Gårdssysleriet – Ytre Hægeland Gård
Contact:
Cathinka Jerkø
Address:
Stallemovegen 51, 4715 Øvrebø
Phone:
Website:
E-mail:
Gårdssysleriet is a family farm from 1688 on Ytre Hægeland in Øvrebø that makes artisanal products from milk from its own dairy cows. All the products we sell are pure natural products from milk made by hand by me, Cathinka Jerkø in the small cheese factory we have built in the basement. We have now opened our own small self-service farm outlet that is open from 08.00-22.00 every single day.
My husband, Kjell Øyvind Greibesland, and I run his family farm together and have a common desire to be more than just a raw material producer.
Here on the farm people and cattle live under the same roof, as we have chosen to retain the old local building custom in the area, where the barn and the house are connected. We now have a large barn consisting of 3 sections built by 3 generations on the farm and deliver about 300,000 liters of milk a year to TINE, in addition to a small portion that we milk ourselves. Living next door to cows, heifers, bulls and calves gives us and our 4 children an incredibly nice proximity to the animals, and is important in order to be able to take the best possible care of everyone. In our barn, all the animals are free-range, and the cows are milked with a milking robot. In the summer, the cows can go in and out to pasture as they please, and the heifers go in the outfield or on other pastures near the farm. In addition to dairy cows, we have horses, chickens and cats on the farm. I also have a collaboration with the local school, and bring students with me to the barn several days a week.
The name Gårdssysleriet encompasses all the tasks that are done on a farm throughout the year and reminds me of the many tasks that have always been and still are to run a farm in Norway. Historically, Norwegian Agriculture is a many-tasked business. For me, it is a word that tells of something more than just work.
We both have a background from NMBU in Ås, and have a common desire to manage the available resource base on the farm in the best possible way, and to be able to be something more than just a raw material producer. My dream of running a farm, and my interest in cows, made me move from Oslo to Ås as a young man to get a master's degree in ruminant nutrition, and work as a substitute and cheesemaker. After many years of making cheese on the kitchen counter at home, various courses in milk processing and traditional cheesemaking and 13 years as an advisor to dairy farmers, I am now finally a full-time farmer, and in 2021 I built my own small cheese factory in the basement. In addition to working on the farm, I am now fortunate enough to attend vocational school in artisan cheesemaking and train to become a cheese technician.
We mainly produce soured traditional unpasteurized dairy products such as sour cream, soured farm milk, butter, fresh cheese and cottage cheese, but I also make unpasteurized yogurt, cheese butter, raspberry yogurt and steak cheese - a cheese that is to be fried or grilled. It is the traditional Norwegian cheeses and artisanal products that are closest to my heart. Sourcing milk and curdling sour milk is one of the oldest cheese traditions we have in this country, a tradition that has roots all the way back to the Viking Age. Sour milk products are also known to be particularly beneficial for digestion. All the products we sell are pure natural products made from milk, made by hand by me, and natural variations may therefore occur.
We are proud to produce local, Norwegian, good and safe food!