Today, not only do I milk the goats, feed them hay and concentrates, give them plenty of fresh, clean water and make sure they are healthy and happy, but I am also their cook.
I don't cook vegetables and I don't cook soup, but I cut them and that's her favorite part. I arrange the sandwiches in large plastic containers so that several people can share them at once.
For the past few weeks, zucchini, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers and corn have been the mainstays of her vegetable menu.
There were also these green plants that just came along and the finished ones that are still good for the goats but don't produce anymore.
His favorites include legumes and all legumes.
If we don't harvest every day, we risk harvesting too much to eat summer squash and the like that we know we won't sell.
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Although we collect every day, we end up receiving products that, by our standards, are too late when we want to sell them.
It's almost always good, but it's almost dry or starchy or something.
We no longer feed cabbage, not because we think it's harmful, but because we don't want to risk transmitting a deer parasite to goats if deer eat them. These older, larger leaves are sent straight to the compost heap for the chickens to taste before mixing them with the compost.
A few years ago the Felicity goats got infected with a parasite somehow and their fur was worn down and looked rough and twisted.
Now you can no longer tell that she was ill, thanks to the medical and sensitive treatment. But several months passed before he fully recovered. None of the other goats had any problems.
However, cabbages are more preferred, although previously.
Any vegetables showing signs of mold or fungus also end up in the compost.
Compost quickly regenerates and converts all that nutrient-rich plant matter into soil and pasteurizes it too, a true wonder of nature.
I usually also cut squash and winter squash for the goats. I don't think we will have many Jack O'Lantern pumpkins this year.
A deer family on a country road destroyed all of our upstairs pumpkin patches.
Next year I need a new strategy there. Maybe a 5 or 6 foot fence, a five wire electric fence, armed guards or reconnaissance helicopters with an emergency response team equipped with flashbang grenades.
Although I'm not used to eating mammals and prefer meat to shellfish, fish and poultry, I'm pretty sure there are deer roaming the gardens here.
I think the same goes for the goats, except that the goats are helping me and the deer are helping me instead.
These are the wonders of nature and the work of the alpine goat.
Forest Hartley lives in Hadley, New York, which is also where the annoying Mr. Little Fox lives. Leave a message to new_americangothic@yahoo.com.
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