Stone Hollow Farmstead

For those of you in the Birmingham area, you may be familiar with Stone Hollow Farmstead.  Brad & I were fortunate enough to take a tour recently of the farm located in Harpersville, AL.

I've been a big fan of Stone Hollow for some time after discovering their delicious artisan goat cheeses a few years ago.  More recently, we've been sure to pick up some of their fresh eggs on our visits to Pepper Place Farmer's Market.  A few months ago I was browsing Groupon (as you do) & found an offer to tour the farm.  I immediately jumped on it.  

We arrived at the farm on one spectacularly beautiful afternoon & were greeted by plenty of sun & free roaming chickens.  There were 8 other people touring the facility with us- 4 of which were young children with short attention spans.  Our guide (unfortunately I can't remember her name but I want to say Barbara?- forgive me...) was super patient & friendly.  

A little background on Stone Hollow... Deborah Stone, the owner, used to own a spa in the Birmingham area.  Several years ago she sold that to go into the equestrian business.  Shortly thereafter the economy crashed & there wasn't a huge market for luxury businesses such as hers.  She then decided to start the creamery.  Today, SHF has expanded to not only a selection of goat cheeses but a fully operating CSA that offers vegetables, herbs, eggs, honey, & more to its clients.  Everything is free-range / free-pasture on the farm.  Deborah has also developed a skin care line using fresh ingredients from the farm & even distills her own essential oils.  The farmstead hosts an annual farm to fork dinner (which I've been dying to attend for years!) & has also expanded to a restaurant (The Pantry) that offers organic, non-GMO foods fresh from the farm.

We started out the tour by checking out the chicken house.  There were hens, ducks, turkeys, & roosters a-plenty.  Some less friendly than others (a turkey attacked a laying hen) but we got to check out the beautiful blue, green, & brown eggs that I love so much!

After I was officially freaked out by all the birds, we made our way to check out where they actually milk the goats.  Then we got to meet & play with a few of the kids.  They certainly love to chew on clothing & desperately seek attention.  They have a variety of different types of goats.  My personal fave are the Nubians as I'm a fan of their long floppy, bunny ears.

We learned that SHF only keeps the female goats for the milking.  The boys get sent off to good homes on other farms.  Along with goats & chickens, the farm also houses one cow, one baby bull (Ferdinand- duh!), one fluffy Pyrenees, turkeys, & 4 pigs- including two new pink squishy piglets!

After we checked out out all the animals, we sat among the shaded tables & enjoyed a sampling of all the yummy goat cheeses & jams (hello peach deliciousness!) & some refreshing cucumber water.  If you've never checked out their cheeses, you're certainly missing out.  I was initially hooked after the rose petal & blackberry wine flavors but after sampling the rest of the line- I can say, hands down, my new favorite is fig.  Of course we had to come home with a few jars of our faves which I can hardly wait to break open.

 I'm so glad we got to spend a beautiful afternoon touring this farm & supporting a local business.  Deborah & her team are doing excellent work bringing farm fresh products to the area.  I can't wait to make a trip to The Pantry to sample some of their delicious creations.  Be sure to check out their lovely range of products & go support local!