Cheese farm De Jong
Welcome!
For four generations we have been making real Gouda farmhouse cheese in the Westeind polder; an area known for its meadow birds and very Dutch views. Our cows graze happily in the surrounding meadows and produce delicious milk, which we then happily use to make wonderful dairy products. Would you like to taste this cheese? You are most welcome in our farm shop.
Gouda farmhouse cheese
Gouda is one of the best known and most widely eaten cheeses. This cheese is shaped like a wheel and with 48% has a slightly lower fat content than other cheeses. The cheese owes its name to the fact that it has been traded in Gouda for centuries.
Ordinary Gouda cheeses are mass-produced in cheese factories, even abroad! This is because the name is not protected. The designation 'Gouda Holland' can only be used in the Netherlands if the cheeses are made from Dutch milk. And the Gouda farmhouse cheese as we make it is only made on farms in this region.
Meadow bird sanctuary
At the end of this road you will find the Westeinde bird sanctuary. In spring you are treated to a concert of singing and calling meadow birds. In the herb-rich grasslands they find a safe place to breed. You can spot a surprising number of bird species, such as the spoonbill, silver herons, black-tailed godwit, common tern and garganey. In winter, thousands of geese hibernate.
The Black-tailed Godwit
The black-tailed godwit was chosen as the national bird of the Netherlands in 2015. This beautiful bird is an ambassador of our typical Dutch meadow landscape with windmills, ditches, cows and colourful birds.
Did you know that...
...a cow is a social animal? By nature, they live in groups. Within each group there is a hierarchy. Animals that are lower in rank must have the space to avoid animals that are higher in rank.
...cows ruminate for four to nine hours a day?
...cows grazing in the meadow travel about 3 to 4.5 km per day?
...the last part of Westeinde, which is a dead-end road, is called the ‘hell’? In the past this piece of unpaved rubble road was almost impassable and it was a 'hell' of a job to get to the land.
TIP!
Our Boerenambacht (artisan) cheese; a homemade tasty, Westeind polder cheese!
