs. In December 2022 the milking parlor, milkhouse, cheese room and office were completely destroyed in a quick moving electrical fire. Thanks to the overwhelming support of family, neighbors and customers, Keswick was able to rebuild and Melanie has been making cheese in the new cheese room since July 2023.
