November 29, 2012
Goats 4 ?
In the beginning we brought home the girls; a lactating doe named Adeline, who was soon renamed UNA- and forever after was known as BOIS (BWHAA) for the humorous vocalization she had, and two 3 month old doe kids, we named GINGER & PICKLES. Together they cost us $200. Though registered with the American Dairy Goat Association, as pure bread NUBIANS, we had no intention of taking them to goat shows, just having them was exciting enough. Introduced to a clean new barn, after an hour in the back of a truck, they were understandably dubious, coming from a large herd and a comfortably odored barn, their first question was presumably: where is everyone? They continued to be nervous and hugged the immediate barn area for days. They enjoyed the fluffy Alfalfa hay we fed them and we began our now holy ritual of twice daily milking. Soon it was time for their first walk. When we attached leads to their collars, they dug in their heels and could not be budged. By then we had established a relationship with them, whenever we weren't cuddling or feeding them, if they caught sight of us they would call out. It became apparent that they were not to be led, but they did seem to enjoy our company, so we opened the gate and walked out ignoring them, of course, they followed. In fact they followed us were ever we walked, which of course made it difficult to leave them out. and so goat walking became a new ritual. This way we could also monitor what they chewed on, or shoo them away from young trees we didn’t want chewed.
Milk & Manure is the answer to the question; why goats. Milk as a food source has enabled humans to survive and flourish forever. There is some controversy over the use of milk as an adult food, as milk is indeed produced as nutrition for baby mammals. But once the argument devolves to basics like; grains, fruits, & vegetables grow only too produce seeds, or meats can only be used for the motive force of animals, we see how narrow & flexible human thinking can be. There are no definite rules when it comes to food sources, only what works, what is tolerated, and what is expected. Humans have evolved to be omnivores, opportunistic feeder’s and milk producing animals were cultivated for the nutritious milk they produce as soon as it was possible.
We are not big liquid milk drinkers, but we do add raw milk to our our morning bitter bean extract- coffee, and use milk for cooking & baking. For a long time we made yoghurt, but since we acquired some Kefir grains, this much simpler cultured product has taken its place. Our bread & butter is a soft Chévre, a creamy style of cheese that is easy to produce and delicious to consume. Pressed, aged hard cheese is a little more challenging, but many amazing cheeses have been made over the goat years.
(More cheese details will be revealed in the future)
Manure is a major product of animal husbandry. Considered waste by some management systems manure is the key ingredient to healthy & productive soils. Goats in particular convert course material into immediately useful fertilizer. And when composted with their bedding is an ideal worm food, producing twice digested worm castings. Our garden production depends almost exclusively on this continuously renewing resource, and rewards us with abundant nutrition.
The goats seemed happy, and so were we, our first cheese was amazing. and milk production overwhelmed us immediately, BOIS was initially difficult to milk, our ham-handed rookie attempts eventually got the job done, with a few kicked over buckets, & the ever popular foot in the bucket trick. We all settled in and spent the summer learning about each other, raked up their dropping every morning, and experimented with cheese making techniques. MORE LATER