Farm-fresh cheese and vegetables are in fully supply at ShadowBrook Farm and Dutch Girl Creamery, a 34-acre diversified farming operation in Lincoln, Nebraska. 

Run by Kevin Loth, his wife Charuth Van Beuzekom, parents, and partner Ian Richmond, ShadowBrook Farm is a sustainable CSA family farm and creamery. Since 1996, the family has raised and sold vegetables at the Shadowbrook Country Market and at farmers’ markets, retail stores and restaurants in the Lincoln and Omaha areas.

"We are committed to sustainable farming practices and are devoted to being good stewards of our land," Loth says on the ShadowBrook website. 

In 1997, Loth says ShadowBrook Farm became certified organic, maintaining continuous certification for 16 years. While the farm is not currently certified organic, ShadowBrook does not use GMO-seed, chemical fertilizer pesticides or herbicides not approved for use in organic standards.

Since the family started the operation, Loth says the farm's practices have not changed much. In addition to milking goats and making cheese since 2006, the team raises hogs and laying hens, supplementing their feed with whey (a byproduct from the cheese-making process). Each year, they also grow cut-flowers and plant cover crops on about one-third of the vegetable ground.

Loth says the farm animals, particularly the dairy goats, are key to ShadowBrook Farm's success.

"Our dairy goats are an integral part of our operation, providing milk for our Dutch Girl Creamery artisan cheese production and compostable material as a rich bi-product," he says. "We are currently using hoop-houses to extend our growing season. Using this system, we are able to produce vegetables for nearly ten months a year."

Loth says ShadowBrook's location within Lincoln's three-mile city limit brings the farm exposure. The family sells their produce at four farmers markets in the Lincoln and Omaha areas, including the Haymarket Farmers' Market, Omaha Farmers Market and Sunday Farmers' Market at College View. 

"Being in the urban fringe has allowed us to establish a good market for our products," he says. 

Along with the farmers markets, the team sells their vegetables and cheese at the farm, online and to local grocery stores and restaurants. ShadowBrook Farm also offers a Flex-style Farm-share that enables customers to pre-pay seasonally for vegetables, cheese, pork and flowers, which they can select throughout the season (May-December).

Loth says the team is proud to support local food systems during COVID-19.

"We strive to produce the highest quality and freshest vegetables available," he says. "By purchasing locally, you are not only getting the finest foods for your family, but are also supporting your local family farm, your local economy and a regional food system that is better for you and the environment."