Located in Rose Bud, Arkansas, Honeysuckle Lane Cheese is the only commercial cheesemaker in the state right now and the first ever raw milk cheesemaker in Arkansas.
Honeysuckle Lane Cheese is named after, what else, honeysuckles that line the Daleys' driveway.
Cheese curds await the Daley magic.
Ray Sr. and Ray Jr. flip the curds to drain excess whey.
The father and son cut the curds.
Ray Sr. mixes salt into the cut curds.
Look at the beautiful curds!
Ray Sr. mixes jalapenos into the curds.
Ray Sr. and Ray Jr. built the machine that mixes the curds.
Ray Sr. scoops curds into a cheese press as Ray Jr. places a lid on the press.
The father and son press the cheese.
Honeysuckle Lane Cheese ages its cheese for 60 days at 45 degree Fahrenheit.
Cindy, Ray Jr.'s wife cuts and...
...packs the cheese.
Voila! Cheese is born.
Ray Sr., Cindy, and Ray Daley, Jr. - the people behind Honeysuckle Lane Cheese.
The cows behind Honeysuckle Lane Cheese. The Daleys mostly raise Jersey cows whose milk contain higher butterfat, thus resulting in better cheese.
I love cheese. I especially love white cheddar from Honeysuckle Lane Cheese. Located in Rose Bud, Arkansas, Honeysuckle Lane Cheese has been making raw milk cheese since 2005. Recently Eddy and I visited the people behind the cheese.
Ray Daley, Sr., cites fluctuating milk prices for the reason why he and his son, Ray Jr., decided to start Honeysuckle Lane Cheese. The Daley family still engages in dairy farming, but unlike milk, cheese has a longer shelf life, and its prices do not fluctuate as much as milk prices. The family now diverts 1/4 of its milk to their cheese operation.
The father and son learned all about cheesemaking from a couple of experienced commercial cheesemakers in Missouri and Oklahoma, and they launched Honeysuckle Lane Cheese in 2005. “The name comes from our driveway,” says Ray Jr. “It is lined with honeysuckles.”
Honeysuckle Lane Cheese is truly a family business. Cindy, Ray Jr.’s wife, milks 38 milking cows that the Daleys own. On Mondays and Wednesdays, the father and son make cheese. On the day that Eddy and I visited, they were making jalapeno cheddar cheese. The Daleys grow and chop jalapenos that they use in their cheese. “If I don’t wash my hands thoroughly after making jalapeno cheese, my hands would be burning all the way home,” said Ray Sr. They mix chopped jalapenos into the cheese curds made using their raw milk. They then scoop the mixture into several cheese presses and press for 24 hours. They cure the cheese for 60 days at 45 degree Fahrenheit in their walk-in freezer. After 60 days, Cindy cuts the cheese, Ray Sr. vacuum seals the cut cheeses, and Cindy labels and ships them to their destinations.
“‘Locally grown’ websites really helped us expand our market,” said Ray Jr. “At the beginning, we sold our cheeses at a handful of local stores around Rose Bud. Now we sell them in Little Rock, Hot Springs, Conway, Hot Springs Village, and Searcy, online, at stores, and to restaurants.” The business has been so successful that the Daleys are thinking about adding another type of cheese to their lineup – gouda. They let us try their experimental batch. Let me tell you, it was GOOD.
The Daleys make great cheese because their cows eat grass. “Our cows eat grass all year long except for in winter,” says Ray Sr. “We feed them hay in winter, and hay changes the color of their milk from usual cream to white. That’s why we sell truly white cheddar in winter, whereas the rest of the year, we sell cream-colored white cheddar.” The Daleys do not add any artificial coloring or flavoring, and they use no antibiotics or growth hormones in the raising of their cows (unless a cow gets sick and needs medicine). They also do not use pesticide or herbicide on their grass. “The change in the color of our cheese only occurs due to nature,” says Ray Sr.
When Eddy and I decided to visit Honeysuckle Lane Cheese, I knew I had to meet the cows. The Daleys raise mostly Jersey cows. Jersey cows produce milk with higher butterfat content,thus resulting i better cheese. The Daleys cannot remember the last time they bought a cow. Most of their cows are daughters and granddaughters of their original Jersey cows. At Honeysuckle Lane, even milk production is truly a “family” business.
Honeysuckle Lane Cheese products can be purchased at The Station Grocery & Deli in Little Rock as well as various natural food stores throughout the state. You can also purchase their cheese through Little Rock Local Food Club, Spa City Co-op Market, Village Community Market, and Conway Locally Grown. Check them out and send yourself to heaven with cheese from Honeysuckle Lane Cheese!
GreenAR by the Day 