On our way out of Indy on Monday, we took an off-the-beaten-path route and stopped by a great little organic, grass-fed dairy operation just north of the city in Zionsville.
Traders Point Creamery is just a stone’s throw from the burial place of a Revolutionary War hero and neatly tucked among lovely rolling hills.
We have family members who swear by the dairy’s non-homogenized whole milk and yogurt, which is sold in glass bottles. You may recognize them at your local Whole Foods. We’re hooked now too. The milk is fantastic, hard to resist running your finger over the bottom of the milk lid to taste the cream.
We arrived at the farm just before the dairy bar opened, so we took a self-guided tour of the picturesque grounds before ordering our ice cream cones and yogurt parfaits.
We checked out the barn and hayloft (the iFarmer and I reminisced about our days playing in the lofts on our respective family farms) where TPC’s year-round Green Farmers Market is held on inclement weather days.
And then we noticed a Joel Salatin-like chicken tractor out back. The free-range chickens were roaming all over the place, but most stayed close to the tractor where there looked to be additional feed, water and, of course, laying boxes.
Before heading back in to place our order, we checked out the milking barn and watched the cows grazing in the pasture beyond a pond that looks strategically placed for watering animals and irrigation.
We were surprised, after our experiences at the nearly sterile Fair Oaks Farms, how much access we had to the property. I guess the cows are more resilient than the ones at large factory farms, which are fed a carefully formulated diet of grains and antibiotics.
Needless to say, the dairy bar and our chat with our hostess Mary was well worth waiting for. We left with bottles of milk, chocolate milk, yogurt and two flavors of spreadable cheese.
Next time we may need to try the grass-fed meats. TCP claims to sell 100% grass-fed beef. I’ve heard that cows set for slaughter usually are finished with a diet of corn. So that’s an interesting claim we’d like to check out a bit more.
Virtual Farmgirl 