At 12 years old, Dan Drake had saved up enough money to make a life-changing business investment: a Saanen goat named Glacier.

photo courtesy of Drake Family Farms

Drake had $17.50, and his dad agreed to pay the other half of the $35 needed to get Drake’s first goat.

Thirty-three years later, Drake, 45, has a herd of 600 goats on his family farm in Ontario, California.

Every goat on Drake Family Farms has a name, a show of gratitude for their role in helping produce pounds of goat cheese every week. It’s like a farm version of the popular TV show “Cheers.”

“I think they’re the best animals because they have personalities,” said Drake, a large-animal veterinarian. “I work with cows — they’re nice, they’re OK. I like cows, but goats, they’re like dogs. They’re all different. Some of them are real gregarious… Some of them follow you around. Some of them want to be alone. I just love them. They’re really cool animals.”

At Drake Family Farms, the goat cheese — which includes flavors like apricot and honey chevre and herbs de provence chevre — is available at several farmers markets across L.A., including at the Hollywood Farmers Market.

Plus, it’s tossed on salads at Mendocino Farms, which has two local stores, and at sweetgreen, a casual health-focused chain with locations throughout L.A., including one at 8570 Sunset Blvd.

At Mendocino Farms, the owners loved the cheese so much, they named a salad after Drake’s farm to buy more and support a local farmer.

“Our biggest supporter, Mendocino Farms, they’re one of our best friends,” Drake said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be here.”

Drake is grateful for the local support he continues to find for their cheeses.

To make enough goat cheese to support sales at farmers markets and restaurants, employees at Drake Family Farms must make several pounds of cheese each week.

To start the process, they generally milk the goats twice a day.

“Even on Christmas, even on New Year’s Day, even when it’s raining, even when it’s 110,” Drake said.

The milk is placed in a vat for pasteurization, where it’s kept at a low temperature to ensure the quality of milk proteins.

For chevre, they use French cultures. The cheese is incubated for 12 hours and then drained in bags to give it a smooth texture and taste.

Drake Family Farms also offers raw goat milk cheese, which doesn’t have any preservatives or mold inhibitors. They do add salt to the cheese, which has a preservation effect.

Drake is also an advocate for goat’s milk, noting that much of the goat’s milk sold in stores tastes terrible.

“Commercially, there’s some really nasty goat milk out on the market,” Drake said. “Goat’s milk should taste like milk. If it tastes like the buck pen smells, it’s not good quality milk.”

That’s why it’s important to shop locally — food tastes better, Drake said.

Drake sees more and more customers and visitors to the farm who are interested in the slow food movement, getting reconnected with where their food comes from.

Drake encourages people to visit farms of the food they eat.

“Whatever their values are, they can see if they’re there at that farm, and if they’re not, they can just leave and not come back and not support the farm,” Drake said. “And if it’s something they think is a good enterprise, then they should buy their food there.”

Learn how goat cheese is made:

If you are interested in volunteering your time to make cheese at Drake Family Farms or want to help on the farm, you can send an email to orders@drakefamilyfarms.com or call (909)548-4628. Volunteering time must be scheduled with the farm in advance. For more information, visit drakefamilyfarms.com.