“We get up every morning and our goal is to make the world’s best cheese”. Juggling family life while making Pevensey Blue

“We get up every morning and our goal is to make the world’s best cheese,” says Hazel, who makes Pevensey Blue. It’s a tall order for any cheesemaker—let alone one raising a young family alongside fellow cheesemaker and husband, Martin.

Their day starts at 4am. Hazel heads to Court Lodge, an organic dairy farm, to collect warm, creamy milk straight from the parlour, thanks to a herd of British Friesian and Ayrshire cows grazing rich pasture. Meanwhile, Martin stays home with the kids.

By the time Hazel arrives at the dairy—built into a fodder shed at her parents’ farm—it’s full steam ahead: warming the milk, pasteurising, and starting the make. Later, once the children are dropped off at nursery, Martin joins Hazel in the make room. “We divvy up the day,” Hazel says. She might press curd into moulds while Martin turns and pierces older wheels to activate blue moulds. They’re supported four days a week by Tim Jarvis, an “old hand in the cheese world,” who has also worked with Neal’s Yard Dairy and Blackwoods Cheese Company over the years.

At pick-up time, Martin collects the kids while Hazel tucks the day’s cheeses “into their nightclothes”—a layer of mylar to trap moisture and heat. Then the dairy is cleaned, the family is reunited, and the second shift begins: dinner, bedtime, laundry. “Our life is a lot about cleaning,” Hazel laughs.

But the work doesn’t stop. There are always questions lingering—why did those batches feel a bit light? Do we have enough rennet? Is there bitterness creeping in again?

The Pevensey Levels where the cows from Court Lodge graze

Making a cheese like Pevensey Blue means being relentlessly curious and self-critical. Martin and Hazel regularly assess its rich, creamy paste and the distribution of the bluing—but also track recurring issues like occasional browning or bitter notes in the paste.

The process of improving a cheese isn’t quick. “You’re essentially developing the recipe live,” Hazel says. A change to moulding pH or a shift in piercing technique might not show results for weeks. It’s a long fine-tuning process where improvements must be made gradually and with care.

There’s a delicate balance at play: between stability and risk-taking, between pushing for progress and holding onto what already works. Customer feedback—particularly from Neal’s Yard Dairy—helps shape that process. “It’s incredibly valuable to see the cheese through someone else’s eyes,” Hazel says.

That balancing act extends beyond the make room. Pevensey Blue has to taste great, look beautiful, and stay true to Martin and Hazel’s vision—and be made within a routine that fits their lives as parents. “It’s a constant juggle, but also a real privilege,” Hazel says. “We get to work together and share raising our family.”

For them, sustainability isn’t just about the land or the milk. It’s about a pace and scale that supports their lives—real people making real food, in a way that doesn’t burn them out. By supporting cheesemakers like Martin and Hazel, we’re backing a food system that values people as much as the products they create.

Of course, that routine will evolve. As their kids grow up, their parenting—and cheesemaking—schedule will shift too. Maybe the 4am starts will be coordinated with school runs or teenage lie-ins. But the goal will stay the same: to make the world’s best cheese, one day at a time.

Hazel and Martin during the build of their dairy