Feltham’s Farm is 22 acres of organic land in the north of Somerset’s beautiful Blackmore Vale. It is run by Marcus Fergusson and Penny Nagle, who moved here five years ago. There are always people around as our cheese business employs between two and four people while living on-site there are up to four international volunteers at any time. This is a community of people interested in good food, sourced both locally and organically.

Feltham’s Farm is going through the organic conversion process with The Soil Association. We have always farmed using organic principles, so that means no chemicals on the land and no antibiotics or restricted treatments for our animals, which are all free-range and fed organic food. From February 2020 our pigs will be fully certified organic and from February 2021 our sheep and other animals will be too.

Right now, we only make one cheese. Using artisan techniques but made to a newly developed recipe, Renegade Monk is made from organic, pasteurised cows’ milk. The set curd is then hand-washed in ale every few days as the cheese matures. Maturation takes no more than four weeks.

The cheesemaker, Marcus Fergusson, deliberately created a cheese of a style not traditionally found in Britain – but rather a cheese inspired by a range of Continental cheeses.

The resulting cheese combines the bite of Epoisses and Langres; the creaminess of Brie and Camembert; and the languid blue of Dolcelatte or a young Gorgonzola.