Located between the small town squares of Lebanon and Watertown, Tennessee, among the rolling hills of fertile farmland, is Shop Springs Creamery. Owned by Jeffrey and Elizabeth Turner, both fourth generation farmers, their Sparta Pike store has won “Best of Wilson County” several years in a row and they are a Pick Tennessee Product.
“I’ve never been disappointed here since it opened,” said one reviewer. “Every time I come here, I try a new flavor. Each one gets better and better. The ‘Cookie Monster’ is the best cookie flavored ice cream I have ever had, as is the ‘Birthday Cake.’ The peach tastes real, and so does the salted caramel. Seriously, Ben and Jerry’s, Baskin Robbins, Hagen Daaz, they all have nothing on Shop Springs.”
The couple began milking cows in December 2015, and bottling their milk to sell to the public in 2020. Their milk is non-homogenized, low-temperature vat-pasteurized. They sell it in pints, half-gallons and gallons in their farm store, where the ice cream is the big hit.
It is their creamy milk that makes the ice cream so good. They offer 12 different flavors all of the time, special flavors for holidays and specific times of the year, and they are always creating new flavors. Vanilla, chocolate, dark chocolate, strawberry, peach, banana, Birthday Cake, cookie dough, salted caramel, mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream and Cookie Monster can usually be found in their cooler. During the holidays, they carry flavors like Pumpkin Pie, Christmas Cake and Candy Cane. And they are always adding new ones, like pralines and cream. The ice cream can be bought in cups, cones, waffle cones and pints.
Many of their flavors are made from local produce, like fresh strawberries from Lester Farms and Kelly’s Berry Farm.
“It’s a little bit out of the way, but so worth the trip,” said another reviewer. “The ice cream was the creamiest I think I have ever had. I had a double scoop cone with Mackinac Island Fudge, a vanilla based ice cream with chunks of fudgey goodness throughout. The second scoop was strawberry cheesecake. It had a real cheesecake flavor. It was great, reasonably priced, and offered good, quick service. We also bought some cheese and chocolate milk to bring home.”
Coolers in the store carry their milk, as well as local cheese, honey, eggs, pork, lamb, grass-fed beef and hot sausage.
A small family business. The farm is located on land that has been in the Turner family since 1940, when Jeffery’s great-grandfather started a small Jersey dairy farm. His father, Tommy Turner and his father’s brother put in a new milking parlor in 1975, and it was replaced in 2014 by Jeffery and his brother. Elizabeth was also raised in a farm family but in Michigan.
They are open seven days a week. Monday through Thursday the hours are 12:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., they are open on Friday and Saturday from noon until 8:00 p.m., and 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. on Sunday. Located at 2816 Sparta Road, also known as Highway 70 East, the building looks like a large red barn with a drive-thru.
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