Cheese-Making!

Join us for Radio's first ever cheese making class! Saturday, April 6, 3-5pm. Limited spots available. Email radioacresfarm@gmail.com to save yours.

"Udder"ly Ridiculous

People Often ask, "What's it like living on a farm?" First, I correct them that we are a small URBAN farm. There is no big red barn or tractor anywhere.  But then I answer, "living on a farm opens you to a myriad of experiences you would otherwise never even knew were possible."

For example, I have learned how to massage a turkeys swollen crop to help digest its food and keep it from fermenting.  This is a tricky process for one person and can result in putrid smelling turkey burps and vomit.

I have learned 10 different ways to kill a chicken, skin a rabbit, dispose of a dead gopher, and bury a goat.  I've kept chickens in large tupperware bins in my basement and had ducklings swim in my bathtub.

But this evenings task tops the list of absolutely weirdest farm tasks:  Shaving our dairy goats udders.   To those of you wondering, Yes, I did use my own razor; and those Mach 3 blades didn't work so well either.

As I sat lathering Beverly's teets up with my Burt's Beeswax shave cream, I furtively glanced around to make sure our neighbors weren't peering through their window curtains at me.  As I jogged back into the house to grab some scissors I contemplated the fact when most people drink milk, they probably never think about how udders are inherently hairy and that hair needs to get shaved off, or strained out before it makes it to your glass.

I was finally prompted to undertake this task because I was tired of fishing out goat hairs from my cereal bowl.  Make no mistake, we do strain our milk through some pretty spiffy filters before it goes in the fridge, but every once and a while one still gets through.

So...Beverly is a "brand new" goat and ready for some hair-free milking, and I am left with a ruined razor and a slightly abashed feeling I can't quite shake.

Goat Eggs

Eggs have been disappearing at an alarming rate.  We used to get 10-12 a day. Now its down to Zero.  It started in May, oddly enough, this was also when we added some more members to our farm.  Snakes? Rats? Now we know. 

Up and Coming Projects

bees. 

meat birds.

goats.

 trailer.

(*picture courtesy of el cosmico, our inspiration.)

stay tuned.

Goats?

I know my last post was all about not having enough time.  I know that all of these projects and animals DEMAND time.  I know we are all crazy, insanely busy and probably sometimes feel like we are barely keeping it together.  But, damn, we found the best deal on a set-up for goats on craigslist!  Of course it includes 3 of your very own goats to go with it.  The timing may be less-than-perfect, but I know that goats are somewhere on the radar for all of us.  Damn Sarah for sending me that listing!  I called the goat lady (Alicia) and the deal really does sound almost too good for us to pass up.  She bought goats about 6 months ago with big aspirations to have small scale milk production for her family.  It's a mama goat, a 7 month old baby girl and a 7 month old boy (not from the same litter, perfect for breeding in February).  She has the kennel (coyote proof), the milk stand, a hand milker (if you don't want to use your own hands) and a months worth of food, water and feed buckets all included.  Turns out that she DOESN'T own the property and her land lord isn't too keen on her having the goats.  There's not a proper fence there and it's been a struggle since the beginning.  Could her loss be our gain?  What do you think?  Are we ready for goats?  Of course the answer is "NO", but we weren't ready to sell our house or get the chickens, either.  That all turned out okay... didn't it?  We go to check them out on Sunday.  What do you think?

Pros:
1. We want them
2. Fresh milk for most of the year
3. We can make our own cheese
4. It's a fantastic deal.  It's probably 40%-50% off what we would pay getting everything seperately.
5. They EAT WEEDS!

Cons:
1. We don't have a proper fence
2. We barely have time to shower and brush our teeth
3. Our neighbors are tough to gauge - will they be upset?
4. We would really need to find a way to protect our fruit trees and garden beds.  Is it bad to tether a goat?
5. I'd never hear the end of it from Jeremy.