The Goat Woman

Whew! It’s been a whirlwind few months . . . maybe it’s only been weeks and feels like months.
Sorry – but I haven’t had one minute to write anything for so very long.

All of this wet, soggy, hot/humid weather has caused a little distress for the goats. They don’t do well walking or living in the muddy, sticky conditions – and on top of mud/yuck – our goats are mostly black. Today, I gave specialty worming meds for all the males. The females that are giving milk will not be given this wormer unless they need it – it has milk withdrawal time periods. The other ladies will be given this wormer and then in 10 days all will get it again. I want to get it all gone and then we’ll check for worms in Fall.

Pat has been building a wonderful fencing system on the hill that we cannot use for us humans. But the bucks will LOVE it. It has roses, blackberries, locust, and weeds/brush of all kinds. We will not even have to feed hay! We will provide plenty of fresh, clean water and the boys will get fresh food without any parasites. We like to use the pasture rotation that is most healthy for animals and the land.

The ladies are producing more milk per goat than ever. Probably because their environment keeps improving every year – thanks Pat!!! He works so hard at work and then comes home and gets stuff done!

I’m making goat milk soaps like crazy . . . I was blessed by being selected as one of 16 vendors to participate in the summer-long open market on Fountain Square in Cincinnati. It runs Tuesdays starting June 2nd from 11-2 all summer. Come and visit if you’re anywhere close! This Friday we will travel to Versailles and make all of our products fresh for the summer. (I can bring special orders to the square for anyone who needs that service).

If the blueberries do well, we will be bringing them to the market with us. We hope to double the strawberries, rhubarb and asparagus so more people can get them fresh from us. We still have eggs, and more all the time.

The lavender, comfrey and assorted herbs are growing wonderfully. Pat put in one of 3 counter-tops in my retro kitchen and it looks marvelous – something is always happening around here!

The last SCHEDULED cheese class was this past weekend. If you want to book a private class this summer or want to learn something specific such as soapmaking – give us an email or phone call and we’ll do our best to accommodate you. (If you came to a cheese class and your mozz. didn’t work – we have a wonderfully easy fix for you – just email or call for details). Starting on getting hard cheeses perfected so we can help you along with them.

Everyone helped in the rain yesterday and dug the beds and sowed, weeded, planted. We only had to run to the house twice. Our boots were slick with thick, yucky KY clay – but a quick once-over with a shovel helped that situation. We have some very special heirloom and organic seeded tomatoes this year. We can’t wait to share them with you now that the chickens have been kept at bay. (Our chickens have the run of the farm – true free-range chickens – but they ate my garden planting twice!!!).

We are planting our front “lawn” with melons, squashes, corn, beans – anything to double and quadruple the space and the goodies we produce.

We are looking to please you with what we grow. Let us know what you want us to grow for your eating pleasure!!

the Goat Woman (aka Marilyn).