By Amy Van Veen (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: March 20, 2013
1154 Fadden Road, Abbotsford BC
604-854-1315
Hours: Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (winter hours)
Price: up to $7.49
Nestled against the backdrop of green-scaped and snow-topped mountains, with the openness of the Sumas prairies in their backyard, Birchwood Dairy offers a momentary urban escape for those wanting some fudge, ice cream and a light lunch.
For those who have heard the name and can only think of visions of ice cream cones dancing in their heads, Birchwood Dairy offers a little more than a delicious scoop of grasshopper pie in a waffle cone. The farm sells their own cheese (including fresh curds for poutine-lovers), milk, local produce, Mt. Lehman honey and fair trade coffee amidst other basic grocery store necessities and Dutch treats like dropjes.
The yellow barn also sells freshly baked goods, frozen pies for only $5.99 and the best brand of perogies to be found in the Valley – Abbotsford’s own Helmi’s. Not to be confused with the Yellow Barn, of course, which is situated further east on Highway One.
While traveling south on Whatcom Road down from the highway, a large sign beckons drivers to turn left onto Nelles Road and Birchwood Dairy sits at the turn onto Fadden Road.
The shop opens to a cooler filled with various kinds of ice cream with a small seating area on the right that overlooks the front lawn with its ivy-covered trellis where lovebirds can sit and while away the hours. To the right of the ice cream cooler and small kitchen area is the rest of the shop where locals and tourists alike can grab fresh ingredients and delicious homemade fudge.
Their sandwiches—served on white and brown bread—are only $3.99 while soup can be added to the order for a total of only $6.49. I got the turkey sandwich on brown with a corn and bacon chowder soup of the day. The homemade bun was soft and the fresh turkey, tomato, lettuce and cucumber served as the perfect filling-to-bread ratio. The chowder was full of flavour – and full of chunks of bacon, although it was fairly runny for what I expected would be a chunkier chowder consistency.
The farm has longer hours during the summer months when I’m sure the produce shelves stock up and the heat of the day bring more people in to enjoy the ice cream. But as the spring sun mixes with the nippy winter wind, a local stop for soup and a sandwich seems almost idyllic so close to campus.
