The Field Guideby Moss & MarrowKaasboerderij Van Rossum
- Cattle, sheep or goats graze on pasture in the grazing season
Kaasboerderij Van Rossum is a farm on the Helsdingse Achterweg in Helsdingen, on the edge of Vianen, where the family ran a dairy and cheese-making business for decades and now keeps young cattle, sheep, goats and hens alongside a farm shop.
Several times a year a young beef animal from the farm is slaughtered, usually a Belgian Blue, after a life spent outside on grass. The beef is sold as 8 kg freezer boxes with every cut from mince to steak, and the rest is frozen for sale in the shop until it runs out. The shop's Gouda boerenkaas (farm cheese) comes at every age from young to old and crumbly, but since the farm has scaled back from dairy, where the cheese and the milk, yoghurt, buttermilk and butter now come from isn't confirmed, and the shop also stocks seasonal cheeses from other cheesemakers. Eggs are from barn-kept hens (scharreleieren), and honey, jams, juices and beer are also sold.
The shop is open on Tuesday and Friday from 9:00 to 12:30 and 13:30 to 17:00, and on Saturday from 9:00 to 15:00. To order a beef box, email them with the subject 'Vlees' and they reply when the next animal is slaughtered.
In spring the farm hosts school classes to show children how animals are kept and food is produced.