Milk from Thistle Hill Farm in North Pomfret — and its team of 20 milking Jersey cows — was recognized as the cream of the crop last month when Horizon Organic, the Colorado-based organic milk production company, selected farm owners John and Janine Putnam for its annual National Quality Award. The award recognizes Thistle Hill Farm for supplying Horizon Organic with the highest-quality milk of any of its suppliers in 2017.

The Putnams started farming in 1986, and Thistle Hill Farm has been certified organic since 1995. Janine Putnam attributed their milk quality to the efforts of their son Ian, 27, who remains actively involved the farm.

“When you are small, everything has to be perfect,” Ian said in a Horizon Organic news release. “Sometimes, it’s late and you just want to go to bed but you have to go out to the barn.”

Horizon Organic’s National Quality Award is the latest of numerous accolades for Thistle Hill Farm, which also produces cheese. Its past honors include placing in the top three of the American Cheese Society competition every year from 2006 to 2012, placing third in the United States Championship Cheese Contest in 2003 and placing first in the U.K.-based World Jersey Cheese Awards in 2012.

Of Note

The Lebanon Gourmet Cooking Club will usher in the fall with a homemade apple pie contest Friday night, starting at 7:30 at the Masonic Lodge in Lebanon. Participation is free, but an entry form is required. For more information about contest rules and to get a copy of the entry form, call 603-359-7116 and leave a message with an email address.

The club will also hold its monthly potluck-style gathering on Friday, Oct. 20 at the Masonic Lodge. In the spirit of Oktoberfest, this month’s international cuisine is German. Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. and is open to all, regardless of cooking ability.

To learn more about the Lebanon Gourmet Cooking Club, visit www.meetup.com/Lebanon-Gourmet-Cooking-Meetup.

The Northeast Organic Farmers Association of Vermont, or NOFA-VT, is looking for participants to complete a roughly 10-minute online survey about food shopping habits, preferences and priorities. The responses are confidential, and will be used in a research study about Vermont farms and vendors.

Find the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/PNTXHND.

The nonprofit conservation organization Sustainable Woodstock will host a free screening of the acclaimed Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman at the Woodstock Town Hall Theatre, Tuesday night from 7 to 8. The documentary traces the unlikely alliances that led to the preservation of an unaltered land mass along the Rocky Mountain Front, one of the largest in the U.S., and highlights how environmental stewardship can transcend political differences. A discussion will follow.

Classes

Blake Hill Preserves in Windsor will offer the first of three holiday jam cooking classes on Oct. 14, from 9 a.m. to noon or 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Blake Hill’s limited edition holiday jam includes cranberries, raspberries, strawberries, plums and a hint of seasonal spice. Participants may take home six jars of the holiday jam, which are meant to be given as gifts to family and friends. The class is designed for ages 14 and up, and costs $75 per person.

The other two workshops will take place on Nov. 14 and Dec. 3, from 9 to noon or 2 to 5.

Chris Jacobson, the education and outreach coordinator at the Upper Valley Food Co-op, will lead a free workshop on garlic planting on Saturday, Oct. 20 at the the White River Community Garden, in White River Junction. The workshop will run from 1 to 2 p.m., and will cover the when, where and how of planting garlic. Participants will also have the opportunity to practice planting hard-neck garlic varieties. To register, go to www.uppervalleyfood.coop/calendar-event/garden-workshop-planting-garlic and click RSVP. For more information about the workshop, call 802-295-5804.

EmmaJean Holley can be reached at eholley@vnews.com or 603-727-3216.