Cheese Cave Install Part 1: Plans, Preparation, Precast Concrete Water Tank Delivery

We are starting our cheese cave project! Our plans are to use a precast concrete water tank, bury it half under the ground, and cut a door into it. Stay tuned for part 2!
Clover Mountain Dairy is a seasonal Organic dairy farm in Northeast Washington State that started making cheese in 2021. 

[@scott_t_woodsman]

By far and away, the best ‘cheese cave installation video’ on KZbin. I can’t wait for the ‘underground yogurt cavern’ construction video as a follow up in the series.

[@vnthomas16]

We definitely got some more work to do, so stay tuned for future installments!

[@scott_t_woodsman]

@@vnthomas16 Great, can’t wait. Love to watch your videos.

[@savageairsoft9259]

Looking good

[@vnthomas16]

Thanks!

[@farmertylerranch4399]

What a cool project!

[@vnthomas16]

It’s no bull pen… 🤣

[@toma5153]

That's one serious project!

[@vnthomas16]

Indeed. Someday we hope to be done with serious projects! Haha!

[@janetdupree6353]

An exciting endeavor to create a cheese cave. You two are making your dreams come true.

[@vnthomas16]

It will be nice to have this extra aging room. Thanks for watching!

[@fionajane56]

Well this is seriously exciting!

[@vnthomas16]

Stay tuned!

[@gods_soldier971]

Exciting project for you!! Congratulations

[@vnthomas16]

Thanks!

[@alonalanski7119]

What a cool project. Cannot wait to see the next steps

[@vnthomas16]

Once it cools down, we’ll start working on it again! No fun working in triple digits, so we’ll wait a bit. Thanks for watching!

[@michealhanner8216]

Great job . I love to see it is finshed

[@vnthomas16]

Stay tuned!

[@richwhitaker1506]

"Dig, we must". Makes sense to place it near the dairy. With a bit of careful landscaping you could have a scale model mountain. Stay well, my farming phenoms.

[@vnthomas16]

It could make a good garden railroad setting! Haha! Thanks for watching!

[@richwhitaker1506]

Yes! Great future railroad site.

[@ajlewis9454]

Awesome project I know it will get plenty of use. 👍😁

[@vnthomas16]

We hope so! We definitely outgrew our old “cave”… (upright freezer with external thermostat)

[@brianstevens9926]

Get a set of Bulkhead steps and attach them to the structure

[@vnthomas16]

If they were readily available in our area, we would definitely go that route. But since they are not, we have to do it the hard way! Haha! Thanks for watching!

[@JB-mf1zc]

Looks like it could get kinda cheesy to me! 🤣 God Bless!!

[@vnthomas16]

Haha! 🧀 Thanks for watching!

[@christianluts810]

As interesting as the cheese cave is [and it is], I'd love a closer look at the crane on that truck. Makes a change from the usual HIAB equipment.

[@vnthomas16]

We didn’t pay too much attention to the crane, but it worked slick!

[@KeithFinkFamilyFarm]

Well isn't that neat! Teach me about your soil. I was surprised to see the powdery dust as the excavator continued to go deeper. Is there no moisture content in the soil, or was I not seeing it correctly. The powder reminded me of Mt St Helens video from 30 + years ago.

[@vnthomas16]

The soil is dry-ish… But that’s normal this time of year. More often than not, we go the entirety of July and August with no rain. We get about 18” a year in our semi-arid climate. Most of that in the winter/early-Spring. Right now we’re sitting about 9% soil moisture, which is pretty good considering last year at this time in the drought we were at 4%! Our forages are adapted… The alfalfa variety that is common here, and works well is “Vernal”. It’s not uncommon to find it’s roots 12-14’ down! Smooth Brome is our go-to grass, but we also like Crested Wheatgrass. Our pastures also have red clover, Sainfoin, chicory, and Plantain as well. Mt. St. Helens still has an impact on our soils, and in some areas if you dig to can still find an ash layer.

[@KeithFinkFamilyFarm]

Thanks, Stacy, very informative. So glad to see your green pastures into the summer months. We are dry again this year but timely rains have kept us hanging in there. I am beginning to forget what mud is, however.

[@kenlynch6332]

🚜 🚜 🚜🐄🐄🐄🐄 🚜 🚜🚜

[@braderwin937]

I saw a model on Facebook of your Dairy parlor-style system thought it was pretty cool I think you guys are members of the Facebook group also used milking equipment

[@vnthomas16]

I saw! We’re the ones who responded to your comment on there with the picture of Daisy! It’s a great little parlor, we love it! Thanks for watching!

[@PAfarmboy]

That's an interesting project. Looking forward to the finished product. I couldn't believe how dry the soil was as he was excavating. Are you in drought conditions?

[@vnthomas16]

No, no drought conditions. We are naturally in a semi-arid climate, so it’s typical to have zero rain in July and August. In fact, we’re doing pretty good with soil moisture right now, sitting about 9%. This time last year we were at 4%. It’s just the way it is where we’re at! Thanks for watching!

[@dlkjr88]

Y’all research everything out so well. Why did you choose the water tank over a concrete storm shelter? We’ve thought about using a storm shelter for a cheese cave. I’m interested in your thoughts.

[@vnthomas16]

If a precast storm cellar was available, we probably would have bought that, but nobody casts them in the Pacific Northwest as they’re not needed here.

[@AlliedSigns]

We have a storm shelter here in Missouri. I tried using it as a cheese cave. It was to hot in the summer and to cold in the winter. Your idea of insulting it and venting it is a great idea.

[@dlkjr88]

@@vnthomas16 i knew y'all wouldn't go through the extra work of cutting in a door and ventilation if you didn't have to. I didn't realize there weren't any storms in the PNW that you might want a shelter for. Well if you were in Oklahoma or north Texas or Arkansas, shelters would be abundantly available. That water tank is an interesting choice. I'm looking forward to watching it transform into a cheese cave.

[@vnthomas16]

It may be a bit warm in the hottest part of the summer, but we make our aged cheeses in the fall/winter and start selling them in the spring so we should be able to work around that.

[@doncc6080]

You can use as a cellar for canned goods also.

[@vnthomas16]

It definitely could be used for that if our plans ever changed. As part of our licensed milk processing plant, I doubt we’ll be able to store anything in there other than food products (cheese) directly related to our license.

[@kdwalmsley]

Thank you for the great idea. What did just the tank cost?

[@vnthomas16]

Just under $3k. Sure is convenient to have a truck just pull up and set it in the hole!

[@rollingpasturesfarm7712]

cool! what is the estimated internal temp. expected to be?

[@vnthomas16]

Well, we don’t know. A “target” temperature is 55°f. Our water in lines 30” deep is currently 58°, and our daytime highs have been upper 90s to the 100’s. This sits a little deeper, and we’ll insulate the upper half before backfilling. We don’t really make hard, aged cheeses in the summer, so if it gets above 55°, which it may, I won’t be concerned. I feel it will work really well for the other three seasons when we are making and aging hard, pressed cheeses. We’ll also have an internal vestibule as well a controllable ventilation system that will pre-cool incoming air. Time will tell!

[@rollingpasturesfarm7712]

cool ! thanks for the info