Sandra Byrd
Sweetwater Valley Farm
Sweetwater Valley Farm

Sweetwater Valley Farm

Cheese, Cows and the Latest Wow!!

Never has grilled cheese tasted so good!  If you haven’t visited Sweetwater Valley Farm’s Café, you need to go now!

Using various cheeses made right there on the farm, the little Café serves up a number of really big and tasty cheese sandwiches, each with their own character and special additions.  For example, the Big Cheese, owner, John Harrison’s favorite—Sharp yellow Cheddar, Benton’s Bacon, Bread and Butter Pickles and Tomato, served on sourdough bread.  Or the Buttermilk and BBQ—Pulled Pork from Smokin’ F Barbecue, Buttermilk Cheddar with Hoff and Pepper BBQ Sauce—Yummy!  Never has comfort food been taken to such heights!

And then there are the creamy milkshakes made by hand with only the very best ice cream to cinch the deal.  Of course, you’ll have to choose which flavor among vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, orange creamsicle and peanut butter!

Come visit the farm, visit the cheese shop where you’ll find cheese to sample to your heart’s content, but don’t miss lunch at the Café for a really special treat.

RiverView Family Farm

Established in 1801 as a working farm, the historic RiverView Family Farm sits along the banks of the Fort Loudoun Lake in Knoxville.  Over the years, the farm has produced many agricultural products to support the local community and remains one of the oldest operating farms in the state of Tennessee.  Now primarily a beef-cattle farm, the farm sells Black Angus beef.

In 2012, the Williams family starting hosting events at the farm in order to share this picturesque location with the community. The Legacy Barn, a 6000 square foot Gambrel barn, was built in 2014 from timber milled from the farm. This new venue is one of the rising premier event hosting venues in the Knoxville area.
In 2019, the farm became the venue for Loudon County Habitat’s Annual Farm to Families event.  Call for a visit and you’ll see why this farm is the perfect location for our event and any other event you might have in mind.

Monterey Mushroom

Did you know that the mushroom, by far the world’s favorite fungi, is packed with a powerful combination of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that’s hard to find anywhere else.

Take Vitamin D for instance.  Everyone knows that Vitamin D is critical to our health and is a major contributor to our immune systems.  Mushrooms are full of Vitamin D!  So there you have it, even more reason to put mushrooms on your plate!

Grown from a single farm in 1971, Monterey Mushrooms includes our local friends at Monterey Mushrooms in Loudon.  The Loudon plant was built in 1977 by Ralston Purina and eventually became part of Monterey Mushrooms.  With over 500 workers, it is easily the largest mushroom farm in Tennessee.

Our local friends are part of a huge operation of nine farms across North America that provides fresh locally grown mushrooms 365 days a year to grocery stores, restaurants, manufacturers and institutions.

Benton's

Smoky Mountain Country Hams, better known around these parts as just simply Benton’s Bacon has been around since 1947. Just outside Madisonville, TN, the unassuming block building with its recently expanded parking lot and building, sees a lot of traffic in and out of that parking lot every day but Sunday.

The time-honored practice used here dates back to the era of our forefathers, when the preparation and preservation of meat was a way of life and sustenance.  But Benton’s has honed the dry-curing of hams and bacon into a culinary art and have catapulted these products from  a simple breakfast mainstay into the world of gourmet cooking, where they have been praised for their characteristic flavor.

Today, Benton’s is not only popular with area restaurants, but is sold to restaurants around the country with a golden reputation to match.  But, thankfully, you and I can still drive a short distance up Hwy 411, drive right up to the door and be welcomed inside by friendly staff who want to help us find just what we’re looking for.  And the smell inside, well, there’s nothing that can describe the amazing smell that wafts through that building when you open the door.  You just have to experience it!