Sweet Grass Dairy: where free grazing meets gourmet
It doesn't get more homegrown than a family-run dairy and Sweet Grass Dairy is on its way to turning turned homemade into gourmet.
The dairy, located on 140-acres of south Georgia pastureland, has come a long way from its humble beginnings when it was founded with only 11 goats and around 5 cows at the start of the millennium, said Jessica Little, who now helps now the dairy her parents began.
"My mom and dad started the dairy with the desire to show people the importance of knowing where your food comes from and to teach people what makes food great," she said.
To do that, a rotational grazing system was set up to allow the animals to graze naturally, as they normally would before modern dairies were set up to produce more product, faster. The concept caught on and currently, the dairy has around 30 milk producing cows and 150 goats. To keep up with demand, they have also hired 10 employees and expanded from milk production solely to cheese making as well.
The hand made old-world style cheese is created in small batches on the same equipment the dairy first began using. But while some things stay the same, other things - like the popularity of Sweet Grass Dairy cheeses - are ever changing and growing!
The traditional European inspired cheeses such as Green Hill, Thomasville Tomme, Asher Blue and Fresh Chevre are in demand throughout the U.S. The American Cheese Society has even pinned the dairy with over 15 awards for its fantastic products since 2001, including three first place awards for Green Hill and several World Cheese Awards for the Asher Blue, Lumiere and Botana.
And it's all due to Sweet Grass' unwavering commitment to quality and freshness. The dairy's products are made pure, without additives, hormones or antibiotics.
That commitment is something the dairy wants to share with its customers, so tours are offered every first and third Saturday of the month beginning at 9 a.m. (or scheduled in advance on other days).
HelloMetro Tip: Visitors will get to watch a goat milking and interact with the goats themselves, take in a cheesemaking slide show with pointers on how it's so artfully done and try a sampling of cheeses from the dairy at the Marketplace retail shop onsite. The tours are open to anyone over the age of three and cost $5 per person.
Posted by Christine Foster
