53 Hours Left to Raise $8,544 for New Stonington Creamery

Farmer Brie of Terra Firma Farm in Stonington is on a mission — a milk mission. Director Brianne Casadei, aka Farmer Brie, wants to take the farm to the next level.

She is opening an on-farm creamery that will produce glass-bottled, 100-percent grass-fed milk. Farmer Brie and Terra Firma have helped feed and educate local southeastern families for years and now, she is seeking help from the community.

“As a community farm we also have committed our energies to opening up our farm for educational field trips, programs and camps reconnecting our youth to agriculture,” Farmer Brie said on the Kickstarter page. “And now, let’s add in milk!”

A Kickstarter campaign to help fund the on-farm creamery has five days left before it closes. Kickstarter is a fundraising mechanism that operates an all-or-nothing policy, meaning that if Terra Firma Farm doesn’t reach its goal by Saturday, Nov. 21, the farm won’t receive any of the money pledged so far.

As of 1:45 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, community members numbering 221 donated $39,426 out of the $47,970 goal. The campaign will close at 7:43 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21. Check out the Kickstarter video below.

The Details

The project is to add a micro-dairy to the farm, on a second farm property recently obtained, just down the road from Terra Firma Farm. The new property is in North Stonington, at 564 Norwich-Westerly Rd. (Route 2).

“All of the milk we produce will be bottled at the farm or made into yogurt, chocolate milk or soft cheeses,” Farmer Brie said. “Our dairy products will be farmstead dairy products. This means that these items will be made exclusively from our own Jersey cows milk and processed in our own state certified processing room on the farm.”

The newest arrival in the farm family is two-week-old calf Sugar, pictured in the above gallery.

What the Donations Will Do

The money raised in this Kickstarter campaign will help purchase:

• 6 more bred heifer cows for the milking herd
• A bulk tank and an additional bucket milking system
• A supply of glass bottles and a bottle washer
• Dairy panels and paint to complete the milk processing room and bottling room
• A hot water heater and sink system for equipment sanitation
• A 15-gallon Vat Pasteurizer System for chocolate milk and pasteurized milk

The on-site creamery will help Farmer Brie sustain local farming and she plans on adding dairy farming to summer camp activities.

Click here to view Terra Firma Farm’s Kickstarter project page.