Our Does and Farmers Market

We shall live in the shade of the
Graceful doe and, living there, shall be
Sustained. We shall walk through
Darkness by her light, with never-
Ending joy.
David Onkinerah - 16th century Salonika

Clara. We have her 2006 daughter June, 2008 granddaughter SweetPea, and 2009 great-grandaughter Gabbi.
I don't know who our herd queen is. If it's Clara, she's not very dominating.


Clara has a good udder.


Clara's 2009 daughter CoCo


Clara's 2009 daughter TootleLu

Caliente (not related to the others)

blue-eyed June, may be our herd queen, she's physically the largest, real serious about her food.

June's 2009 daughter Gypsy

June's 2008 daughter SweetPea

SweetPea's 2009 daughter Gabbi. SweetPea had a C-section and doesn't realize that she had a daughter. We bottle feed Gabbi. SweetPea actually had two daughters but one died just after birth.

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Some random photo's from today's High Country Farmers Market. We sold all our eggs again, been doing quite well.

Mango's don't grow up here but this couple has a farm in Florida and transports them here. These are 'Keitt' a Florida selection which has become one of the world’s most outstanding mangos. Excellent eating quality, disease resistance, productivity, and ripening time are some of the features of this four to five pound goliath.

The gal on the left, Holly, has been helping explain goat cheesemaking to me, has been a big help. I really enjoy our group of vendors.

The large item below is jackfruit - jackfruit is something of an acquired taste, but it is very popular in many parts of the world. The sweet yellow flesh around the seeds is about 3–5 mm thick and has a taste similar to that of pineapple, but milder and less juicy.

the goat is the cow of the poor

sums up our budget

Ironically, the poor man's cow produces some of the world's most expensive cheeses. Even in France, which produces more than two thirds of all the goat cheeses, they are generally regarded as luxury cheeses. Still, nowhere in the world are the prices of goat cheeses as high as they are in the United States.

On the farms, women made delicate fresh cheeses at home. Yet since such cheeses didn't transport well, they were eaten almost exclusively by the farmers, their family, and neighbors.

Our 7 Nigerian Dwarf Dairy boys below-

Buck MilkDud


Buckling Cahoot


Buckling Sundance with blue eyes


Buckling Deetz

Wether SugarPop

Wether Cubby

Wether Boones

faisselle

excerpt from Goat Song by Brad Kessler

I rolled one cake in chopped chives and the other in coarse-ground pepper. A fresh unsalted chevre curd, only hours after it has been drained, is called in France a faisselle after the cups it is drained in. A faiselle is not considered yet a cheese: it's more like a mascarpone but lighter, fresher, and more subtle. A faisselle sits in a cup surrounded by its own whey to keep it moist. You can do anything with it- eat it straight for dessert, mince chives or mint on it, serve it with fruit and berries. A true farmstead faisselle--made from raw milk, and only hours old--is difficult to find, even in small village markets in France. In North America, a faisselle simply can't be bought or sold, as its goats milk must UNpasterized.

The chevre was so delicious we closed our eyes when we ate it, something between solid and liquid, and as such--sublime.

new buck pasture

Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats

MilkDud is proud of his new home. He and 6 males have moved from the dog kennel over to a fenced, woodsy area.


Sundance is excited. They have lots of rock to jump on.


From their barn stall, they exit out the rear of the barn. Cahoot, Cubby, and Boones.


The plank leads out to the apple tree. Oh, they love the apple tree. Wethers - Boones and Cubby.

Cahoot, SugarPop, and Dud under a large poplar tree.

I finished reading
Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese by Brad Kessler
awesome. romanticised goat cheese.

Now I'm starting

My Small Country Living by Jeannine McMullen

in a daylily frame of mind

I didn't take any of the daylily photo's posted, found 'em on the internet. Plenty of daylilies blooming here and I so love seeing them around.

The word - tradegy - came from tragoidia - Greek for cry of the goat, the goat song. Three new things to read arrived in the mail today,
1) Book - Goat Song by Brad Kessler (got the above info from this book)
2) Book - Wind in the Ash Tree by Jeanine McMullen (see the goats on front)
3)Magazine - MaryJanesFarm (makin' hay issue)

We shall live in the shade of the

Graceful doe and, living here, shall be

Sustained. We shall walk through

Darkness by her light, with never-

ending joy.

David Onkinerah-16th century Salonika

I got a two new shirts today to add to my "wardrobe." I ordered them off the internet, I didn't make them, a couple of lifetimes ago I used to make tie-dyed shirts though.

July 4th enjoying the day and rememberin'

Everybody got to partake in the watermelon

While Mike was working on the barn today,

I was babysitting the bucks, and eating artichokes

Mama was from California, so that's how I got on to eating artichokes, Daddy's North Carolina family didn't eat no stinking artichokes. Anyway, some dip 'em in butter but Mama ate hers with mayonnaise. Mama and Daddy have passed but I was remembering them today. Daddy served in the Korean War and I'd hate for him to know that North Korea has been shooting missiles. Daddy was stationed in San Francisco for a while and that's how he and Mama met. I'd hate for Mama to know how much I spent for these artichokes.

What the ----? I want you to look, Gertie's in my mayonnaise.

We don't have the bucks pasture fenced yet so we let 'em run around sometimes, but they stay close by.

SugarPop, forget it, the mayonnaise is all gone.

Whoops, I better start focusing on my babysitting.

Get out of the trailer.

Ok good, back to picking.

I've got us some cake and ice cream for a goodie tonight, we'll watch a few fireworks on TV,

I've got a good book waitin' on me and nite, nite Mama and Daddy, so wish you were here.