flickr of inspiration- Vegetable Beds

Posted on March 30, 2010 · 3 Comments

Ogródek ziołowy, originally uploaded by pracowniak.pl.

We perused vegetable box ideas that were good enough to get us up and looking at the empty spot in the back yard, rooftop, windowsill, fence… What will your vegetable boxes look like?

This Tuesday, we selected the above very romantic garden photograph to highlight. Fantasy almost, isn’t it? Well, it was taken at the Chelsea Garden Show!


To see see all the images we selected to inspire you, check out the rest of our photo montage gallery on Flickr. This gallery is to evoke or inspire you to put your imagination to work in the garden or whatever little space you have. It is all beautiful!

We want to see your photos, too. If you have photos to share, join our Group on Flickr and post your images.


Here is a public planter area outside of the Other Avenues Coop that I discovered over the weekend. So, I guess fantasy can become reality.
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Filed Under: Flickr of Inspiration

We all know Alpaca’s can surf…but do you know what to do with their fiber?

Posted on March 29, 2010 · 1 Comment

This is our first guest blog. Allurynn and her husband, Doug, own Moonsong Ranch Alpacas and sell their fiber art and fashions at their Etsy shop. Allurynn was kind enough to tell us about her alpacas. 

Recently I came across this YouTube video circulating around about a Guy from Peru who taught his Alpaca Pisco to surf… here’s the link if you want to check it out for yourself. While I never considered teaching our Alpacas such a risky task… we do create beautiful products with their fiber.

Hi I’m Allurynn and Rachel asked that I share what Doug (my husband) and I do with our Alpaca fiber. Before I start here’s a little history about us. Doug and I started our Alpaca Ranch 5 years ago, after we were considering our future after retirement. On a whim one day after seeing an ad about Alpacas, I asked him “what do you think about owning an Alpaca Business”? He chuckled and said… “I’ve been researching it for the past few weeks”! LOL… it’s very common for us to be on the same “wave length” about things, so it didn’t surprise me.

It’s taken us a few years to build the herd, starting out with just one pregnant Alpaca and a Llama companion on our 1 acre mountain community home. Before long we were up to 11 Alpacas and 2 Llamas and of course living out in the country on a 3 acre Ranch, which we named Moonsong Ranch Alpacas.

Once a year in late spring our animals all get sheared. Though it’s not a painful process, for some by the way they complain the whole time, one would think it was! Or maybe it’s their pride that gets hurt, cos’ they sure do look odd once it’s over!

Once the fiber is shorn from the animal, we have to prepare it for processing. This is the boring part of working with the fiber. This process is called skirting, the action is called tedious, LOL…we sit down under our Canopy, with our glasses of ice water and meticulously pull out each piece of debris from the fiber that is less than 1 inch long.

This is what we are up against! Of course, not all our animals roll in the hay all winter long.

Their fiber is characterized as firsts, seconds and thirds… the firsts are called the prime fleece which comes from the trunk of the Alpaca, its blanket. The seconds are the neck and the thirds are whatever is left. We send our blankets to our chosen Fiber Mill to have it processed into yarn and fiber bats, which are later used for finer felting products, like things that go on your body. This prime fleece is the softest and most luxurious. Our seconds or the neck fiber is the fiber we card ourselves using a hand-driven device which creates a smooth uniform layer of fiber, we use this quality of fiber for felting items such as purses, belts, western hats etc., as well as dying and needle felting.

There are a number of benefits to Alpaca fiber. It’s hypoallergenic… it does not contain lanolin which causes the itchiness commonly felt in wool products; it is 5x warmer than sheep wool and more luxurious than cashmere. It is very appealing as a medium for creating wearable art/fashion. If you visit our product website, http://www.MoonsongRanch.com , you will find a variety of fiber fashion items such as knitted fingerless gloves, scarves and shawls, as well as felted hats, scarves, purses and cozies.

Although Doug and I have just recently started creating products from our fleeces, it continues to be a wonderful journey since we both enjoy being around our animals, as well as allowing our creative expression to lead us towards the development of new and innovative product lines from our earth-friendly Alpaca friends.

If you are interested in learning more about Alpacas and how they can impact your lifestyle, please visit: http://www.alpacanation.com/MoonsongRanch.asp.

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Filed Under: Guest Posts

Pretty Garden Pictures

Posted on March 22, 2010 · Leave a Comment

We were so excited that our wedding photographers, <a href=”http://www.tinywaterblog.com/”>Tinywater</a> and <a href=”http://www.edpingolphotography.com/”>Ed Pingol</a> got some great shots of our garden (our wedding was in our backyard). Here are some of them. <br />
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<a href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2HjPCs7rJRw/S6eG-W9ffEI/AAAAAAAAAGM/TeHRVyO1s30/s1600-h/26415_332003378825_647293825_3462764_2872341_n.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ height=”640″ src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2HjPCs7rJRw/S6eG-W9ffEI/AAAAAAAAAGM/TeHRVyO1s30/s640/26415_332003378825_647293825_3462764_2872341_n.jpg” vt=”true” width=”428″ /></a></div>
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<span style=”font-size: x-small;”>Cauliflower &amp; Asparagus</span></div>
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<a href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2HjPCs7rJRw/S6gXkYiSpfI/AAAAAAAAAGU/bRHpSHbnFFg/s1600-h/Signature_0091.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ height=”640″ src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2HjPCs7rJRw/S6gXkYiSpfI/AAAAAAAAAGU/bRHpSHbnFFg/s640/Signature_0091.jpg” width=”427″ /></a><br />
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<span style=”font-size: x-small;”>Bean towers &amp; Pea trellises</span></div>
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<a href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2HjPCs7rJRw/S6gYEIO62ZI/AAAAAAAAAGc/xA8GE_gXAyg/s1600-h/Signature_0422.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ height=”640″ src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2HjPCs7rJRw/S6gYEIO62ZI/AAAAAAAAAGc/xA8GE_gXAyg/s640/Signature_0422.jpg” width=”428″ /></a><br />
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<span style=”font-size: x-small;”>The Mailbox that Keeps our Hand Tools</span><br />
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<span style=”font-size: x-small;”>&nbsp;Chicken Coop Door Sign</span><br />
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<a href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2HjPCs7rJRw/S6gZXBjJrGI/AAAAAAAAAG0/XE_HKc6fpK4/s1600-h/Signature_0080.jpg” imageanchor=”1″ style=”margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;”><img border=”0″ height=”640″ src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2HjPCs7rJRw/S6gZXBjJrGI/AAAAAAAAAG0/XE_HKc6fpK4/s640/Signature_0080.jpg” width=”428″ /><span style=”font-size: x-small;”>C</span></a></div>
<span style=”font-size: x-small;”>Crazy Pumpkins in the landscape with Cornstalks from our garden in the background</span></div>

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Filed Under: Farm Diary

Goals and Successes for 2010

Posted on March 17, 2010 · Leave a Comment

I had mentioned in an earlier post that I plan on taking stock of what I harvest and see what the savings amount to. But that isn’t really a goal, just a plan. Spring at our home is here. The weather is warming up, our last average frost date is only a week and a half away and the time change is allowing us to putter around in the yard after a long day at work.

 Garlic, Peas & Lettuce

Already, this early in the year I’ve had some wonderful success. Things that I always found utterly impossible to grow are in the past, well, growing. Our shelling and snap peas are in and growing magnificently. Usually I have issues with the birds getting the seed before they sprout. This year I started them in flats and then transplanted them. I’ve had a much higher success rate. Our parsnips are up and our peppers are growing bigger by the day. I couldn’t be happier. Both can be so difficult to get started and it appears that this year I was finally successful. I planted more lettuce than I should have, and I’m glad I did. A couple of our chickens got out one day and found that the Yugoslavian Red Lettuce bed was particularly fun to scratch in. So there went a few. Then the crows found that the Cimmaron Lettuce was quite tasty, so there went a few more. Oh bird scare tape, how I love thee. Fixed that problem right up. The Forellenschuss Lettuce however has made it through quite nicely with few issues. Our garlic, which I was worried about earlier in the year, has all come up now and is doing marvelous, as is our onions. Lots and lots of onions. We probably eat at least one onion a day so it’s questionable if we planted enough this year.

Artichoke stand

My goals for this year is to harvest 2,500 lbs of produce (next year will be significantly more because our fruit trees will be more productive). The dilemma I come to is how to work out the cost savings. Do I compare our harvest to the prices of locally grown, organic food (which is usually too expensive for us to buy) or do I just compare it to the food we would normally buy? And do I go by pounds or by items? Some produce is sold per item like onions, heads of lettuce and melons while others are by the lb. In all fairness it should be compared to locally grown, organic food and by the pound. However, the savings doesn’t mean much to us since it isn’t the real price we would actually pay. I suppose I could do both, though it will take more time.

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Filed Under: Farm Diary, Garden Planning, Growing Tips

When Life Gives you Lemons, make Limoncello….

Posted on March 16, 2010 · Leave a Comment

There isn’t quite anything like sipping on ice cold limoncello after dinner with good friends on a hot summer night. It can be hard to find and is never cheap. However, you can easily make it at home and it tastes so much better. It’s great to start now when you are probably drowning in extra lemons that you don’t know what to do with. I prefer to use Lisbon or Eureka lemons over Meyer lemons. The Meyer’s just don’t offer the real lemony taste that I feel this drink calls for. Plus you would need about double the amount of Meyer’s as they tend to be much smaller. The longer you let the mixture sit, the more intense the flavor will be. I like to go about 20 days on each rest period to allow it to mellow while also having some intensity.

Ingredients
18 Lisbon or Eureka lemons, washed and dried
2 750mL bottles of 100 proof vodka (I prefer Stolichnaya)
5 cups of water
4 1/2 cups raw sugar

Instructions
1. Avoiding the pith (white part of the peel) remove the lemon zest with a sharp knife into a large glass or ceramic pitcher.
2. Pour one 750mL bottle of vodka over the zest, cover tightly and store in a cool dark place for 15-30 days.
3. In a saucepan combine water and sugar and heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Allow to cool.
4. Add syrup and remaining vodka to the lemon zest and vodka mixture. Cover and let sit again in a cool dark place for 14-30 days.
5. Strain mixture into glass bottles and store in a cool dark place or give away as gifts.

Refrigerate before serving or pour over ice. A little goes a long way so I recommend serving it in cordial glasses.

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Filed Under: Drinks, Recipes

Getting the most from your chickens

Posted on March 12, 2010 · Leave a Comment
 A few of our chickens hanging out in our backyard

There is something to say about happy chickens. Happy chickens are the most productive and produce the healthiest eggs. I’m not just talking about emotionally happy chickens, but also physically happy, as in healthy. But how do you make your chickens happy? Follow these steps and you’ll be reaping the benefits in no time.

Housing: Make sure your housing is large enough for the amount of chickens you have. The rule of thumb for a coop is 4 sq ft per bird plus an additional 10 sq ft per bird for the run. A larger run will of course make happier chickens. But a coop isn’t just about being covered. Of course you need perches for them to sleep on (8″ in length per chicken min.) and nest boxes for them to lay eggs in (1 box per 3 chickens is a good rule of thumb), but you also should consider adding a power source for including a light and heater in winter (or a heat lamp, combining the two). A chicken’s egg laying slows down significantly in the winter. Not because it’s cold but because of the shorter hours of daylight. If you give them a bit more light then you’ll see an increase in egg production. If you want to give them a break from laying eggs then just add a heater for those really cold nights that can frostbite your chickens’ combs. A heated waterer is also good for places that freeze so that they always have water available and not just a block of ice.

Hunkered down in the nest box

The Run: The bigger the better. A bigger yard will not only give them more space, but it also gives them more opportunities to eat. More scratching for bugs and worms, more weeds and grass. They won’t be as hard on their area either. Waste won’t be as concentrated, making it smell less. In the winter (or summer depending on where you live) when weeds are down we like to add all our yard waste and kitchen scraps into a compost pile in the run. While it breaks down bugs and worms work their way into it and the chickens like to scratch around in it to find goodies. The bonus of a large run is that you will have to spend less on feed because it will only be a supplement to what they find in the yard.

And what is the bonus for giving them lots of space? Healthier eggs for you! Mother Earth News ran tests on eggs from several flocks of birds that were pasture fed. The results were amazing compared to supermarket eggs.

• 1⁄3 less cholesterol
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene
• 4-6 times more Vitamin D


Stress reduction is also important in having a happy flock. Too much stress and egg production will go down. Lots of room can help do that. Too many chickens in too little space can create problems with pecking, pulling out each others feathers, etc. Also, having a rooster can reduce egg production because of stress. Roosters can be really hard on the hens, which stresses them out.

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Filed Under: Chicken Health, Chickens, Livestock, Urban Farming & Homesteading

Zone 6 or Zone 1?? Late Season Pheasant, AHHH!

Posted on March 9, 2010 · Leave a Comment


The question came up this weekend. A friend of mine swears she’s heard from old-timers, friends, her mom who worked at our local nursery for a number of years, that we are Zone 1 (see the smack-dab middle of Oregon). If that is true, it’s a big bummer. But isn’t like, ALASKA Zone 1?? This isn’t Alaska… Both my friend and I have heard the local adage “You don’t plant your seeds in the ground until all the snow is gone from Black Butte”. As in Black Butte Porter a la Deschutes Brewery. Well, that is fine and dandy because I don’t plan on doing that until… May?!? Oh how I miss coastal weather sometimes. But the problem is when I looked up the USDA zones, we are in Zone 6. I am aware that if I want to start anything I need a greenhouse. Costco carport frame, CHECK! I’m also a firm believer that if you mulch it, it will grow. And, as my new best friend the Winter Harvest Handbook tells me, cold frames and row covers in greenhouses can allow me to grow year-round in harsher climates, like Maine.

< ----------------LOOK! Not pink, it's light blue!!

But the question arose as I was trying, ever so hard, to finish the joint seed order I’m doing with my friend. I know, March and I don’t have the seeds ordered, what is wrong with me? Well for one, when you have a big space, and you are going to try to preserve some of your harvest, you want to plant EVERYTHING! It is very hard to resist ordering fruit trees. And more berries. Yes, I am going to try berries out here. But not blackberries, marionberries, huckleberries, or elderberries, those are going to be gathered. So, when selecting seeds, one of my key phrases has been “does well in cool climates”. That’s all well and good as long as I’m not ordering vegetables that are for Zone 6, not Zone 1. I am trying to not be intimidated by the fact that we had frost last year in July! And I’ve heard stories of it SNOWING on Fourth of July. What madness have I gotten myself into? I am used to growing peas and greens year round. Granted, I am excited about not having to coddle my tomatoes, and peppers are a reality not just a dream anymore! And I’m going to try eggplant. But still… should I plant asparagus? What about artichokes? Rhubarb? My mantra is becoming “if it’s mulched, it will be fine”. Well, only time will tell right?

On Sunday I went pheasant hunting with my new boss to see how our two brittanys would get along. Tango is 8 months and an alpha female. Gunny is 4 years old and way more mellow. Since it was our first time out together it was more about training the dogs than actually getting birds, however we ended up with a total of 7. The country was beautiful, up by Bear Creek. That’s all I know, since I am still getting to know the area. But just beautiful high desert juniper and sagebrush hills punctuated by lava rimrock. And it was a warm day too! Pheasant are my all-time favorite game bird to hunt. They are the perfect species for beginner hunters. Unlike waterfowl hunting that requires a huge amount of gear, pheasant hunting just requires a gun, a good pair of boots, and a dog. No special calls, no back-breaking load of decoys, it is the quintessential connection between man and dog. When I go out with Gunny, WE are hunting, not just me. He finds the birds for me, and I bring them down. It’s a partnership in every sense of the word, and the fact that he knows it makes it just that much more special. I love my dog, as my companion, my buddy, but in normal situations we are not equals. When we hunt together, we are.

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Filed Under: Current Events, Foraging & Hunting, Urban Farming & Homesteading

The First Week of Goats – a Learning Experience

Posted on March 7, 2010 · Leave a Comment

This wraps up our first week living with goats. There are a lot of things to learn that either no one tells you or you don’t take them completely serious when they do.

First things first, lets talk about feed. What an adventure that has been. We knew plenty about what they should eat. The problem was finding it. Now the alfalfa hay and orchard grass was easy. I’d prefer to find organic sources, but I have a suspicion after searching that it isn’t an option. I may consider growing some alfalfa as a cover crop in our garden to supplement what we buy. The ration was the hardest thing to find. Their previous owners didn’t feed them ration, but Bella, the mother, is underweight because she is still lactating, so we want to get her weight up. So off we went to get goat feed. I refuse to buy anything by Purina, which just so happens to be the most popular brand of goat feed. Blah! So then we found goat feed by Associated Feed (also called Showmaster). We asked the feed store if they had dairy goat feed and they said they didn’t but that we could use this other formulation they had. We get it home and open it up. It looked good. It had lots of whole rolled grains and pellets. So I got curious about the ingredients. I look at the ingredients on all of our animals’ food because I believe proper nutrition is key to their health. As it turns out this feed is medicated!!! I look at their other feeds, also medicated. Ugh. And of course it warns that you shouldn’t feed it to lactating goats.

I call several other feed stores and the ones that carry goat feed almost all offer this same line of feed. Ugh. So then it’s time to start searching for food that I can order. I decide to do a search for organic ration. I have a feeling my search will be futile. Well as it turns out there’s a feed mill in Modesto that produces organic dairy goat feed. Yay! And there is a distributor not too far away. So I made the trip and bought a bag.  I have to give props to Biofuel Oasis in Berkeley for not only carrying Biofuel but also having urban farm supplies that are organic! Bonus is that they also offer lots of urban farming workshops. I’d love to take their rabbit one, but it’s full.

So that was the saga of finding rations for our goats. We definitely are starting them small to ease them into it and not disrupt their rumens too much. But so far they are enjoying it.

We were told that goats are smarter than dogs. How much smarter we weren’t prepared for. Not only are they smarter, but they can be stubborn. You can only trick them into doing something they don’t want to once. After that they are on to you and know better regardless of how tasty the treat you’re holding is. And they have to be with you! They follow us EVERYWHERE. If we go in the garden they have to find a way over the fence so they can follow. They try to come in the house with us.

The dogs are another issue. Riley, our GSD/Border Collie mix wants to herd them but doesn’t know how. Squeek is vaguely interested in them sometimes. We trust our dogs to intermingle with them. However, Bella and Daisy (Bella, the mother in particular) are rather aggressive with the dogs – headbutting the fence when the dogs get too close. Since they still have their horns, I’d rather be safe than sorry and not let the goats and dogs intermingle. The last thing we need is a gored dog.

So that has been my experience so far. Smart, very friendly, stubborn animals that are difficult to feed.

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Filed Under: Goat Health, Goats, Livestock, Urban Farming & Homesteading

Well, crap. What do I write?

Posted on March 5, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Howdy! So my friend Rachel asked me to contribute to her blog about self sufficiency in an urban setting. So here I am! Albeit I’m not in an urban setting anymore! Right now I am on 2.5 acres just outside Redmond OR. I have a little teeny studio apartment, but I get to play in huge area of dirt, so I am happy. I am not quite sure what to write about, what people would find interesting enough to actually read, and I have a tendency to ramble. Thankfully, I can edit this medium to account for that! Currently I have had chickens for 3 years, and have been gardening for… a while. This year I have the opportunity to have a huge garden, in an attempt to can/freeze/dehydrate some of my harvest to see if I can actually do it. I have room for turkeys, goats, and sheep, but don’t know if I can fit that in with work and everything else. We will see! I also don’t have a camera right now, so all pictures are going to be from the last 4 years. I will be getting a camera soon though.

So, about me really quick. My major hobby is home brewing and mead making. Gardening, when I have space, is of equal importance. I also love the textile arts, sewing, dyeing, and knitting, and I would like to get into spinning and weaving if I had the space. I’m getting back into fishing up here too! I’m also really into hunting, in all forms. I’m so into it that my chosen career field is Wildlife Management, so I can help improve habitat to grow more wildlife, and as a result, provide more hunting opportunities for hunters. I worked for CA DFG for about 10 years before I cut my ties and moved to Oregon. Unfortunately the ODFW job I moved up here for was eliminated, so now I work at a veterinary clinic. Which is great for when I start getting knee-deep in animals. Chickens are just something I do now, in addition to having 3 cats and a dog. I grew up in Sacramento CA. We never had a big garden, actually only a few events stand out in my memory. When I was around 8 we planted radish seeds (even though I had never had a radish) and when I watered the dirt after planting, the water pushed all the seeds together so in a couple weeks there was a clump of baby radishes coming up. Also, mom always had a parsley plant in the planter on the back porch she would get fresh parsley from. I do remember planting flowers with her though. She always got the 6-packs of annuals and we would plant colorful borders and planters each season. But nothing edible. Later on, in junior college, I remember putting in vegetables in a side bed, constructing trellises out of conduit pipe, and having hardly anything grow because I forgot to water it.

Needless to say I have never considered myself someone with a green thumb. But I manage to have african violets no problem (the secret is to plant them in official African Violet pots). At Cal Poly SLO I got my first houseplants, orchids, which were on easy-mode in that coastal climate. When I moved to Suisun they promptly died. I wanted to have a vegetable garden in Suisun, but I was living on Grizzly Island at the time, and the salt in the soil would have required more water use than was allowed by my DFG landlords. I did manage to have some herbs in a planter though. When I moved to Humboldt I again experienced the easy-mode of living in a coastal climate. It was in Humboldt that my green thumb, and the desire to become self sufficient really took hold. Not only was it a great climate, but I was renting a place that actually had ROOM for a garden! It was a big weedy area that the previous owner had used for just such a purpose, so I cleaned it up and started throwing plants in. The other major factor was that I started working for Humboldt County’s Department of Agriculture.

When you spend your working days going to all the nurseries in the county, you start to appreciate plants. Before I moved to Humboldt, I had what one of my professors called, the Green Blurs. It’s a condition where you look over the landscape and you see green. Just green. You don’t differentiate between different types of plants. I was fortunate in that I could tell the difference between a tree and a shrub, an annual and a perennial, and an evergreen and a deciduous plant. So, here I was working for the county, inspecting nurseries for Sudden Oak Death compliance so our nurseries could ship out of the county, the state, and the country. Now for those of you living in the bay area, you know what Sudden Oak Death, or SOD is. If you don’t, it’s a waterborne fungus that kills plants, particularly oak trees.

Anyhoo, I managed to have a productive garden the last 3 years before I moved to Oregon. It’s something I find calms me like yoga, and that I can spend hours doing. It’s also one of those optional activities that I don’t consider optional in my life anymore. Like home brewing and hunting. Hopefully I’ll type some things that will interest you, maybe inspire you, maybe educate you, and help you on your journey to living self sufficiently. Slainte!

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Filed Under: Farm Diary

Adventures with Goats!

Posted on March 2, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Yes, those are two pygmy goats walking around on top of our chicken coop. We can’t keep them off. They have other stuff to climb around on, but insist on the chicken coop roof.

This past Sunday we dove head first into goat ownership. To be honest this wasn’t spontaneous. When we first bought our house we had thought about owning goats but it never really went anywhere. We didn’t know too much about them and assumed they’d be noisy and smelly and a complete pain in the ass. We also didn’t think we had enough room on our 1/4 acre lot.

Then one day a couple of weeks ago I was chatting with my friend, Ragani, who told me about a city-dwelling friend of hers, Kitty, who had goats in her residential backyard. She put us in touch with each other and we soon made a visit to Kitty to meet her goats. She had this wonderful barn in her backyard and in it lived 4 Nigerian Dwarf goats and a few chickens. Her backyard was much smaller than ours. She graciously answered all of our questions and when we left we were incredibly excited. It became clear to us that no only could we have goats but that we wanted them more than ever!

While cruising around Craigslist (I have this addiction to looking at the Farm & Garden section all the time) I came across an ad for two pygmy does in our town. Now, we wanted dairy goats, but at the $375-450 price tag for just one goat, it was out of our reach. This ad was asking $200 for the pair. So I looked up pygmy goats. I was pretty dismayed that almost all sites said that they were only good for being pets. But then I came across this site and this site. You can milk them! And they are supposed to have really good milk. Not to mention they are extremely hardy. So I contacted the owner about meeting them. Turns out I know the family (the husband works for my mom and I used to work with him back in college) that owns them. They are registered and healthy. They are a mother/daughter pair and the mother is still lactating.

We picked them up this past Sunday. We don’t have a barn built for them yet so they are currently staying in our chicken coop, which is plenty big enough for everyone.

Sunday the chickens spent the entire day protesting. They HATED these strange beasts in their coop and run. The dogs were interested (they’re over it now) but didn’t understand why one of them kept trying the headbutt them through the fence. The goats were fairly quiet that day. I guess they were saving it up for Monday and Tuesday when we got home from work. Oh my lord, are they noisy! Granted they are just adjusting to their new home, but oh man! Fortunately our neighbors all think it’s really cool that we have goats. It helps that they don’t bleat at night.

They follow us around like puppy dogs when we’re in the yard. If we go into the garden they insist on following us even when we close the gate. They have found that the wood pile next to the fence is a convenient “ladder” over the fence and into the garden. However, following us makes it easy to get them out of the garden. 

So stay tuned for more adventures. I’m sure there will be all sorts of antics.

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Filed Under: Goats