A family farm flocked with
and history.
Since 1985
In 1985, Bruce and Sharon Vandenberg purchased Lenberg Farms, a 100-acre farmstead located near Lindsay, Ontario. Wanting to start a farm-based business that Sharon could operate while raising a family, the Vandenbergs conducted some market research into the viability of running a goat cheese plant on the farmstead. What they found was an opportunity, despite never having milked a goat or tasting goat cheese.
The Vandenbergs named their dairy “Mariposa Dairy," following the traditional and common practice in Ontario of naming dairies after the township within which they were located. Mariposa is the Spanish word for butterfly.
From the time the first kid goats were purchased in 1987 and the first cheese was produced in the fall of 1989, the Vandenbergs continued to expand their business and increase their herd. In 2007, Mariposa Dairy was re-located from the Lenberg Farms property to a facility in Lindsay, ON.
In 2015, after immigrating to Canada, the Bons family managed the goat herd at Lenberg Farms until purchasing the herd and moving to their own goat barn and milking facility in 2017, leaving the Lenberg Farm facilities vacant. As part of the Vandenberg legacy, Bruce and Sharon's daughter Ellen and her husband Dave Edney now own and run the Mariposa Woolen Mill, bringing a resurgence of life to Lenberg Farms.