One Tank Trip: Velhuizen Cheese Farm In Dublin
DUBLIN, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - There's a farm in Dublin, Texas that people from all over the state flock to visit. When you drive up it may look like an average Texas farm, but what's happening on the farm is something pretty unique.
Stuart Veldhuizen and his family create raw-milk cheese on their farm. "We really have a family, a true family farm now that has pretty much disappeared in America today," he said.
From the grass the cows eat to the amount of time the cheese ages in their on-site cheese caves, the Veldhuizen family controls every element of the process.
"We really get a lot of flavors that are just fresh from the fresh green grass that will be influenced on the cheese," Veldhuizen said.
You won't just find dairy cows here helping to make the finished cheese products. But Veldhuizen wants to be clear about one thing. "We do milk sheep -- not goats. We milk sheep!"
Yes, the family makes cheese made out of both cow milk and sheep milk.
"We'll make cheese four times a week," he explains. "We make it two times with cows milk and two times with sheep's milk."
You can find Velhuizen cheese in stores and restaurants all across Texas, but thousands of people travel directly to the farm to experience the cheese-making first-hand.
"Visitors get to experience going into the caves, talk about the cheese making process, and we take you through the milking parlor," Veldhuizen said. "It does kind of close the gap on where our food comes from, and that's what I think people will gather from a visit."
