A Rendezvous with Friends

 

 

Sunrise at Ganges on Salt Spring Island

Friends Bob and Shino arrived in Ganges aboard their boat for a great weekend together on Salt Spring Island.  After a lovely sunrise, we met for breakfast at the Tree House Café, a heritage cottage with an open-air patio embraced by a beautiful plum tree as its center piece.  The small building was built in 1920 and served as the site of the first electrical generating station on the Island.  

Shino and Lorena at Breakfast in Ganges

The cottage later served as a home for Aunt Margaret of the famous Island Mouat family, owners of the Mouat’s Home & Hardware store which still operates today as the community’s general store.  Now awake after a good breakfast, we were ready for some adventure; the four of us with fold-up bicycles in-hand caught the local bus service to Fulford Harbour located on the south end of the Island.  The tiny village of Fulford includes a couple of boutiques, a small grocery, and two cafes.  

The Tree House Café, a favorite in Ganges

Fulford Harbour also serves as the Ferry Landing for the Island, running between Fulford and Victoria.  Pleasure boaters visiting the south end of Salt Spring Island can find moorage at the Public Wharf and Public Floats located next to the ferry landing, these docks are best suited for smaller size craft.  After offloading our bikes from the bus, we were on our way to the Salt Spring Island Cheese Farm located three and a half miles from Fulford.  

Lovely Gardens at the Island Cheese Farm

Although the distance is not great, the terrain is a little hilly as are most island roads.  With our heavy fold-up bicycles and out-of-shape legs, we had to get off and push the bikes uphill now and then but we reached our destination without too much agony.  Entrance into the Farm is through a tree-lined country road that ends at the Farm’s lovely gardens where visitors can purchase cold drinks and ice cream cones, a nice reward for the long climb.  

The Hen House

Inside the small farm store, visitors can purchase rounds of goat cheese after tasting a variety of free samples.  Children and adults alike love seeing the farm animals, including chickens, baby chicks, and of course the goats.  

A Cute Looking Goat

We went on a self-guided tour around the building where the cheese is made, peering through the windows to watch the hand-made process of cheese making.  The making of goat cheese goes back thousands of years and is still an art form today as well as a science.  Goat cheese is made by combining warmed goat’s milk with vinegar or lemon juice to cause separation of the curds from the whey.  

The Buck

Rennet can be added as a coagulating agent to produce firmer curds, either vegetable rennet or animal rennet.  The curds are then bundled in cheesecloth and hung so the moisture (whey) can drip out.  Salt is added to the curds to enhance flavor and also acts as a preservative.  Fresh goat cheese ripens (ages) for only a few days or weeks.  

Curds and Whey

After tasting the samples of the Farm’s fresh made cheese, Leonard purchased a round of Herb & Garlic Goat Cheese and a small jar of Raspberry Habanero Jam, a nice combination.  

The Farm Cheese Factory

Different varieties of olives are also available for purchase at the Farm Store.  

Nice Rounds of Goat Cheese

Keeping the bus schedule in mind, it was soon time to ride our bikes back to Fulford and catch the bus back home to Ganges, a nap before dinner sounded like a good idea.