Half of our home farm is in a conservation easement—it can never be developed or farmed and our goal is to restore this area to as natural a state as possible. It’s a work in progress. Several years of intensive management (thanks Laura K. and others who have worked on this land) has transformed the portion that had previously been farmed from a sea of invasive thistle and hemlock to a native grassland in the making. Part of the management strategy has been bringing in goats to eat down the weeds plus grazing animals like cows and horses to keep the grass healthy (the native grasses evolved with grazers like elk, but we don’t have any of those available). The grassland and the areas of oak woodland have benefitted from borrowing large herds of goats in the past to clear out the weeds, but for the past few years we have had only a small contingent of 3 to 5 goats—our maintenance crew—working out there. The weeds have been getting ahead of them though, so we decided it’s time to increase our herd.
That’s where Buddy and Wattles come in—they are our new mostly Saanen goats who join our 3 Boers and 2 LaManchas. They are handsome unneutered young male goats joining our mostly female herd, so we expect to see some baby goats arriving in the next 5 or 6 months. Buddy and Wattles come much loved from Christy Kimes, who keeps dairy goats. (Christy’s husband Keith Kimes keeps his honey bee hives on our farm. Many of you have asked about honey this year, but Keith lost many hives over last winter and hasn’t had enough extra honey to sell through the CSA. He has spent this year strengthening and increasing his hives again—he does not use any chemical treatments, and it’s a process that takes time. We expect to have his wonderful honey for you to order again next year.)
Buddy and Wattles have only been here for a few days, but they are a big hit with the human kids here, who have already become quite attached to them. Our daughters and niece are having a great time with these sweet goats, and are spending the last week of summer fashioning a goat cart and harnesses. You’ll be able to meet Buddy and Wattles and the rest of the goat herd at our Harvest Festival on October 6th.
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