Melkveehouderij Eikelenboom

Melkveehouderij Eikelenboom is a dairy farm in the polder of Abbenbroek on Voorne-Putten that makes cheese from its own cows' milk and sells it in a farm shop in the barn beside the house.

The cows graze, and most of their feed, grass and maize, is grown on the farm and topped up with locally grown potatoes and sprouts. Part of the milk is made into cheese here and the rest goes to the FrieslandCampina dairy. Since November 2020 the fresh, still-warm milk from the morning milking has run through a filter straight into the cheese vat, and the cheeses, plain or with herbs, are brined, coated and ripened on wooden boards; whether they are made from raw milk, their website doesn't say. The shop also sells milk from their own cows, and eggs, ice cream and other dairy from the region, not yet confirmed.

The shop is open on Friday from 13:00 to 17:00 and Saturday from 10:00 to 13:00. You can taste before you buy, and the cheese is cut to the size you want. The farm is also a rest stop for cyclists, walkers and riders when the sign says open.

Alongside the dairy herd and breeding sheep, the farm manages herb-rich grassland, sows flower-rich field margins, protects meadow birds and keeps pollard willows, with nest sites for house sparrows, swallows and barn owls.