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It is MALT time again for me, which means I get to go explore amazing ranches in West Marin and document what goes on, for MALT’s (Marin Agricultural Land Trust) annual report.

This time I went to Barinaga Ranch. The owners, Marcia Barinaga and her husband Corey Goodman, wanted to buy a farm and retire in West Marin. But they quickly decided that they didn’t want to retire in the usual way, instead they decided to keep the land in agriculture by raising sheep for cheese. Neither having grown up on a ranch, they had a lot to learn.

But they have been learning quickly, and only a few years after they purchased the land, they now have their very first cheese available on the market this fall. Some of the places you can find their cheese are: Oliver’s in Santa Rosa, Cowgirl Creamery and Osterina Stellina, in Point Reyes Station.