We're living, learning, and loving right where we are.

Putting Goats to Work

In keeping with regenerative practices and forestry managemnt we've put our small herd of goats to work! Goats are browsers, not grazers, so with that in mind we're continually moving them around the property allowing them to do some of the work we don't enjoy as much, like clearing poison ivy, autumn olive, and honeysuckle at the edges of the forest. This particular area is prone to invasives species growth and the goats are a wonderful, natural way to help keep those in check while adding fertilizer as they go! I'm continually amazed at just how much these little creatures can eat! Our goal to clear up the forest borders has been launched into warp speed with these helpers on the property.

With so many forest borders on the property, we find ourselves easily overrun with invasive species and plants we simply don't want to thrive, such as poison ivy. Keeping those borders clear is an overwhenming physical task not to mention that the conventional method for managing invasive species involves some pretty toxic chemicals. So, instead of laboring away and weeping with poison ivy rashes or exposing our land and everything on it to chemicals we aren't comfortable with, we choose to put our goats to work and let them be goats!

I'm not going to lie, part of the fun of having goats is simply watching them play around and do goat things. But goofing off and doing goat things sometimes leads to pretty challenging moments. It's not uncommon to see LaBomba (below) and OooChaCha jumping onto the roof of the boys' shed and tormenting them. They are escape artists, love jumping and heights, have serious FOMO and regularly participate in competitive eating challenges that I did not approve of.

Moving them frequently, usually daily, helps prevent over-grazing which can damage pasture, and also helps prevent parasites in our herd by breaking the life cycle of various offenders. It also makes for happier goats! They're naturally curious so, by changing their envirnment regularly, negative behaviors are minimized, or at least I like to think so. While we usually have them in the woods or along the forest edges we do occasionally tie them out in portions of the pasture and allow them to help manage areas that are growing faster than others, really capitalizing on the amout of grass we are able to grow by encouraging new growth.

We've Goat Goals

Our desire is to have a small herd of Nigerian Dwarf Goats for milking purposes. In order to achieve this we first need to build a new goat barn to accomoddate a couple more does and their kids. Then we need to acquire two or three more does. Goat shed plan are in place and construction should begin by the end of July '26 and be ready for more does by early fall, in plenty of time for breeding. Milk and milk-based procuts would become a reality in the Spring of '26. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date on the dairy goat progess and you'll be among the first to have the opportunity to get a bar of goatmilk soap straight from the homestead.

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