Mead is a delicious alcoholic beverage made by mixing honey, water and yeast and allowing them to ferment and transform into a brew that is greater than the ingredients. Purportedly, mead was the preferred drink of the Vikings in old-world Norway. With Vernon County’s rich Norwegian culture, it is a wonder that mead doesn’t have a more regular place on our table.

If you’ve had the Korean Reuben at the VFC Deli, then you’ve experienced the delicious flavor of Fizzeology Kimchi. Like all of Fizzeology’s products, the Kickapoo Kimchi is a raw ferment that contains live enzymes and probiotics. The ingredients are sourced from local farms and the production takes place at the Food Enterprise Center in Viroqua.

Farmstead refers to cheese that is made entirely from the farm. For Diana, the influence she has at every stage of production is important, from choosing the food her animals eat to monitoring the way each batch of cheese is made.

Carr Valley continues to work hard to keep the tradition of cheesemaking an important part of Wisconsin heritage. Sid may continue to release new, creative products but will always find it important to produce the highest quality traditional varieties as well.

Robert and Summer Schulz are the owners and operators of New Traditions Homestead located in rural Hillsboro. “I have been involved in gardening since a child. Our family always had a big garden and I feel it stuck with me,”

From Viroqua, take a quick 20-minute drive down County Road Y to Avalanche, head north on County Road S, turn east up Smart Hollow Road, and you will get to what seems like the top of the earth on Salem Ridge Road. There you will find a wonderful family that is committed to local and organic agriculture and growing the local food community. Adam and Jillian Varney and their three children, ages one, four, and seven, have a passion to farm. Their farm is Small Family Farm.

We are truly lucky to be located right in the heart of the Driftless region, which has a wealth of local farmers and producers. One of the local producers we are grateful to have right in our neighborhood is Westby Co-op Creamery. They are one of the oldest dairy cooperatives in Wisconsin!

A customer and staff favorite each July are The Berry Bucket blueberries. These outstandingly delicious berries are grown by the Olson family just west of Readstown, Wisconsin. The story of this unique farm begins over 16 years ago.

Diane’s vision states: “By weaving intention, emotion, and sometimes calligraphy in artful imagery of nature, my work is a reminder that we are all interconnected in the vast web of life. We cannot value and save what we do not have an emotional, heartfelt connection to.”

Cedar Grove Cheese, located in Plain, Wisconsin, is a dedicated 135 year old family-owned creamery. They specialize in producing a variety of traditional Wisconsin (farmers, mozzarella, cheddar, jack, Butterkäse, etc.) and specialty artisan cheeses. Current owner and operator Bob Wills married into the Cedar Grove family at 35 and had no prior experience cheesemaking. Today, Wills is an award winning certified Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker for cheddar and Butterkäse.

The beginning of Uplands Cheese dates back to 1994 just north of Dodgeville, Wisconsin. Farming neighbors for many years, Mike and Carol Gingrich and Dan and Jeanne Patenaude found a beautiful ridge top farm nearby and they decided to purchase it together.

Holland’s Family Cheese strives to make the most delicious farmstead raw aged Gouda you’ve ever tasted in Thorp, Wisconsin. The story of this award winning farmstead cheese company began when Marieke and Rolf Penterman, both of who grew up on small dairies in Holland, moved from the Netherlands to Wisconsin in 2002 with dreams of starting their own dairy farm. They were attracted to Wisconsin due to our vast dairy farming background, friendly people, and cheap farmland (when compared to Holland).