Dairy Sweets: Support Farmers With Local Ice Cream
In honor of National Ice Cream Month, we are celebrating our dairy farmers with on-farm processing to create tasty ice cream and other dairy products for you to enjoy. Read on to discover some of the local creameries you can enjoy with your family this summer.
Homestead Creamery
Homestead Creamery in Burnt Chimney, Virginia, was started 22 years ago by two dairy farmers. Today, Homestead sources milk from 6 local dairy farms and makes its own milk and ice cream products. Homestead features ice cream flavors for everyone in the family, from classic mint chocolate chip to black raspberry. Homestead Creamery products can be purchased at the on-farm market and at various retail locations around the area in Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia.
Moo Thru
Fourth-generation dairy farmer Ken Smith started Moo Thru 13 years ago in Remington, Virginia, only two miles from his farm. Today, Moo Thru offers a wide variety of ice cream flavors--cookies-n-cream, sweet cream, cotton candy, and more--at its six locations across the state.
Homeland Creamery
Homeland Creamery was founded over 20 years ago by the Bowman family in Julian, North Carolina. Today, Homeland processes milk for local dairies into milk and ice cream. Enjoy their 23 tasty seasonal and year-round ice cream flavors. Their products are available at their farm store and various retail locations around the state.
Farmview Creamery
We bet even the biggest ice cream fans don't know about this brand yet. Farmview Creamery, started by the Stanley family, opened for business this month. The Stanleys are 4th generation dairy farmers in Ashland, Virginia. Farmview Creamery's 9 flavors of ice cream are available from their mobile ice cream trailer touring the Ashland area and local events. All you need to do is follow along online to know where you need to be next.
Circle J Dairy
Here is another dairy farm to keep an eye on. The Vails and Junkin families recently opened Circle J Dairy and started processing milk this year. They bottle and sell fresh milk to several surrounding grocery stores, and also sell from their farm store in Gordo, Alabama!
While they are currently only selling whole milk, they will soon introduce chocolate milk and buttermilk products. Circle J plans to eventually sell ice cream as well, so Alabama ice cream fans should follow along as this creamery grows!
Nash Family Creamery
The Nash family has been in the dairy business for 94 years. In 2014, all the cows, tractors, employees, and the Nash family moved across the country from California to continue the family business in Chapel Hill, Tennessee. Wanting to sell dairy products directly to consumers, 4th generation farmer Cody Nash began Nash Family Creamery.
The creamery has 20 flavors of ice cream available at the store and the most popular flavor is Chocolate Brownie Batter. There is also cheese, six flavors of cheese curds, and five different types of aged cheddar available.
Additionally, their educational farm tours are designed to share everything that goes into caring for dairy cows and making dairy products. They also host summer day camps and lots of other events throughout the year.
Rowlett’s Milkhouse Creamery
The Rowlett family farm has been in operation since 1974. The farm consists of 328 acres located outside Campbellsburg, Kentucky, and is owned and operated by brother and sister, Terry and Sharon Rowlett. In 2019, Terry and Sharon opened Rowlett’s Milkhouse Creamery selling homemade ice cream, butter, and cheese. The most popular ice cream flavor is banana followed closely by strawberry. They sell their products at local farmers' markets and at their storefront.
And if you want to check out more local dairy products, be sure to visit the Dairy Trail of the Southeast, which features farm tours and farm stores across the Southeast.
Related Posts
