Hidden down a lane, surrounded by a jungle of corn,
beans, and pastures is the perfect Iowa farm for a large family. We’ve been
pretty conventional up until recent history with corn, beans, and beef cattle. Our
dairy story begins in 1996 when our oldest daughter, Bridgette, was a baby and
we discovered that she was severely allergic to milk. This changed the way we
made our meals and required us to closely read food labels and move to eating
“whole foods”. Our third daughter, Brooke, was also born allergic to milk. When
our daughters were still little we learned that they could tolerate goat milk.
When Bridgette was eleven friends gave Bridgette a blind doe that had just
freshened and a buckling to start her own herd with. Our friends might have
been in jest but Bridgette did it. She faithfully milked Esther and began
experimenting with milk products. By the time Bridgette was thirteen she had
emailed with a professional cheese maker and all of a sudden our family was
delighting in very excellent cheese. Friends and family told her to go into
business and we began exploring the idea of a micro dairy. We received nothing
but encouragement and pressed on through making a business plan, researching
goats, buying goats a handful at a time, buying dairy equipment, experimenting
with cheese making, enlisting siblings to join in the fun, talking to builders,
presenting Power Point presentations, talking to lenders, and staying in close
contact with our new friends –“the inspectors”. Bridgette, now fourteen, is our
resident cheese expert. She deftly handles the equipment, runs lab tests,
programs the chart recorder, and magically turns milk into cheese. Her older
brother Brock (17) milks twenty three goats in the new parlor, he is also chief
herdsman. Esther, the blind goat, is milked in the barn by Brooke (10) and her
milk is carried to the house for the “goat girls” to use. BriAnne (11) milks
her Jersey cow named Blair. Blair’s milk is used for the bottle calves and taken
to the house for our family’s use. BriAnne loves her Jersey cows; she has two
more in addition to Blair: Pretty Girl and Blair’s daughter, Natalie. BriAnne
is looking forward to the day when she will be making milk products from her
Jerseys to take to Farmer’s Market. Brian (8), Bronwyn (6), and Brielle (4)
help feed the baby goats and the bottle calves.
Brandt (19) helps out with construction, fence making, and haymaking.
Matthew (3) tags along with anyone he can and wants to help do everything. Mom
manages the operation and Dad is CEO and CFO.
Family
owned and operated, we are committed to handcrafting premier cheese in our
micro-dairy.
Amana Farmer's Market, Homestead, 4-7pm
Cedar Rapids Downtown Farmer's Market, 7-12am
June 5 & 19, July 3 & 17, August 7 &21, September 4 & 18