ZS Bišudārzi

Ilze and Aivars Šefanovski manage a small dairy herd in the biologically valuable meadows of the Piltenes parish in Ventspils district, within the forests and the Vēždūkas river basin. Here is a clean and untouched environment – so pristine that there was no electricity in the house until 1991! The owners treat nature with respect – they manage with environmentally friendly methods according to their beliefs.

The Šefanovski family has established milk processing at home and produces a wide range of products – around 14 types of cheeses and other dairy products, marketing them under the brand "Ilzes sieri" (Ilze's cheeses).

How did they come to cheese production? Ilze and Aivars admit that various things have been done in every period of change, but there have always been cows at home. What they couldn't eat themselves, they processed into cream, cottage cheese, butter, and went to market. As people increasingly savored Ilze's homemade cheeses, about 10 years ago the hostess got more serious about this matter.

Fresh cheeses are prepared with various additives – caraway seeds, fresh dill and parsley leaves, cumin seeds, hemp seeds, but cheeses and butter with mushrooms are particularly in demand, as well as cheeses with flax seeds and cumin.

Ilze likes to experiment, so she occasionally adds a new product to the range. For example, marinated cheese. It has already become a favorite of buyers, especially at the Alsungas market. The next plan is related to starting ice cream production.

Where to buy?

 The owners sell their products at the Ugāle and Alsunga markets, they are also available at the "Kuldīgas Labumi" homemade goods store in Kuldīga. For communication, please write to ilzesefanovska@inbox.lv or send a WhatsApp message to ph.No. +371 26070063.