Watch this video for a tour and to see highlights of the hog roast party.

Photo: Raymond, Nebraska 

Next stop on the Nebraska Passport tour was Branched Oak Farm Dairy and Cheese. I’m obsessed with farms, dairy and – you guessed it – cheese, so this stop was especially fun and tasty. It’s just 15 miles north of Lincoln in Raymond. We got lucky and stopped by on the same evening as a hog roast party.

We met up with Krista Dittman, co-owner of the farm with her husband Doug, (pictured on left). She started our informal tour with the ultra clean and cool room containing their new cheese vat. This vat is about 2 1/2 times bigger than the vat they had last year. We started our interview talking about the background of the business. Krista and Doug moved to the farm in 1999 and started with chickens and then beef. Krista was a German instructor and Doug was doing contracting, so the farm was just a hobby. Then before they knew it neighbors and friends kept asking for the eggs, chicken, beef, then fresh milk. The dairy started in 2003 when they got their first two dairy cows.

Photos: Branched Oak Farm Dairy and Cheese

In 2004 they collaborated with another local farmer and started a cheese plant. After five years of the cheese plant collaboration and massive hours in farmers markets, the two farms grew so much that they decided to both go back on their own. The Dittmans developed their “inconvenience” store, named for having limited retail hours. They also started concentrating on wholesale and restaurant markets.

Fast forward to today, Branched Oak Farm Dairy and Cheese is a full-functioning, certified organic, grass-fed dairy, specializing in farmstead cheeses. They also sell ground beef and they just added pork products. Krista said that pigs are a nice compliment to a dairy operation because they eat the whey that’s produced from the cheese plant.

Photos: pigs eating and relaxing on the farm in the cool mud.

The hog roast party was in conjunction with the Nebraska Farmers Union and we had a really fun time.  We got a close up look at the pigs, cows, and chickens and the food was absolutely amazing. Everything was home-made from the Dittman’s garden and farm, local farms and the Community Crops Program. They even had my new favorite beer called Orange Wheat. It’s brewed by Modern Monks and I’m told you can get it at Misty’s Restaurant in Lincoln. I can’t finish this article without mentioning my obsession with quark cheese. They of course had it at the party and it was suggested that we put some on top of our potato salad. It was amazing and also good to know that you can put it on so many different things. I had only put it on Le Quartier bread before this, which is also fabulous.

Photos: (left) quark and other cheeses in the cooler, (right) eating delicious pork and drinking fabulous Modern Monks, Orange Wheat beer.

Photos: (left) crowd at hog roast party, (right) nice ladies posing with my new favorite Modern Monks beer.

Krista said that no matter how the business grows and develops, their love of food has and will always stay the same. She said that they love being part of the local food economy and knowing other producers and exactly where their food is coming from. Krista has quark recipes on the website and you can also check for upcoming events here. They have an annual Oktobefest and also a farm tour in the fall.

Photos: (left) posing with the cows on the farm, (right) cows in the sunset.

The “inconvenience store” hours are Tuesdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can buy the products in Lincoln at Open Harvest, Ideal Grocery, and Old Cheney Farmers Market, and in Omaha at Wohlners grocery and Whole Foods.