Marisa Mauro, owner of Ploughgate Creamery, has been in the dairy farming world since she was just a teenager.  Her story, passion, and business plan are so compelling that she won the rights to purchase the historic Bragg Farm, a beautiful parcel of hilltop farmland in Vermont's Mad River Valley, from the Vermont Land Trust. At Bragg Farm, which was founded in 1909, the original barn is intact – complete with wooden milking stanchions and a glorious loose hayloft where horses used to pull wagonloads of hay up a ramp. It’s a Vermonter’s wildest agrarian dream.

Marisa sources her cream from the St Albans Coop, one of the best Coops in the state, but aims to have her own animals as soon as possible. Her creamery is a brand-spanking new building, but the rehabilitation of the rest of the farm buildings is something that will take time. When the barn is ready, she’ll fill it with cows and have her own herd.