The Midwest is unique in that even in a city the size of St. Louis, we have access to fresh cheese and milk from surrounding farms in Missouri and Illinois – some of which you can even tour to see how these products are made. Additionally, many of our area grocery stores and restaurants carry dairy from the three farms below; read on to discover more about them.
Baetje Farms
Pronounced “Bay-G,” this goat farm in Bloomsdale, Missouri, is a 50-minute drive from St. Louis. When co-founders Steve and Veronica Baetje set out to make French-inspired cheeses 20 years ago, they didn’t know their hobby would become the catalyst for a farm, creamery, dairy and event venue. Their goats live the good life, drinking spring-fed water, munching on locally grown alfalfa and roaming free in the pastures. Shop Baetje’s website to find an assortment of goat cheeses, including Beer-Washed Vallée, a semi-soft cheese with notes of toasted onion; Amoureux aged cheese, a hard cheese comparable to Parmesan or manchego; and, of course, the many heart-shaped fresh cheeses Baetje is known for. In St. Louis, you can find Baetje products at AO & Co., City Greens, Dierbergs locations and other spots. If you want to see the creamery’s inner workings for yourself, schedule a tour at Baetje Farms here.
8932 Jackson School Road, Bloomsdale, Illinois, 573-483-9021, baetjefarms.com
Martha & Tom’s Farm
Many of the structures on Martha & Tom’s Farm date back to the 1800s, so the staff produce cheese with certain bygone traditions in mind. The property is also now a bed-and-breakfast, so if you’re looking to get out of the city for a bit, drive west down I-44 for 90 minutes until you reach the quaint town of Owensville, Missouri. The farm’s cheese line, Cool Cow Cheese, has options like mild Edam, aged Jersey Jack and Grandma Nancy’s Camembert, which is aged at least 21 days and frequently sprayed with mold, which ripens the cheese and brings out its true flavors. Order online or find Cool Cow Cheese at Bar Vin Wine & Spirits in Hermann and at Robller Vineyard & Winery in New Haven. It’s also stocked in St. Louis at Fields Foods and sells at Tower Grove Farmers Market on Saturdays during the regular season.
1613 Tschappler Road, Owensville, Missouri, 573-437-2699, coolcowcheese.com
Rolling Lawns Farm
Also 50 minutes outside of St. Louis in Greenville, Illinois, is Rolling Lawns Farm, whose milk you may have seen lining the shelves of Local Harvest Grocery on Morgan Ford Road or at establishments all over the St. Louis area. Along with milk, cream, half-and-half and chocolate milk, Rolling Lawns makes strawberry milk, cappuccino milk and even orange cream milk. The 100-year-old family farm raises its Holsteins with the utmost care and respect and – with the help of its dairy processing and bottling facility – brings the milk straight to the consumer, rather than producing and shipping through an outside company. To visit Rolling Lawns’ dairy processing facility, aka “The Milk House,” schedule a tour here.
438 Falcon Road, Greenville, Illinois, 314-308-1005, rollinglawnsfarm.com
