Holy Goat We Have A Lot of Milk!

This morning I was on both feeding and milking. In an attempt to get most of the animals fed before milking I was working by 6:30. Really nice to have the farm to myself and the animals were slightly calmer so it was nice. I managed to get everyone but the bucks and the dogs fed before the milkers were ready. Abbey was a bit upset with me, especially because I had to yell at her a few times in addition to not feeding her in a timely manner. We have another dog visiting and because of that Abbey and Princess are riled up. Abbey was all full of herself, chasing the goats back into their pens when I was trying to shepherd them out and flying over the puppies door, knocking me over and my glasses off, in an attempt to get their food. Sometimes she's a great mother... Despite her antics she acted supremely hurt when I reprimanded her. Oh well, I can't be a favorite all the time.

They've gotten to the point where they play a lot more and will even follow you around. Cute until they decide to follow you when trying to herd the teens out to pasture. I (slow moving) goat stampede is no place for a puppy.

Milking got off to a rocky start. Our two newest milkers are still terribly upset when they are milked. Both need to be held tightly so they don't run away. Dallas is getting better but Charm is still traumatized. I have to hold her up in the air to get her not to move and the whole time she bellows as if the world is ending. At least this time she didn't lay down and refuse to get up after or hide in a corner of the pen when put back with the others. The rest went better at least.

What a stud. The ladies (or at least the ones outside the fence) are lined up for him. Now if only the ones in the breeding pen with him weren't terrified and desperate to escape.

Not sure if this is super lazy or a tactic to avoid the buck.

Thanks to my early start I was pretty much done by lunch. Currently we have a surplus of milk that is almost to it's sell by day or just past it. We won't sell that milk but something needs to be done with it so I am trying to use it in as many ways as possible. Today I started 2 cheeses, a Cherve and Feta, and yogurt. All need to sit for a while before they're ready so I'm not yet sure how they will turn out. I used 3 gallons of milk for all of that, but we have much more to use. Not sure if anyone else will use substantial quantities so I think I'll continue to tackle our milk surplus tomorrow. So far ice cream is on the list, but I'm not sure what else. There's only so much fresh cheese we can eat and the hard cheeses are pretty involved. Eventually I want to get to that point, but I'm nowhere close yet.

During my cheese making I noticed a rather large puddle on the floor. I cleaned it up once but it reappeared. After some investigative work I saw that one of the pipes had become disconnected. After some maneuvering and force I was able to reattach the pipe. My first attempt at plumbing fixes, though extremely, extremely simple, was a success. Quite proud of myself for even giving it a try. Next up - electrical! Just kidding...

In between coagulating periods for the cheese and my amateur plumbing, I've gotten a lot of reading in. There's a small (~30) book library in the lounge of goat, farming, urban farming, and dairy related cookbooks that I've started to work my way through. So far I've read Goat School - a small manual for those looking to be first time goat owners, and The Year of the Goat, which is a narrative. The author and her husband realize that living in Manhattan is no longer what they want to do and in the search for a different pace of life they hit upon the idea of goat farming. For the next year they travel the country, visiting different farms, cheesemakers, auction houses, and general goat related events. I never realized how extensive the goat world is (pack goats! national conferences!). If you want to know more about people and their goats, this is a cute story with some interesting information. I've moved on to the Omnivore's Dilemma (not sure how I haven't read this before), taking a close look at the American food system. It's a great book to read here since I have access to so much fresh, nutritious food. Otherwise I might have a problem. So far I'm getting the impression that it's a hard book to read and at least not think twice about how we eat.

Great Use of a Rainy Day

Had the day off today due to some switching with the schedule. When I woke up to rain I was a little disappointed since I wouldn't be going on a hike with a 100% chance of rain for the day. (As I was told later though, if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes - and change it did, constantly). I spent the morning with some of the animals. Abbey got a walk and Princess, again refusing a walk, got a long petting session. JuJu was still upset from being separated from her mother so I sat with her for a while too. Got a goat massage by her climbing on my back. It's actually pretty nice. And then she curled up on my lap for a while. I felt bad leaving her but it started to rain and I figured she should get used to spending time with her penmates, Arlin and Amarillo.

Checking to see if the rain stopped

Arlin, Amarillo, and JuJu

First voyage into the long grass

Spent some time searching for things to do and came upon Woodenville, a town 30 minutes north of Seattle that had a lot of wineries and tasting rooms as well as a small distillery. It took about an hour and a half to get there, which wasn't too bad. My first stop was the Woodenville Whiskey Co. They had free tastings so I got to try their whiskey, bourbon, and vodka. All were amazing, nice and smooth. The vodka was the most unique- it had a butterscotch scent and a subtle vanilla flavor. You could actually sip it straight and it was still fantastic.

It was cool to go to a small distillery. Funny being the only girl having a tasting.

Some excellent vodka.

From there I kept driving and stopped at an area with a few tasting rooms. I scouted them out and picked one to try, Goose Ridge Winery. The tasting wasn't free at this one, but if you bought a bottle of wine they waived the fee. I tried a couple nice, refreshing whites. The reds were more unique. I started with a blend and then ended with one they aged for an extra year. It was neat to try a few different ones since I still don't know what kind of reds I like. So far the blends are winning out.

On my driving I happened to see that Red Hook Brewery was also in town. I had heard of it before because they make a good gluten free beer (something that's not easy to do) and one of the girls had just gotten some of their IPA. I stopped by and decided to take the tour. While waiting I called Chris who informed me that I had to find a way to try the Chive beer. So with a mission in mind I headed in for the tour. Turns out it wasn't so much of a tour as trying out their beers and hearing about their beers and company. It was entertaining and the beers were great so I'd recommend it despite the fact that you don't learn much about the beer making process or get to see much. They give you 5 oz of 5 different types of beer. For $1, it wasn't a bad deal. Plus you get to keep the small glass. The Chive beer ended up being part of the tasting - a dark rich beer with a ton of flavor. Chris would have loved it. Unfortunately they only sell it at that particular location and in growlers. Not the best for transporting long distances after many months. After the tour I stuck around for dinner at their brew pub (even though the tour is only $1 I think they make up for it by catching people with how much beer they give them). The food was good, but not as good as the beer. On my way out I got a growler of the Chive beer and some of their pumpkin porter, which I was really impressed with. Even liked it (almost) as much as Wyerbacher so I was pleasantly surprised with it. All in all a great day out (though that will be the end of my days out with a price tag).

Mountains of Poop

Yesterday I got back into the swing of things with milking, gardening, and taking care of the dogs (Princess was even worse on the walks). Nothing too out of the ordinary until dinner. Instead of regular farm dinner the interns were treated to Indian food at a restaurant nearby. There was so much food it barely fit on both tables! All of it was amazing. We all ate as much as we could but there were still tons of leftovers to take home.

Woke up to pouring rain around 6 this morning and power that was flickering on and off. Luckily it stayed on after a little while. It's nice being up so early and having the farm to myself for a little while. The mist lifts off the mountain and the sun starts shining in, helping to get all the animals going for the day. This morning I was on feeding and somehow it took me four hours, about double what it should have. Part of the problem was the teens didn't want to go out to their normal pen (it had recently rained) and Princess was being even more stubborn and depressed. If you got her and Mia together the two could be quite the pair.

When the dog's away the goats will play

Forget the walk, just pet me

I did manage to get all of the milkers and babies fed at the right time. Everyone else just took a little longer. The babies were cute as usual, they love being held while you feed them. Unfortunately only 4 in the main pen are still in bottles so you just have to throw the others back in. Two are still in quarantine, but they're looking pretty healthy. The newest babies were just added to the feeding list. I was a little confused since they're still with their mothers, but I decided to give it a try anyway. Arlen and Amarillo were ok when I picked them up, but weren't hungry at all. Neither was JuJu and she just wanted to run around. Her new favorite thing is trying to jump on her mom's back. When I knelt down to play with the other two she did this to me! Definitely surprised to suddenly have a goat on my back! She wouldn't get off until I gently stood up and she slid down. Finally got everyone fed, watered, and walked. When I was done I walked back through the main yard and heard nothing, no dogs barking, puppies yelping, or kids bleating. Complete silence telling me everyone was feed and happy.

Feeding time for the puppies. They just started getting puppy food yesterday

Had enough time for lunch and then it was time for mucking the milker's stall. They get cleaned out about once a month and it is a long, gross smelling process. Literally had mountains of poop both in the huge container to be taken away and a very large pile in the yard (that will then have to be put into the container when it it returned). We all worked together though and finished it in about 3 hours. I think the girls will be very happy with it. Off tomorrow, have to figure out something good to do.

Plan C

Day two of my weekend (Sunday and Monday) started off the same as Sunday - walking Abbey and Princess. A slightly longer walk this time, but not even 10 minutes. Because of the short walk I wanted to take Abbey on a longer one after breakfast. It was only going to be her, but Princess looked so sad I decided to take her too. Her stubbornness made it a bit more frustrating of a walk. We went across the street to the pasture where the grass is longer and they don't get to go to often. It went well until we saw snake number two and I decided to keep them out of the longer grass to avoid more. This quickly brought the walk to a halt. Princess laid down and refused to get up. Eventually I did get her back to the house where she laid back down in the driveway. If only she wasn't so large it wouldn't be such a problem. I think I'll have to keep Princess in the pens until she learns to listen a little better.

She thought this was the end of the walk. Not quite

This afternoon I tried to go to Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. That was a complete fail. My phone gps to me to a random back road that ended next to a barb wire fence with the Nisqually NWR sign. Great. To make matters better I then saw that it was actually closed on Mondays. I was determined not to let the day go to waste. Plan B was Gifford Pinchot National Forest. That didn't happen either. Plan C did work - Mt Saint Helens. Though following the trend of the day that wasn't as easy as I first thought it would be. I got to the visitor center in just over an hour (making it a 2 hour trip so far) where I was told that the good hikes were a further 45 miles. Awesome. I decided the nearly hour long dry was still worth it considering I had gotten that far. I'm so glad I did. The views to the hike were beautiful - forest covered hills, eroded ridgelines, and of course Mt Saint Helens. There were clouds surrounding it on the drive in so I wasn't able to see much.

The hike I took was a loop trail that went through small stand of trees, around ponds, and near the Toutle River. I couldn't believe the views I got when I came up a hill. The whole landscape had been altered by volcanic eruptions, producing hummocks that were now largely covered by trees. The river caused the rest of the features - eroded banks and large cobbles on the floodplain. All of this was dominated by Mt Saint Helens. Thanks to my half hearted planning and determination to make something of the day I saw some of the most stunning views on my adventure so far.

Out of the RV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After a very quick week I had my first two days off. Since two of the wwoofers just left I now get to walk Princess and Abbey in the mornings so that was the start of my day. Abbey is great and will follow where ever you go, but Princess likes to pick her own path; often that means sitting by a nice big pile of poop. Fun. They're both really good dogs though and it's generally fun to walk them. Next up a great breakfast of a zucchini omelet - fresh eggs, homemade cheese (my cheese actually worked!), and zucchini from the garden. I could really get used to this. There was a sign on the door informing everyone of a trip to Boxcar Canyon in the afternoon so I decided to stick around the farm till then.

Queso Fresco

Boxcar is a local swimming hole that I guess is fairly popular. It's by old railroad tracks and, as the name implies, there's a steep canyon with a river flowing through it. Our hike took us down the slope to the river and then along/in the river until we made it to a swimming area. It rained on and off for the entire hike, making the rocks slick and difficult to tread across. But we persevered and saw some great views. The most difficult part was climbing up a narrow chute with few hand/foot holds. The dog who came with us really had to be convinced that yes, this was the best way to go. He was doing great for the whole hike until that point. Eventually he made it up and was back to his ecstatic self after that. While one of the girls will probably never do that hike again, most of us are planning on heading back.

When we got back I found out I could move out of the RV and into the newly opened cabin. I couldn't be more excited!!!!!!! It's got a lot of space and there's a loft bed which I really like. It's even a full size! It's amazing how much of a difference getting out of the dingy RV with a door that doesn't close, a cat the tries to wander in, and a puddle that mysteriously appears and disappears can make. It's the most space to myself I've had since going to college. Right now the bottom is just open, but I think there will be furniture for it soon. Pictures to come.

Curds n Whey

Much smoother day today. No rebellious animals (or no more so than expected) and none where they shouldn't have been. Morning milking again, definitely liking it more and more. I'm even getting to recognize the goats. Though oddly sometimes it's by their udder... They're surprisingly different in that way. The milkers (and all goats for that matter) have a hierarchy. Mary, a first freshener (first time mom) was just introduced into the milker herd. She had been with the teens and other new moms, but she was being overly aggressive with them. Now she's at the bottom of the herd. The other goats have been harassing her and putting her in her place. She was having so much trouble that she was put back with the other first freshers but she soon was bullying them again. Back to the milker herd for her. She's been pretty sad and isolated, but I guess they're supposed to incorporate her into the hierarchy soon

Mary's having a hard time

More chores this afternoon. Cleaned lots of water bowls and pens. Goats are really clean animals. They need super clean water or they won't drink it and they love clean stalls. When I let the preteens back into their house they were so excited by all the clean things and dove right into the water and minerals.

Very happy with their clean house

This little one has trouble competing with the other preteens for food, so we have to throw alfalfa into the yard

The new chicks hanging out in the baby pen

This afternoon marked my first adventure in cheese making - goat Queso Fresco. It's easy to make but it does take some different ingredients like rennet, which I think is a culture. It was basically 4 steps - heating the milk, adding the other ingredients, cutting the curds, and then putting it in the press. So far it's gone smoothly. Now it's sitting in the press for six hours. Time will tell if the curds (minus the whey) will turn into actual cheese. If this goes well (or I guess even if it doesn't) I'll have to try some more types.

Cutting the curds in the whey

The cheese press - still have to figure out how this thing works. All I know is to set the pressure and it does it's thing.

Finished my first week and tomorrow is my first day off. I'm sure I'll still go see all the animals.

Breeding Season

Well it's breeding season here and things are getting weird. The bucks will spit on the females so with three breeding pens spread throughout the farm, there's spitting going on everywhere. Not only do they spit on the ones in the breeding pens, but then others will come rub up on the fence and then they get spit on. And I guess things are only going to get more strange.

Spitting bucks aside, it was an eventful morning. On my way to breakfast I stopped and saw the brand new babies, who filled out a lot overnight. Then I opened the barn door to pass through and was greeted by a barn full of goats. It took me a minute to figure out if they were supposed to be there, I didn't think so but I am far from knowing how everything works here. As soon as I saw them gorging themselves on the feed I knew they were in the wrong place. So at 6:15 in the morning I had to pull all of the very reluctant teens back into their pen (after escorting a puppy and momma out). That wasn't the end of the episode of course. The barn needed to be swept and more feed thrown down from the loft.

Managed to squeeze in breakfast then time for the morning feed. Everything was going ok until it was time to feed one of the breeding pens. These goats were put in with the female alpacas and it seems there was a territorial dispute. The alpacas were staring down the goats, guarding the feed stall. In an effort to separate them I threw the feed into the other side of the pen, but then the alpacas stalked over there and the goats were left with nothing again. Locked the alpacas out and then was finally able to feed the goats. Seemed a lot more complicated than it needed to be. The rest of the feeding and the day's chores went smoothly though. Spent a lot of time with the puppies this afternoon, always a good way to end the work day.

I learned how to make chevre cheese tonight. One of the girls showed me and it really doesn't seem that hard (famous last words). She also told me about all of the different herbs and fruits she's added to make different flavors. Now I just need to give it a go once this cheese gets used up. Ali should be happy once I really get it down.