The learning curve has been steep, and we’ve learned a lot along the way. But it’s also been an incredibly humbling experience, and we’re so grateful to be doing what we love.”

Laura Haverland

At Sweet & Salty Farm, a small dairy off of Shaw Road in Little Compton, grass-fed Jersey cows graze on land that stretches down to the water’s edge and their milk is processed into fresh yogurt and several varieties of cheeses at the farm’s own creamery barn. Owners Laura Haverland and Andrew Morley are almost 10 years into a life’s journey they worked hard to achieve.

“We fell in love with the idea of having a small farm, found the perfect spot and moved here at just the right time to make it happen,” says Laura.

After living and working in New York City and marrying in 2010, both Laura and Andrew knew that wasn’t the life they wanted for themselves. “We both had desk jobs and began exploring different avenues to an exit from that life,” says Laura.

Andrew was interested in sustainable agriculture and left his job to apprentice at a few dairy farms that were making cheese from their own milk around New York and in Virginia. Meanwhile, Laura had always been interested in working with food, with thoughts of becoming a chef. As one step led to another, by 2011 they made the move to Little Compton, where they had been married and Laura’s family owned a home.

“At that point we were ready to take the plunge and do it on our own,” she says.

Across the street from Wishing Stone Farm, they lease their land from a family who has owned and farmed there for many generations. “They were retired dairy farmers, and after many conversations about our plans they decided to take a chance on us and we signed a long-term lease with them,” says Laura.

By 2013 they had put up a building to make cheese and yogurt and started adding cows.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better spot than across from Wishing Stone,” says Laura. “They have been farming for 40 years and have been so generous with advice, guidance and even lending equipment. Owner Skip Paul drove us around when we first moved here, showing us around to several places and making introductions. Our farms do different things but we have so many things in common.”

A small herd of some 15 grass-fed Jersey cows are on about 40 acres, and their milk is processed into cheese and yogurt with no chemicals, pesticides, hormones, GMOs or antibiotics used. They also have several other cows that give birth in the spring whose milk is used for the calves. They produce the cheese and yogurt from about the beginning of April until December, then the cows get a break for the winter.

Drive down Shaw Road in Little Compton on a summer Saturday and in their driveway near the farm, cheeses and fresh yogurt can be found for sale. The varieties of cheeses they produce include Little Something, spreadable, buttery and in the family of a traditional Brie or Camembert. Little Mermaid is also spreadable and aged an additional two weeks, then sprinkled with organic Maine kelp.

Their firmer, aged cheeses include Peach Fizz, which is washed three times a week with Westport River Vineyard’s Farmer’s Fizz sparkling wine and has a sharper flavor and an almost crumbly texture. The Plain Cream-Top Yogurt, with a smooth texture, rich flavor and a hint of tartness, has a cream that rises to the top and is made with only milk and cultures. The cheeses are sold mainly at farmers markets and their online store, with in-person pickups at the farm.

The yogurt is also locally available at a few stores and farms (Wilbur’s General Store, Young Family Farm and Wishing Stone in Little Compton). Both are also sold on Saturdays in the summer at their home farmstand at 68 Shaw Road.

“The learning curve has been steep, and we’ve learned a lot along the way,” says Laura. “But it’s also been an incredibly humbling experience, and we’re so grateful to be doing what we love. We are so happy here and can’t imagine being anywhere else.”