Chapel Hill creamery looks to the community for help in naming new calves

With spring just around the corner, it’s time to welcome new members to the Chapel Hill Creamery family.

And for the first time, owners Portia McKnight and Flo Hawley are asking the community to be a part of the occasion by naming the creamery’s newborn calves.

“For us, it gets harder to think of names, so we thought this year we could really use some help,” McKnight said. “And we think people will enjoy it.”

During the 18th annual Piedmont Farm Tour in April, visitors to Chapel Hill Creamery can enter their suggestions in the creamery’s “name the calf” contest.

The farm tour, sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and Weaver Street Market, allows the community to visit 39 local farms.

So far, five calves need naming, and there are more on the way.

The female calves, which are kept at the creamery to produce milk, are given names starting with the first letter of their mother’s name.

This helps McKnight and Hawley keep track of the families and the common traits of each line.

McKnight said the cows with A names tend to be good milkers, and those in the G line are more stubborn as youngsters.

Until the contest, the calves will have to make do with no names.

“We’re just going to hope they’ll answer to ‘hey you!,’” McKnight said.

McKnight and Hawley started the creamery with nine Jersey cows and took their first batch of cheese to the Carrboro Farmers’ Market in June 2001. Today, they have approximately 70 cows and produce about 1,000 pounds of cheese weekly.

They said they hope the tour will give the community a chance to learn about local sources of food. On the tour, visitors will see the milking and cheese-making processes.

“Our goal is to have as many people come meet the cows as possible,” McKnight said. “If they come to the farm, we think they’re really going to like what they see, and they’ll want to buy our cheese.”

The cheese is also sold at the Durham and Western Wake farmers markets.

Steve Grant, a Chapel Hill resident and long-time Chapel Hill Creamery customer, said he’s enjoyed the cheese since the company was founded.

“They’re wonderful,” Grant said. “The cheese has gotten better and better since they started.”

McKnight, who said she hopes the tour will bring new customers to the farm, predicts the cows will do most of the selling.

“Jerseys have the most soulful eyes,” McKnight said. “If you come to the farm tour, you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

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