Central VA Highlight: Homestead Creamery

Ever since I found out that the Homestead Creamery farm is close to Lynchburg, I added the tour to my Lynchburg Bucket List.  That entry has now been checked from said bucket list.  Are you familiar with Homestead Creamery?  Their products are the highlight of the dairy aisle for me.  I love, love, love the old-fashioned glass bottles.  I adore the little vintage milk truck on the label.  Even more so, any dairy product that lacks artificial hormones is high up on my list.  Okay, so here are a few photos from our factory & farm tour....

Every single person who enters the plant has to wear a net cap.  Clara was unsure how she felt about her cap.

Sophie and I felt silly but modeled our caps all the same.

A crate of freshly bottled milk ready to go.

Okay, it was too, too cute ~ I had to take a second photo.

The bottles whiz by on the conveyor line.

A full bottle of chocolate milk.....wait, come back....

A tank full of milk in the loading dock.

Fresh mounds of butter.

Sophie and I watched up close as the guy made the little butter mounds. Each one is hand-crafted.

Our tour guide, Mr. Cecil, models a butter package.

A peek inside the ice cream freezer.  Uh, hello, can I move in?  On a day when the temp reached 95 degrees, the twenty below zero freezer was AWESOME.

Mr. Cecil models some Blueberry Pomegranate Ice Cream.

Sophie licked her lips as she tried to decide which flavor of milk was her favorite.

I tried the orange cream milk for the first time.  It tasted EXACTLY like a creamsicle.  Brought back childhood memories!

Sophie found an ice cream cone just her size!

Out at the farm, a sweet cow poked her head around the corner as we approached the barn.

As did her friend.

As you'd expect, there were cows everywhere!

We learned that the cows are free to go out to pasture at any time.  Mr. Cecil said that once the temperature reaches one degree over eighty they all head back to the shade of the barn.  Hmmmm.  I don't know about you but I might prefer a shade tree!

  

We got to meet this divine little baby calf who is about a week old. Sophie said that petting her was the highlight of the entire day.

A juvenile calf poking her head out to get closer to us.  I'd just asked the question what happens to the cows once they are no longer lactating.  Ugh.  I knew the answer.  They get sold at auction for their meat.  To stare into the eyes of the calves after learning that....well, you all know me, it hurt my heart a little.

Despite that sad tidbit, the tour was fantastic. I think Sophie really enjoyed it.  Clara seems to be teething so she drove me crazy throughout the entire tour.  The staff at the Creamery were so gracious and welcoming.....even with my nightmare child. I learned quite a bit and was pleasantly surprised at how small-scale the whole operation was.  And super clean.  If I weren't already a fan, I sure would be now!