November 27, 2007 12:16 PM

Learning a new whey
Posted by Douglas Eisenhartat 12:16 PM

Just what would it take to get you away from your desk and into some old jeans and a pair of boots, tending to a herd of sheep or cows on your own farm? Does that pastoral, back-to-the-land dream from your rebellious post-adolescent years still hold any appeal to you, an aging executive who has spent the last 20-30 years riding the commuter rail and the elevator in a downtown high-rise?

For more and more retirement-age workers in New England, the answer to this question is a resounding "Yes":

BURLINGTON, Vt. - At the age of 48, Bob Works came to an enviable life junction. The real estate investment firm where he was partner went public, and his payout was sizable. He could have stayed with the firm, managing properties such as One Winthrop Square and State Street Bank building in Boston, or not worked another day of his life.
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Instead, he and his wife apprenticed at a cheese-making farm.

Nine years later, they have their own farm and turn out 6,000 pounds annually of a Pyrenees-style cheese that is sold at niche markets such as the Concord Cheese Shop and South End Formaggio.
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The Works are part of a growing group of established careerists who are stepping off their professional ladders to learn such skills as tending goats and decanting whey. Some had never so much as milked an animal, and many were solidly urban creatures with only romantic notions of one day working the land.

Who said you can't keep 'em down on the farm?

Read the full piece from today's Globe.