GOODNESS!GRACIOUS ACRES

Times are changing.

2025-03-08T18:18:00.002-05:00

I'm paring down. and going to focus on the milk supply and making kefir for anyone that wants it. I used to make all kinds of things. panir, feta, mozarella, sell butter and cream, Ice cream and even art. I will still have eggs available. More in the coming months. But the focus is MILK.

5 girls have kidded. :) 3 of those are producing amazing quality milk. The other two i'm holding on to or using for home use only.

I have a few openings for regular milk customers, If interested send me an email. And as always i will ask you to put down in writing you understand the laws of Florida regarding the sale of raw milk.

- not for human consumption -

There are kids for sale. Mostly males. They will be disbudded and vaccinated.

on being a dairy goat farmer

2025-03-07T22:41:00.001-05:00

Kidding season is in full swing here. Not something you can breeze thru easily. I kept thinking today, why? do i do this? lol.. I love it. The passion for all this work is there. Sitting in the kid pen after they've all eaten and are getting to that stage where they are bouncing around like beach balls. That's just fun. But the hard work is never ending. And i don't think people realize how much work goes into all this.

It seems it is a never ending cycle of washing bottles, milk bottles, milk jars, buckets and so on. Just when i think i washed them all i realize there are few more in the fridge i need to toss and wash. When you are getting a lot of milk a day waste does happen. Make cheese? of course, between when and when? :)

The constant cleaning. The milk room, the stand, the goats, the stalls, the kids. Everything is in a cycle of disarray. Clean the stalls. Clean the hay room. Clean water buckets. and so on. that is everyday work on top of now goats giving birth. and now twice daily milkings.

Today was a particularly hectic day when a goat kids. You really can't plan for it. While you might know that goat is going to kid today or tomorrow you just don't know exactly when.

Serendipity kidded out right at 4 pm. This is the normal time i bring the girls in to milk. And then after bring the kids bottles. Yikes. I had to sit down and plan out my attack - it was all happening at once. Who do you take care of first? Existing goats ? newborns? momma that just kidded ? or babies that need their bottles. I literally came in the house after grabbing the two newborns (put them in the stall) and sat down. what comes first? It sort of puts you into this daze of so much to do you do nothing...

Serendipity seemed fine. but needs to pass that placenta. I don't want that on my stand or in my milk room. We let her be... The newborns they weren't standing yet. but content. No crying or adverse signs of distress. I let them be for a bit as well. I know some say you MUST feed colostrum within first hour. I say not really - you have hours before that window closes. What next ?

Existing milkers were SCREAMING to be milked. That in itself is enough to put everything else on hold and get them settled. Luckily, they're in a good place and stand at the door to be milked. I bring Jasmine in first. She is a bit of a bully. Ok, let's face it she is an ass. .. so in she comes. Gallon easy today after i've milked her twice today. i Realized i'm out of metal containers for new milk. Crap. Now i'm moving milk to jars for customers, moving milk to plastic for me. Made room for the new milk and we continue....

Then comes psycho and abbey my two first fresheners and they're slowly getting the drill... I don't have to chase them across two paddocks to catch them. They know now yummy food awaits beyond that door. A blessing it's not a rodeo the first two weeks i was milking them. Wait? what? i check calendar. Wow. It's almost a month i've been milking those two. Where did that time go?

They're all milked. Lets check on new mom.. she is now ready for her first milking. Because she is an old hat at this, i didn't even need to coerce in to the milk room or even on the stand. So happy for that.

First thing is clean that udder. Its a mess. You've got all kinds of bloody mess on there and it all needs to be pristine to milk. I would say this is a 10 minute ordeal. She milks out but not good. Tastes a bit salty still -- I've been treating her for that since her last milking months ago. So glad i milked her last. This way the milk gets tossed. and bucket is ready to be cleaned. She is still eating. I treat again. and i give a bit of meds since she isn't uber bouncy. Granted she just gave birth but you just know when they are a bit off. She seemed just a tad worn out more so then normal. The younger ones heck they might drop their kids, and then run to the hay bin not ten minutes later. It's one of those things you learned to discern when its help time. Or when it leave them be.

What did i forget? Oh the newborns. I need to make some colostrum from a bag. Meanwhile, friend shows up to help me feed the bigger kids. So happy for this help. By the time i've made the bottles for the newborns she is almost done feeding the piranhas. yes, at this point they are just that. Just point a bottle at them and they'll suck it down in nothing flat.

I feed the newborns. But not without some trouble. Neither want to latch on. And you have to sort of trick them into this. With patience doable. Who has patience at this point. :)

So you sit. and wait. And try again. And sit and wait and try again. Sooner or later they figure it out. They each get 8 oz and wow. we're done...

Not so fast. The bottles need to be cleaned. I need coffee. and food. I eat a few slabs of cheese and keep going. I go into milk room and remove the feed. (must hide from chickens). Clean the stand. Hose the floor. Realize i need to make room in fridge. Again. I sit and pause. What else? Spray down the table. Come in house. Pour coffee. Sit down to write this. Till i hear babies cry. OH NO! not another one kidding ... are you kidding me?

So from start of the moment i saw the newborns today and documenting all this, it's been about 5 hours. Granted, because i'm a bit older i don't rush thru things. I will sit and stop and take a breath. And guess what? It's time to feed the newborns again.

Like i mentioned above ... this isn't for the faint of heart. and the passion needs to be there. And like i told a friend of mine, what else should i be doing ? sitting on the computer and scrolling thru Facebook?

Today was definitely a long day. So glad tomorrow is Saturday. With nothing planned. I think.

Happy 2025 update

2025-02-17T22:09:00.003-05:00

THE GOATS

Things are starting to look up on the farm front. Keeps my mind off the rest of the country problems.

2020 i was sick. and it lasted years, and still remnants of it today. It doesn't help that *gasp* i'm turning 60 this year. So, I honestly, have no idea what is age related vs. covid relate. 60 ... How did that happen? And true to that - things are a bit slower and not as much gets done in the time frame it used to.

Two goats just kidded. and they were a handful. They were both born in 2021-2022 time frame and dam raised. (raised by their moms). During that time frame i was barely keeping myself alive - not enough time and energy to have consistent hands on with the goat kids that were born that year. And wow. Never again will I dam raise. These two are slowly coming around but, not before they try to kill me.

Both of them have collars and long leads on right now -- to catch. And even one has a broken leg and still a fighter. Once on the stand they are champs. They tuck in and let me milk them effortlessly ... but getting them on that stand....nightmare. I suspect it will become easier the more we do it.

They used to run when i got too close. Now with some TLC i can pet and massage with out a rodeo ensuing. One of them even came up to me today for a pet. nice!

Winston my little Nigerian Dwarf bred them. So the babies are tiny. So cute. So not what i want to continue the herd genetics. I hope he didn't get the others still bred.

5 of them. 5 more to kid soon. Not too soon. Next week would be good. This gives me time to settle these two. Get the milk supply up and running. and get everything organized again. The others have no issues. all wonderful milkers. Old hats.

It is taking about 2 hours in the morning. and 2 in the evening for the milking and feeding of babies. Everything has to be just right. Feed in the bucket stand. Milk pails clean and sanitized. the milk room clean and while the actual milking part only takes minutes. The prep always takes longer. I'm down two fridges. I got rid of them during the pandemic. I see now i might need them again. We'll see.

The babies. How sweet. I've never kidded out such small kids before. But already turning into mini piranhas only after 4 days.

THE CHICKENS

The best part of this life is the ability to have all these farm animals. And the chickens need so little care and they're thriving. I took in 12 a couple years ago and they're laying great. But, it is time for a new delivery of some chicks and will be ordering from McMurray soon.

Right now as the stores are limiting egg quantity purchases, i foresee it not getting better any time soon. Getting an order in now will have laying hens in about 4-5 months. And will be in full swing with milking the girls and having eggs as well.

As Always, I write to remind myself what i'm doing. and the ability to look back on all this..

Gotta #lovefarmlife

20 years... Things are a changing. Not for the better.

2024-11-02T14:35:00.004-04:00

The girls lounging in the sunlight in grass/weed/mint that they can't eat.
It blew in from neighboring yards that use landscape services that
don't realize that what is on their blades from

another location is bringing these weed seeds in.

I thought i better update on all things farming.

I have been living here in S. FLorida in Loxahatchee for over 20 years now. I remember when i started this blog over 15 years ago and never thought i would still be here... doing what i love. But here I am.

But things change. The more I stay the same, the more everything around me doesn't. And there is no amount of trying to keep it - as it was. I've tried... on the environment. On the land. On the rural nature of us. On the customer and client. On the livestock. Things just change. And for someone that doesn't like change much, it does add a layer of frustration in every day life.

I don't know if I don't like change or is it the learning curve to keep adjusting. And that is with everything. Farming yes, but even daily life and design things. Keeping up is timely. And it seems like things change faster then in past. Just as i'm learning more about some software and a new update comes in- with more changes to learn about.

I'm still here. Still a staple in the community for all things rural. It just gets more and more difficult.

Friends i've known for 15-20 years are moving out. Leaving any equity they've created in the area. It's too expensive. Too crowded. Too.... urban. and those moving in are nothing like what is leaving. Expectations of urban life they left, keep slipping in... They don't even realize the damage they do.

The area is becoming more urban/ suburban... People moving out here haven't a clue what this area is meant to be. What is should be. What is only a very few areas left in Florida like this...

The road is now paved (milled). All the empty lots are now homes. Many of which are filled with urban dwellers that don't care how to keep us rural. They want their services. And this area is not meant for them. They complain about taxes vs. services. but forget they are paying for premium of an acre of land.

We are AR /RSA- Rural service area. and i loved that. But that meant dirt roads. 10 miles to the nearest shopping plaza. 5 miles to the nearest gas station. Dirt roads and goats and pigs as neighbors. And crowing roosters. lots of them. Street lights are going up at every turn. Roads widening. Even the night sky is changing. Light pollution. These types don't like the dark! Why is that? How rare to be able to see the stars at night. That's now changing as well.

The cost of living has increased so much that the Property appraiser, it seems doesn't even want to give (and seem to be pulling) AG classifications on less then 2-4 acres. why? I'm not quite sure. The math doesn't add up? more hobbyist then commercial? For me, living here so long, does make it worthwhile, because i'm locked into that 3% cap every year. But the minute i want to improve on the property? that will change. The AG classification also helps. That could change. Improving the property here is not going to happen because it will increase taxes. And right now, mine are looking pretty good comparatively to newly purchased homes. Ridiculous in differences.

The cost of feed and hay is becoming burdensome. The cost is 4 times even 5 times when i first started. $9-10 for a bag of layer feed 20 years back. Cheapest i find now is $22-29 and that isn't even the designer feeds. Hay was around $12-20 for a 50-100# bale. Now its $25-$50 so thats $25 per 50# of hay. and the prices keep going up. Peanut hay is around $20 bale for 40lbs of it. small flakes. so, i still need to feed double i used to.

Bonzai out in the middle of the day to do his patrolling. They both are
in the house now more then ever because of the lack of knowledge
of neighbors and what an LGD is supposed to do.

Anything delivered South of Lake Okeechobee and we get slammed with increased fuel costs. Time it takes to travel to S. Florida.

What prompted me to write this today.. Some lady on FB was complaining on the cost of raw dairy - goat or cow - This isn't a state where land isn't a premium. Where the footprint of the state isn't like traveling 3-4 states. Where the economy is not high. home values might have skyrocketed around the country. But is it $250,000 for an acre of land ? as that is the going price in my county for ONE undisturbed acre out here. Of course price increases closer to the Ocean.

Staying put... essentially has saved me in some ways. Thinking of starting over in another part of the state? or in another state is daunting. I'll be turning 60 this year. Things are supposed to get easier. Not where i am always (it seems) chasing my tail to keep up.

Essentially, we lost this fight. The fight to keep the area RURAL. The last 5 years we've been fighting to keep us unincorporated. There is unending traffic out here. Arden/ Westlake/ Avenir... They are all filling up with homes. Urban stack'em and pack'em homes. HOA's and the people that love to live in them. Sometimes that population is trickling into our area... why? well when you see a home for $700k even if it is new, and then you see something cheaper with an acre of land surrounding... what would you do ?

Even the statutes are starting to block us in. If this area ever incorporated? There is a new Statute that essentially blocks incorporated areas from the ability to use the 'Right to Farm' act. and a few other statutes become null after incorporating.

Back to that lady complaining. Yikes. Cost of milk - the real cost of milk isn't just in the bag of feed you feed. or hay you feed. Its EVERYTHING> the cost of gas. The taxes we pay. Vet bills. Increases in utility bills. Cost and value of services we need. I remember an entire acre of fencing was no more then $1-2k... People are getting quotes minimum $10k for an acre of fenced land. Last year someone estimated 90ft for $1500 and that didn't include the posts. i already have them. of course, he was trying to add ft to the estimate as well. Not honest. Not having it.

so am I - In it for the long haul? Until I can't haul any more. Or i get pushed out. Which it seems is beneficial for the county. Why have an acre or more of land paying only 1/10 of what they can get in today's home value.

It's been awhile since i posted something on this blog, because it seemed i had said everything useful.. I guess i have a new topic.

I'm still here... For now...

Sweet Pea meandering around the yard.

My dog is special....

2023-03-19T08:51:00.001-04:00

"My Dog is Special. My dog would never hurt them. My dog is so sweet. My dogs are too small to do any damage."

Comments I hear constantly. Things that are said by owners-new to goats, and even some not so new to goats.

Comments that make me consider not selling to people that have not done their due diligence. And/ or, only have read a few posts on some random goat group, 90% of which themselves are new to goats, but parrot things they hear from others. They take these comments as expert advice. Every goat group I'm in has that 'expert' when digging a bit further hasn't been in goats very long.

Yes, of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.

Yes, possibly, your dog might be 'special'.

But, when its mentioned you need to create separate living spaces for your goats, and where your dogs can not get into, this isn't just random chatter. This is based on fact.

Dogs are PREDATORS.

Goats are PREY.

Do you really want to take that chance - one day - in 'play' your dog gets your goat, and then a vet visit is needed. Or worse, dead goat.

Goats run. and jump, and are skittish. They make a dog's natural instincts come out. To chase. A chase that might look like play, that turns into 'catch', and bites happen. And, if you have more then one dog, pack mentality comes into play. I have had my 'pack' (in the past before LGD's) ignore any training they might have had. Ignore me. Ignore a shovel. Ignore a hose on them. Literally, their brain is ancestral, they pack and can kill your goats.

Dog bites are nasty. Inevitably, a puncture wound is always missed. and a festering wound is deadly to a goat. Stitches. Antibiotics. Followup Vet care. All these things cost money. Time. Pain. The fact that these are all a given, on top of possibly a dead goat, do you really want to take that chance?

I see this scenario all the time. I saw my share of goats dieing, or seriously injured at the vet office (when i worked at a vet office). And guess what the owners still insist? i don't know what happened, MY DOG is so sweet.

Goats that are on hind legs, head butting your dog (or you), is NOT playing. This is not play behavior - its dominance behavior. When you see your goats doing this? this isn't cute. It's not play. and it will incite the dog. If you have a smaller breed dog and full size goat, then the opposite can also happen. One good pummel by your goat and they can break your rib, or a dogs rib. I remember a friend broke her knee, her cute little buck was 'play' ramming and she got in the way.

But in the end it's your decision. It's your decision to not listen to sound advice, or to err on the side of caution. To never let your dogs in with the goats, and if you do, only supervised, on leash.

Mini Nubians? hmmm....

2022-10-19T00:18:00.001-04:00

What is a mini Nubian? Simply, the purebred nubian bred to a nigerian dwarf. In this instance, male nigerian dwarf had his way with one of my purebred Nubian does. Out comes these adorable little gremlins. Ears double size. and not upright because of the weight and length of the ear - becomes airplane ears.

This photo makes me laugh out loud. What am I doing, yet again, with a single goat kid in the house. And she is from a Nigerian Dwarf male and a purebred Nubian. She came out with two males. one was dead on arrival. One died a couple days later. She on the other hand came out healthy and at 5 days old, a little terror. My mini mountain goat.

I've never wanted to delve into the mini's. Never had any interest in making a smaller goat that makes less milk. Seems the universe is thinking otherwise. We shall see what is going to happen. I want to say i'm going to call her daisy but i usually don't name them for a few weeks. .We shall see. .

Goats. Goats. And more Goats.

2021-11-30T10:57:00.007-05:00

What a challenging year I have had. But the one thing that keeps me going is babies. lots and lots of babies. Being back in milk is such a calming enterprise. It creates discipline. Time to milk. Time to feed. Time to feed kids. If not feeling well (which at times is the case right now with me) it forces me to work thru it. The animals don't care if you don't feel well. They don't care if you need a nap. They don't care its a holiday.

The best part of course are the kids being born. And while it is a bunch of work, its the best kind of work. I raise them in the office with me for a few weeks. After disbudding and vaccinating I set them up outside in one of the stalls to grow and have more room to be.

Simplicity gave me a whopper male just last week. And Fern, my oldest doe here, gave me two simply gorgeous females. I will keep. And raise. They are the last out of my Delilah. The goat that started it all.

This is the whoper male i'm calling him Moose. He came out at 12 lbs. a single male. His dam is offering up over a gallon a day.

This is one of my new females. She is precious. Typical mottled ears. Her sister is all brown with brown ears. Just adorable. Can't wait to see them grow. Fern is older and this will likely be her last birth. I'm so lucky she gave me two females...

Kids. Kids. Kids.... and broken fences....

2021-07-01T19:16:00.004-04:00

I'm sitting here trying to remember some details.. Last December 2020 we started to kid. Dec. 25th to be more exact... Then in January 2021 we had a few more. I have to check my notes because the difficulty to remember is huge right now. I hope it comes back.

Giving birth is usually such a whirlwind of excitement around here. Getting the stalls ready. Cleaning them. Bedding them. Getting the molasses and the towels put in place. Making sure i have all the things needed in case of a problem... This year not so much. I'm tired. Sick. In pain alot. Still dealing with symptoms of Covid and it's long haul status. Luckily, 2 does kidded out easily. I walked outside and voila babies on the ground. And so thankful for it. Had zero strength and constantly dizzy...

Fern started to give birth and all that changed. It was about an hour of me trying to untangle kids. Adrenaline rushing i realized later I was going to be down for days afterwards... Nothing I was doing was working. I needed brute force at this point. to save Fern. I knew the kids were likely dead already. Luck would have it a friend was coming over. I got her involved in pulling out what we knew were already deceased kids. When kids are alive they do help in the process of birthing. Their heads don't waggle all over the place. You can put your finger in their mouths and feel the tongue move. You can re-arrange them still inside and their heads won't wobble back. Or their feet won't disappear again... But with this birth they were tangled, and likely dead a day or two. It was very upsetting Fern is 10 years old this year. I wanted this to be her last kidding. And based on the difficulty it will be. It was in my opinion one of my more terrible births. I am convinced the kids were dead prior to her first push. But still doesn't take that sting away. I think she might have been head butted by one of the others a few days before.

This picture popped up on my memories in FB. 11 years ago.
My friend Liz is holding Fern as a baby.

All in all a somewhat uneventful birthing. 3 goats. 6 doelings (2 that died). 1 buckling. I weaned them uneventfully. One died from unknown reasons. One sold. 3 of them are still here. Today, they are hitting 7 months old. Healthy and doing well.

This would normally be the end of the 'birthing season post' ... ha.... in typical farming fashion... the unexpected happened... and yes, being ill is a part of it.. Charles my buck decided he was going to break thru a few fences back in February. While i tried to contain. And fix. I was no match for him this year. Especially back then... The fencing is far too old and he is far too big and...

Part two of birthing commences... Carolina gave birth to again 2 healthy doelings. And Wild Child gave birth as well, to 2 doelings. Both of them gave birth easily and without any help from me. These 4 babies are still in the house. Video below. I have to say how much I love birthing season. But twice in one year is just too much. On me. On the goats. On their udders that were slowly drying them off early. I love their wide eyed looks. Antics. Cries. Even the parrots get involved and start calling for the little ones.

What am I going to do with Charles. And the fencing. Right now I have him stuck in the back. For how long till he breaks thru that fencing ... Time will tell. It's now become urgent I do something drastic to keep him away from the girls.

If this year wasn't such a blurred mess with me getting sick -it would have been stellar. 8 doelings. 1 buck. out of 5 birthing. I would call that the goat trifecta. Bucks are so difficult to sell. Does aren't.

They really are the cutest with the elf ears. Charles is a purebred Nubian.

Both Dams are 50/50 Lamancha/Nubians. This makes the babies ears a tad longer. And if you see I have one with beautiful Nubian ears - and to standard - below the nose.

HB 1185 / Indian Trails trying to incorporate bill

2021-03-27T22:02:00.004-04:00

Around this time 4 years ago, a bill was introduced into the Florida state legislature for the incorporation of the Acreage area. The area where I live. It got shot down in committee. In 2002, we had an attempt to do the same. And the same thing happened. Shot down before it got any where. WHY.

Third times a charm... Well, not so fast...

Bill draft thru the legislature link:

https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Bills/billsdetail.aspx?BillId=72307

Before, I go any further, I should disclaim this is a waste of time and tax payer money.

The expense to put a bill thru the legislature isn't free. It costs us the taxpayer. And from what I read $50,000 from our budget. Attorneys. Lobbyists. Time to draft. Revisions. Meetings. Traveling to Tallahassee. These things cost money... Whose money? This doesn't include the cost of trying to get a feasibility study done if this bill passes. This is the amount of money spent to get the bill seen.

I also, believe the community will shoot it down, if it ever gets to the referendum phase. I'm wholly against incorporation. I have seen what incorporation has done to the various other townships and cities around S. Florida. And its never about making things better for the residents. As a matter of history, it tends to make it more restrictive - why? a newly formed government needs to make money. And when that happens - the property owners suffer.

This year Indian Trails Improvement District (ITID) has gone the route of trying to change their charter so that they can ultimately try to incorporate our area.

Changing the charter is just one way of going about this. While, reading the original draft language - it was far reaching - Changing the borders to delete the overlaps of already incorporated areas of the district. Adding in Safe Neighborhoods statute. Requesting a reduction in voter acknowledgment (10% of electorate). It was a hefty bill.

Not any more. The committees have now stripped this bill (draft) to it's bare bones. The only thing this bill does (if passed) will allow ITID to spend money to get a feasibility study done. That's it. So before we go any further. This allowing to get the Feasibility study done has already cost the tax payer $50,000. They are estimating the cost of the feasibility study around $30,000. Though no estimates have been submitted.

They will have to go back in the future to change boundaries (add another $50,000).

So here are some issues that make this a waste of time, and money.

In the 2017 feasibility study they tried to use this portion of acreage area. See map. The issue of contiguous land... (see the orange lines on the left). That is one little road that is connecting the two separate areas of the Acreage. It didn't fly then. I doubt it will in the future.

The same issues will apply this time around. There is only that small sliver of land that is 'used' to make the area 'contiguous'.

Read what the state replied regarding this issue. (below).

So, unless, the boundaries exclude the lower (Southern portion) of the Acreage. This still won't be a feasible incorporation based on 2 points in the state statute. Contigous. And 2 miles from another municipality.

We have Royal Palm to our East. Palm Beach Gardens to our North. Westlake right in the middle of us. And The Town of Loxahatchee Groves to the South.

But.. this is all in the future. This years bill deleted the issue of boundaries. And any active units that are in other municipalities.

The various committees took out the boundary changes to the charter, so the existing boundaries in this map (below) still stand. ie. The Legislative Boundaries. Units 16,17,18 are in Royal Palm municipality. And Unit 11 is still there. (not contigous). And Rustic Lakes are now in Palm Beach Gardens municipality.

Essentially, this bill is useless, except for the money allowed to be spent on a new feasibility study. A study that won't be accurate because legally, the boundaries below are the legal legislative boundaries. If they take out the areas of contention, its not accurate nor legal. If they keep in the areas of contention its not accurate.

Another bill, in the future will have to be submitted for ITID to try and change the borders in the charter. Again. And wanna bet the feasibility study will have to be re done to the new boundaries.

Another major issue is that there are bonds and inter -local agreements for many of the over-lapping units that sit in other municipalities.

Bonds and agreements that need to be fulfilled. No one seems to be addressing this. Why? Because the myopic stance is this will work itself out later. Like the boundaries.

This is how the bill (draft) stands now. (it was 14 pages, now 3).

Overall, this bill is a dud. It left the gate without regard to what the other municipalities would do. And they've obliterated anything that gave it any teeth.

... I guess there will be next year, to change the boundaries.

Of course, only if Royal Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens and City of West Palm agree to it.

And yet, another $50,000 spent by ITID on getting it into the legislature.

CovId. Kefir. and Diabetes.

2021-02-17T12:06:00.012-05:00

if it wasn't for these little piranha's some days i'd never get out of bed.

That's a mouthful. But the focus of my life right now. C-19 the corona coaster of the century. It seems after the initial infection goes away, it keeps on giving. Inflammation is the key word. And then comes histamines. and Allergic reactions. After the initial can't breathe, can't move, can't get out of bed, sleep all day ends - It starts to hit various organs in your body.

I have read numerous accounts of people having emergency appendix surgery or gall bladder's taken out etc. It's pretty scary to think. In my case, it hit my pancreas and my gut long-term. And hit it hard.

For anyone that understands a bit about Type 2 Diabetes, will know I was (should have gone) headed to the hospital. My A1c was 11.8.. and my fasting BS was 564. She said go to the hospital ... NO.. Can't. Won't. I felt ok. I really did. Except, for the reasons I was there. Overall, I did not think I was emergency worthy. She gave me some antibiotics for infection, and Metformin for the T2 and, off I went. In three months got it back down to normal. Only 3 weeks on Metformin (had to stop taking it from side effects), my A1c is back to 5.4 and BS 135 on average its even lower these days...

C-19 has really taken it's toll. On me. On the farm. With the animals. Little did i know that the last 11 months of my life would be centered around NOT FEELING WELL.. It sucks. It's not me. I'm not this person. The one struggling to breathe. To walk to the mailbox. To feed the kids. I am one of the most independent people I know. And that in itself is a disease of some sort, especially, when sick. I don't like asking for help. And I am wholly uncomfortable receiving it. I have no clue where this independent streak came from. And it's not in line with being sick. This is torture.

So I've explained a bit of the virus. And the Diabetes. Now, on to the Kefir.

A few years back, I started making it and hated it. Ugh. I just didn't want to make it, whatsoever. But, a funny thing happened. Every single person in 50 miles with any kind of IBS, Cron's, Gut biome issues, stomach upset, etc. was knocking on my door. I was making it, and selling it faster then the milk. Or was selling the milk to those that made their own.

Kefir is truly a wonder food.

And I couldn't wait to get back in milk to figure out if it would work with me.

My symptoms these days run the gamut of: headaches ( head imploding headaches). Cognitive impairment. Foggy brain. Dizziness Gut pain. (excruciating gut pain). Painful flatulence ( i know, right? wtf). Slow digestion. Neuropathys. Joint pains. Shooting leg pains. Interstitial Cystitis. Pelvic floor changes. Urine pain. UTI pain (but no UTI - been tested). Lower back throbbing and pain. Eye pain. Blurry vision. Periodic lymph node swellings. Leg swellings. Ankle and foot pains. Rashes and abscesses. Let's not forget exhaustion. 20 hours some days of sleeping and still exhausted upon waking. and then breathing issues that require daily inhalers. I have become allergic to chemicals that I've used all my life. Allergy and histamine related things that have never bothered me before. And all of his is inflammation related. Thank you COVID. With out a true diagnosis, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome is the catch all. MCAS. and its here. To stay is the question.

Kefir grains were delivered and I've started my journey - slowly.... The other day I had too much and had a scary Herxheimer Reaction. This was not fun. Now i'm going a bit slower in taking it daily. Like I mentioned above Kefir is truly a wonder food. And it's potent. Not the store bought but the fresh from goat milk made this morning.

Thru some research Kefir is well known (scientific and anecdotal) to reduce inflammation. Reduce Asthma. Reduce cholesterol levels, beneficial in righting your gut microbiota. It combats food allergies.. and this is new to me but, is beneficial in wound healing as well.. There are claims it also has 'anti tumor activity against multiple cancer cell types'... But, i'm not going to be worrying about that. I just want to be pain free and wide awake.

I don't think this is too much to be asking from my body. PAIN FREE. WIDE AWAKE. Without these two things, nothing much is getting done around here. There have been times during the 11 month, thinking i'm out of the woods, till another wave hit. Till another symptom started. It has become never-ending pain fest. I'm not a wuss either. I spent two days shooting that video *upper right of the blog* with PBS while having a burst appendix. Shooting ended Thursday, by Friday evening, i was in emergency surgery. I have a high pain threshold.

The kefir IMO is working. Slowly. And I have a feeling it's going to take more then just a week on it. It has been over 11 months from infection and the corona coaster. So, this could take some time...

This quote was interesting. found here:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4854945/

The fact that kefir can induce shifts in the immune system in both directions is promising as it may mean that the organisms in kefir are capable of regulating this balance in the immune system. This may be in part due to the increased number of regulatory T-cells observed in some of these studies, as regulatory T-cells play an important role in maintaining tolerance and supressing unnecessary inflammatory immune responses (Sakaguchi, 2011).

I read that study. It's helpful and explains in detail many things that make me believe (HOPE) that Kefir is going to help right the body. It's not the only thing I'm doing. I am trying to figure out what low histamine foods are also diabetic friendly. As this is it seems harder then it sounds. And anything I eat right now is a potential 3 days in bed with excruciating pain. It seems some foods good for a diabetic diet are high histamine foods and cause inflammation. Balancing act. See Saw. Corona coaster...

Here is a good blog post on how to make kefir.

https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2020/07/how-to-make-milk-kefir.html

So, there it is in a nutshell. My life. CoVid. Kefir. and Diabetes are taking over the farm, my thoughts, and my life...

Lost TIME

2021-01-13T00:33:00.005-05:00

Desdemona letting the 2019 kids eat from her bowl.
Not every dam would be so kind.

Time it seems... has gotten away from me. It's been over a year since I've posted a blog post. And before that it's been sporadic at best. 1 year at 4 months nothing between 2018 and 2019. I recount why below..

It's more then likely because not much has gone right. No one wants to hear about the bad stuff...

Some years are like that.

But, for me to realize, i've not posted in over a year is crazy.

Here is a quick or not so quick timeline of life.

In 2018, I had a part time job that made things worse not better in terms of what I was trying to do with it. That snowballed into, I need to get a full time job to make ends meet better. I was trying to supplement income to save money to do needed repairs around the farm. This homestead is 20 years old. (but that didn't pan out with the lack of hourly wage promised). The part time job just became too timely. And the full time job became too caustic.

The full time job lasted till September of 2019, and i was relieved it was over. Sad, but relieved. It was a learning year. And i learned a lot. About me. About others. Before this job, it had been almost 18 years working in another office setting. I walked away learning a great deal. But no better off. Both jobs left me worse then when I started. Things were not going well.

Then came another seasonal job for the livestock shows at the fair grounds which lasted till mid January 2020. Huge endeavor. I was proud of the work... and again, great learning experience, on how an entire livestock calendar for 2 weeks is created, staged, implemented. Aside from the politics, it was so interesting. I woke up every morning excited to go to work. But, it was seasonal only and it was over. Just in time for the pandemic to start.

In between all this - I started a book design project and 200 pages later and 1 year, still working on it. It was put on hold for months with the height of pandemic lockdown.

Because of the working outside the farm, there was not much milk in 2018 and 2019. I tried. But just wasn't in the cards. I had 4 of my seniors die that year. I was deflated and defeated. My fault for keeping so many of the same age first fresheners. 2 died mysteriously. 2 died of old age and parasite related reasons. And time was not on my side. It's difficult to be gone all day and then tend farm at night.

It was the first time in 17 years of milking that i dried the girls off earlier then 305 days, and i went once a day till July 2019, and then just realized, I can't do it all. In that time, I tried to get a buckling from a friend up North, who also died early in his development. And realized again, I can't do it all alone, and work full time.

2020 rolls in and Covid -19 takes over. Lets just start out with the worst of it.... I got the virus in late February. I still have issues from it, today. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, you don't want this. I am what they call a 'long hauler'.. And, it's a corona coaster of symptoms and pains, and illness. I'm just not well. And its migrated around my body for months.

Because of being so ill - I dried the girls off in April 2020. I just couldn't do it. First time, and they were not happy. I was not happy. Back then was a blur... Actually, from April to today was a blur. One giant sleep fest, sickness and pain.

I buried "Iggy the piggy" he was 17 years old. I buried Thatcher he was 11. Both blurs and both devastating. Thatcher had a tumor growth near his anus, and within weeks of seeing it, he had died. May was a terrible month for me. I couldn't even dig the hole, I was so sick. I remember that. Feeling guilty, I couldn't even dig a hole.

In August, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. And my A1c was 11.8. which is crazy high. Blood sugar was 570 range. And i was heading to the hospital. Scared at the thought of spending any time in a hospital full of Covid patients, worried I would be re-infected. I dug in, and changed everything. Lost 15 lbs. Took Metformin, and ate a low carb. low histamine. low calorie ... And by November, my A1c was back to normal. 5.4 and BS was 134. I'm off the meds, but not out of these woods. I guess I never will be.

Feeling a bit better, I was offered a buck and jumped at the chance of new bloodlines and a new start.... Charles my new buck came to stay, he's one gorgeous boy. He was here about a week before he jumped the fence and bred all the goats. Christmas week, we kidded. I have 5 gorgeous kids (4 does. 1 buck). I'm milking 3 healthy goats. Not the numbers of what I normally milk (between 8 and 11 goats), but, enough for the time being, and my lack of energy, still with issues from the virus. And once a day. I'm not making cheese or soap at the moment. But preparing for it soon.

My life is in dis-order. The house. The farm. All in disorder and its going to take some time to come back from all this. If, I can come back from all this. The pandemic. The lockdown. The lack of income. The deaths. My farm business. My health. I'm trying is all i can say about it.

Which leads me to friends. If it wasn't for them - various times this year of helping out, I don't know what i would have done without them. Bringing food. Supplies. Getting me hay. Helping me kid. The list of things are just so enormous. I can't even begin to say how thankful for them.

So, that leads me up till today. The purpose of this blog (in the beginning) was to document my life journey with the goats. Up until the 2019 time frame, I had been so diligent with this goal.

Hopefully, this will be a turning point for me. Wish us luck. I hope that time is on my side in 2021.

The Season Begins...

2020-01-29T19:03:00.001-05:00

Before the season begins... Before I can sell milk... This has to happen. (see video). Newborns need to be tended to. In my instance, I pull them at birth. Mostly, because my dams lost the momma gene. They give birth, look at them, see me, and then lick me. Not the newborns. Mom's don't care. Kids disappear into the house and the momma's could care less.

Pulling them at birth is a standard procedure for many farms. While not for my particular reason, they do it for biosecurity. CAE is a serious disease and its passed thru milk and other fluids (discussion on what fluids is always on going i.e.. amniotic, mucus etc.). Milk is the key in transference. I don't want, and other breeders don't want, to allow them to milk off of mama.

This is called CAE prevention management. I have colostrum and milk waiting that is guaranteed CAE free. I thaw and feed. Over the years, I've tested. and tested. But the only guaranteed way to suppress this from continuation is not to feed the dams colostrum or milk to the kids as raw milk. Testing is only as good as the day you tested. There is so much complication to this that pulling kids for this reason alone is enough.

Another reason is weaning. If you keep the kids on mom, 3 months from now, they will need to be weaned. And that experience isn't always pleasant. If you pull now, and you have dams to be milked they really never experience the weaning process, it at the outset you milk them. The dams bond to me. I'm not going anywhere. The kids bond to me, and i'm well versed in weaning easily and without drama. It's a win- win. I have tried both over the years. The constant screaming from both sides can be awful. When you pull at birth none of that happens. EVER.

If people want to purchase a kid still on milk, they're already on the bottle. Try putting a kid on the bottle that have been dam raised. Not always a fun experience. or healthy because transferring over to either milk replacer or cow milk is not seamless. One bout of scours can kill a small kid. Selling to a new owner and now the kid is being fed in a new way, with a new ingredient, disasters happen.

The other reason I like to bottle feed is when they get sick. As they age, they look to me as the herd leader. As the momma. This is without fault. When I need to do something - Tube feed. Shots. Control or restrain. Guess how they behave? Dam raised kids turned adults are not the easiest patients. Sometimes, not able to be caught, as they don't trust you like they would if you bottle fed them, and they think of you as momma...

Whether you farm for fun or for business, the last thing you need is a goat that won't come to you when needed. The added stress chasing them around to try and dose them is not productive.

Overall, the 3 months of extra work, I believe makes for an easier farm life over the long haul. But, not until these cuties come along. :)

Agriculture should be promoted and living in the RSA

2020-01-26T21:33:00.001-05:00

One of the things that upsets me to no end is our county touts being the largest Agriculture county in the state. But with that said, in our unincorporated areas of Eastern Palm Beach County they are doing everything in their power to quash any Ag related endeavors on smaller acreages. They do this by denying AG exemptions, citing codes not meant for a lean-to, harassing homeowners by fear, and overall trying to white wash the area into compliance. Unless, you have a bonafide AG classification, code just keeps coming after the smaller homesteads.

When you head West on 80 towards Lake O, you see thousands upon thousands of acres of crop, sugar cane, etc. We do have the largest areas still in the county for these mega corporations. But to tout this as a positive thing, while backhandedly, trying to stop it in other areas is disingenuous at best.

We have some very unique rural areas of the county, (where I live) in that every home is ZONED - AR. Zoning and code are two different things, but, go hand in hand. We are zoned 'Agriculture Residential'. It is also in our Palm Beach County Comprehensive Plan 'guaranteeing' our right to livestock.

If you didn't know, you (I) live in the Exurban Tier, in the RURAL SERVICE AREA (RSA) Rural Residential (RR-2.5) in the UnIncorporated area of Palm Beach County. (Exurban includes The Acreage area). The county commissioners and their staff must follow the rules set forth in our Comprehensive Plan. Written by the county and staff. You can do a google search for the whole pdf file. Its quite long. Look for the 'Future Land Use Element'. (FLUE).

The county can not surreptitiously change something in our FLUE ( Comp Plan), without much consideration from the people that live in the area, the staff, and the Commissioners tasked with making sure this Plan is abided. Changes go thru months of discussion, and changes. And then the BCC must vote on them.

In the FLUE, I've highlighted in yellow pertinent paragraphs. The most important of them is #4.

GUARANTEE THE KEEPING OF LIVESTOCK.

The other item of importance is the keeping of RURAL character of the area.

Keep in mind that what the county says, and what they do, can be two different things. And they have in the past, change the Comp Plan to suit their needs. (ie. Minto and Westlake prior to them incorporating).

It's upsetting and unnerving for them to use ULDC or state statutes and back door slap homeowners wrists that want to live their lives with livestock. My previous post depicts CE usurping the code to their interpretation, citing a homeowner to get rid of temporary housing, metal structures that are movable, and cross fences on her property. She is just one of many... Why is that? Because code likes things simple, and in line. This is easily managed in urban areas, where all homes are the same. All homes are zero lot line. All homes essentially have no land. But, there is nothing easy about our area. The homes sit on different areas of the land. Some have ponds. Some have wetlands. Cyprus trees that can't be cut. Or they have septic and water in various locations that make it difficult for the CEO to state - ' this must be here' and you can't 'do this here' ... When it comes to livestock, bottom line you do what you need to do to keep them!

The Acreage, Jupiter Farms, Loxahatchee, and all the other surrounding rural developments are truly the last areas in our county to allow for this unique style of living. Anything EAST of 441, sadly, has succumbed to being in the URBAN SERVICE AREA and those rules are different. Even if you live on 2 acres...

Remember you (WE) live in the RURAL SERVICE AREA. And this is a designation we don't ever want to lose. It separates us based on our lack of amenities. Want more amenities and you might find yourself one day not able to keep livestock any longer.

As for the AG classification - this is something you must get from the property appraiser. This office is not a part of the county staff, or fall under their management. The property appraiser office is state maintained and managed. Getting an AG classification is different then our zoning of AR. I have another blog post about that.

http://jojosfarmlife.blogspot.com/2012/07/what-is-bonafide-ag.html

You can easily find your AR designation on the property appraiser site.

White washing Loxahatchee And Palm Beach County Code

2020-01-17T21:32:00.001-05:00

It's getting worse -

Years ago, they tried to take away our right to farm, by limiting our property rights. We are Agriculture Residential zoned, and in our Comprehensive plan says 'guaranteed by right'... to have livestock and equines in the Acreage and Loxahatchee areas.

Slowly, and without ado, or any public discussion, our rights keep getting chipped away.

Last year, I stumbled upon two sentences (that is all it was) in the ULDC, that had been strickened from the code, no one picked up on it, and no one in County staff said a word to anyone - deleted. GONE.... One sentence changed with a few words, and decades of property rights gone... slashed. We've been arguing to get it back for over one year -- County and zoning/code departments just giving us the run around....

It had to do with owning vehicles, sport vehicles, RV's, horse trailer's, Swamp buggies, Air boat's, on your land. (This will be another post.)

More recently, this is happening... again....

Another recent attempt at whitewashing is code hitting up small farm homesteads with tiny coops, and claiming they need to be torn down... OR permitted... OR get an engineering survey done for the FEMA flood plain management requirements. Needless, these requirements are based on large barns, larger then a simple dog house 'type' lean to - housing small goats. They are also exempted in the FEMA manual based on size. (the county fails to acknowledge this part)

The homeowners get nervous, code officers threaten fines, liens, and hearings, needing of attorneys. The average owner is going to worry, and pull it all down to fall into compliance.

That is exactly what the county wants to happen. They are wrong... and... someone needs to put this to the test! Sadly, young families with busy lives, doing this as a hobby... they crumble and comply.

... And we lose just one more homesteading family to the urban whitewashing machine.

There is no rule that pre-empts your RIGHT TO FARM- locally, statewide or nationally...

Anyone that has a small structure (like the one pictured below) should not be THREATENED, or put in fear that they will be fined exorbitant amounts of money to farm goats, or any livestock.

It is our guaranteed RIGHT in our state statutes, and in our Palm Beach County Comprehensive Plan in the Exurban/Rural Tiers of the RSA (Rural Service Area) in Rural Residential parts of Unincorporated Palm Beach County.

It is quite clear none of these ''buildings'' are permanent... NONE OF THEM. What they are - not pretty to the urban viewer. They house goats, chickens, and rabbits. Farming animals can be unsightly.

Animals, this week, a young girl is showing at our South Florida Fair. we tout the farmer on one hand, lambast and embarrass, on the other.

Read below. It's quite clear by the compliance deadline verbiage it is meant to scare the homeowner into compliance. $1000 fine a day is nothing to sneeze at. C'mon people... really? Stop being fearful of this.... I know this is easier said then done. So, do they.... and it's why they write it. But you do need to be found 'guilty' and you have the right to be heard via magistrate. After that, you have the right to go to court and fight any fines ...before they can start slapping these fines on you.

This is a single mother, raising a daughter, alone. She is keeping her child busy, and honest, trying to bring her up in the most wholesome of ways -- Farming, breeding goats, homesteading, husbandry, with chickens and rabbits. I think its working. I've met a smart, cordial, helpful, and well rounded 15 year old when visiting.

This whole situation is just unconscionable to think about. This is our RIGHT to keep farm animals, (unincorporated loxahatchee and The Acreage areas). And its OUR RIGHT to house them as we see fit, with economical forethought. The whole point of these endeavors is to save money, not spend it to make the county happy.

YET, it becomes insurmountable, if one needs to constantly, pull permits, every time an addition is made to the fencing, the lean to's, temporary shelters, or pole barns. People should not have to get expensive engineering surveys done for a lean-to.

This is how farming is... and isn't .... Put up shelters, take them down. Move them around. And none of it should need to be 'permitted'... by the county. They do this to limit our endeavors and it needs to stop!

My last photo is the PPM written by the county zoning director about 8 years ago, when this was first addressed, when they were trying to limit our right to animals.... we thought it was final. It specifically states small sheds/lean to's and such did not need to be permitted if housing livestock..Nor did any cross fencing to keep them contained. As it happened, they lost the push to limit our right to animals. But instead seem to be coming at us from a different angle. Make it so difficult to build a small enclosure, or fence, or lean-to for them...

This mom works 2 full time jobs to keep above water... and raise her daughter out here...

We can do better Palm Beach County.

ps... I keep editing this page. As I remember items, I've written about in the past. Below, is one link to the Florida Building code that EXEMPTS farm buildings. While it has changed over the years, becoming more complicated, one thing still comes up... the word "OR" and that is where the interpretation comes into play. Read the bill. Past and Present. Another item to note is the ADDITION to Flood Plain Management to the statute. When researching this, FEMA's manual is explicit in that a barn, within smaller sizes, CAN BE exempt from these requirements. Its our county that is ignoring this....

http://jojosfarmlife.blogspot.com/2012/07/farm-exempt-building-code.html

The Spanish Goat photo stealing

2019-12-24T15:48:00.000-05:00

I can't tell you how frustrating it is when I see photos taken without credit. Illustrations taken without credit. Or stolen and used without compensation. Especially, if the photo or illustration is used for a company to make money from. It's illegal, un-ethical. And I can't believe people still could claim they just don't know... BS>.....

I don't have many photos stolen... But these 2 are the cream of the crop.

I wrote that blog post in 2009. I took those photos at a friends farm.

I have sent out cease and desist letters ad nauseoum to many company's that have tried to use it in the past. One company used it as their logo. Nope. Stop. Especially when trying to profit from my photos.

Today, searching online for one kind of long hair goat, guess what shows up again. yup.... I don't mind so much if its for educational purposes, only. Though if its a membership oriented website, then why aren't they paying for the photos usurped from the internet? Minimally, credit should be given. I took the photo. It's mine. And here it is... Again....

Here is the original link to the blogpost for the Spanish Goat.
http://jojosfarmlife.blogspot.com/2009/09/spanish-goat.html

My blog does come up when you type in Spanish Goat, so it's not a far stretch to email me, ask to use the photo, and / or just GIVE CREDIT to the original photographer. --> ME <-- p="">

And here are a few websites using MY photos without credit or compensation. Essentially, stealing!

Love this one. How to make a profit on goats, using my photo!

I'm Back

2019-04-09T21:01:00.000-04:00

I'm Baaack!

yes.

So Excited.

After a nice break

(too long in my opinion)

the goats are in milk.

I might even have things

to post about again.

See you soon!

~jojo

Ignatius C. Potbelly RIP

2018-02-07T11:03:00.002-05:00

I'm not sad. Really. Iggy the piggy was by far the most spoiled and loved pet on this farm. (outside of Brandy and her tenure here) ... He didn't have any purpose, but to make me laugh. And that he did. For 14 years.

One Sunday afternoon (long ago), sitting here with my mother and brother, I read an ad in the paper- pot bellied piglets for sale. Address was close - after we had looked it up online, I had only been in the house about 2 months, and did not know my way around Palm Beach yet.... My brother and I snuck off to go see.... Knowing just enough to be dangerous, knowing I wanted a female, luckily, only males were left. $250 was his purchase price. Should I or shouldn't I.... I would have walked away if alone. If anything learned about myself, I don't make swift decisions. Iggy was all on my brother, and his at the time girlfriend. :) And that is how sweet 5 lb, iggy the piggy came to be.

Bringing him home and hearing him squeal for that first time, buyers remorse soon set in. Lasted about an hour or so. Because they are just that cute and charming. And we were off on a piggy adventure of 14 years.

The fact that he lived to old age represents all sorts of good things. And bad at times. He unlike many of his brethren are mis - understood. They're farm animals first. Pets second. They're destroyers and rooters.. Iggy wouldn't hesitate to chew on the dry wall - why? because he could.

I repeatedly tell the story of the day he went to live outside - for good.

At about 200lbs living in the house started to become a problem. At 200lbs and able to re-arrange furniture at will, was an even bigger problem. But the final nail ... one morning I woke up and the bottom freeze door was wide open and Iggy had been feasting on about $400 worth of frozen steaks. By the looks of it he'd been at it all night long. And i slept not 30 ft away and never heard one sound. He was that cunning. To be able to open the door, root thru packages, eat silently, knowing one wrong move on his part would wake me up?

It was time he lived outside.

He was an awesome house pet (in the beginning)... but then it became clear he needed to be outdoors. Even then he was a bit of a challenge. Pigs are hard wired for eating, endlessly eating, and whatever they could find. I can't tell you how many times I've picked up garbage three, four, five times in an afternoon. - would finally clean it up, move it, put iggy up, and no sooner had I turned around, it was on the ground again. And he was out.

There were a few times I took him on our goat walks, only to discover, he's not like other herd animals. And it would take me about an hour to get him back on the property.

Iggy's favorite spot to sleep. In my closet. And even this became a bit of a problem if there wasn't some bedding in there already for him, learning that he could pull down clothes, and make an awesome little bed for himself. Back then I still had fashion worthy, and priced, accordingly clothes.

What strikes me the most about him, his life, this farm, was that Iggy represented a certain kind of freedom that living out here entailed. A freedom we are slowly, and sadly losing to urbanism. He was a farm animal first and foremost. Now, the county allows them as suburban pets - (which is a good and bad thing to be discussed another day). Back then he wasn't. Iggy got to be around 250lb or more at his heaviest weight. He was a force. But when I brought him home to live on my paltry acreage, it represented so much, so much so, that the goats came soon after.

RIP iggy the piggy!

Hope for Humanity

2017-10-09T12:33:00.001-04:00

In the past few months, it seems that nothing is quite right in the world. You know what I'm talking about. Its pervasive -everywhere you turn there is a disaster, murders, etc... The news is full of it... It really can get depressing. And I don't even have a regular TV, I only see snippets of it on Facebook, or if I make a concerted effort to watch the news on the computer....

It doesn't help when i'm working in place that generally attracts miscreants -- convenience stores just aren't always the place to find 'model' citizens. Granted, it's quick, easy and many normal folks do come, get gas, buy a pack, but its always peppered with the opposite, as well, I tend to see the opposite alot lately. It makes me wonder about the future of the community. Or people in general...

....So when I see something extra-ordinary, I feel the need to post it. Two such wonderfully heartfelt scenarios took place this last week and thought I'd share:

#1 - Young girl comes to the window to purchase gas. $1 worth. That's all she had... I felt bad. Likely showed in my face to the people in line behind her... One guy in line saw this. Asked me 'she only bought a $1 ? yes' ... He bought his items and left. I watched him. He walked over to the girl who's vehicle was on the opposite side of where his was, and handed her a $10. At first she didn't want to take it... Finally... did so.... I found it sweet and heartwarming that a perfect stranger would want to help out this girl. :) It was just a kind thing for this man to do...

#2 - Chivalry is not dead. Last night as I was closing up there was a vehicle behind another one waiting on the same gas pump. Me, in my on-going attempt to get out of there on time, wondered what the heck... every other pump was open, so i found it odd this woman was just sitting there. I asked the man in front was she with you? he said yes - we pump gas this way. Ok. I get it - use the same card - once. But what I didn't foresee or expect was that when he finished pumping his gas - he moved the vehicle to a parking spot, shuts it off, gets out, and comes running back to pump his wife's gas, too....so she didn't have to get out of the car. How cute!!! He said they have always done it this way. ... and he too seemed happy to do it. I never saw the woman, she was in vehicle with tinted glass.

Every once in a while, if looking I can find it...

There is hope for humanity!

Goats and Yoga

2017-07-01T11:44:00.001-04:00

So the newest rage in urban to farm connections is "yoga with goats". I know you've seen all the YouTube videos.. It's cute. They're cuddly. Who wouldn't want to spend time with these lovely little creatures. I, surely get a lot of emails asking me to bring my goats to a studio, or, I should have sessions here. um... yoga. me? lol... Yoga, me and the goats? even funnier....

But here is my latest response to a very nice and potentially money making offer. I had to say no. WHY?

--------------------------

My girls are 150lb- 175lbs. My yearlings 90-100lbs. My bottle babies? are already 30-45lbs... That right there is a deal breaker. Have you ever been hit in the nose or face or 'boobs' with one of these little scamps? i have. I just don't feel like taking that kind of chance. The fun part about these experiences are letting them jump on and play on you. My girls who by the time they are 40lbs are reprimanded to NOT jump on people. To not get too friendly putting feet up on chest and so on. WHY? because i don't want them learning this habit that when they are 150 lbs would knock a grown man off his feet.

The little Nigerian breeds or Pygmy's they're the ones that stay small and cute and less damage to a person is likely to happen.

Call me a bah-humbug... But, I don't think we will be doing any Yoga with goats here. At least not with my full size girls.

Sable says: " no goat yoga" She'd knock you on your butt in a heartbeat.

Chalazea

2017-03-07T13:22:00.001-05:00

"What the heck is that?"

"Whats' that white stringy stuff."

"There's a string in my yolk. is that normal?"

and my favorite response:

"No, your egg isn't starting to form a chick."

I get these types of questions all the time. Even from people that are long-time fresh market egg buyers. I'm talking about the Chalazea. It's a tiny string that you will see when an egg truly is farm fresh - no more then 2 days old fresh.

The Chalazea holds the yolk to the shell when it is first formed in the chicken. As the days progress the chalazea disappears. It does not indicate its any better or worse then a 5 day old egg. But, it does indicate that egg was just laid within the last couple of days.

These two photos were taken by me right before I had breakfast. The eggs were collected last night. Laid yesterday. It's a phenomenon that many don't get to see, or even know about. Store bought eggs you'll never see this... Some farms that hold eggs till the greenmarket day might lose it by then.
Because it disappears so soon after they lay the egg. But, if you order eggs and its timed right, this is what you will see in some of my eggs.

It's perfectly normal.

Pretty cool, huh?

Here is a good link on Eggs 101 and what else you might see.

http://www.eggs.ca/eggs101/view/4/introduction-to-the-egg

That time of year....

2016-11-01T12:46:00.000-04:00

New soap packaging. It's about time.

This time last year, 4 goats were still in milk.... This year 1. Last year at this time, all the honey I could gather and sell. This year none. Last year late October, eggs were plenty. As weather changes.... nothing for over a month.

Could be me... Most likely it's just what it is. Life. Weather. Animals. Ages. Farming. Nothing is ever the same every year. The only constant in farming is change.

It is helpful to learn other farms are facing the same challenges. No one it seems in my area pulled honey this last flow. Good to know. Many chickens in the area aren't laying. And so on..

To help get me thru this downtime, luckily, I have other options for income..

I have 'soap. note cards and art for sale.'

I also have a 'Zazzle' page where t-shirts, pillows, mugs, banners, posters, stickers - can be great stocking stuffers. There is some fun stuff up on that site. If you want something but don't see it, email me and I'll create it.

And, if in the future you hear of someone needing 'design' work, pass my name on.

I love what has been created here. Proud of it. And the passion I have for the goats is immeasurable. But, sometimes the art and design need to step up and get us thru.

Remember to support your farmers this holiday season. Buy local. Buy hand crafted, artisan and made with love products.

Note cards. New design for Bee lovers.

Artwork for sale 8x10 aprox. size.

Always busy here even if I'm not milking. Making signs for next year.

Where rural ends and urban begins.

2016-09-03T11:17:00.000-04:00

I love where I live. Really. I. Do.

I just see it coming and there is nothing one can do about it once the ball starts rolling down that hill. What? The urban - ness of an area. I can't explain it, but will try.
The little minor things individually mean little, added up, change everything. You just start to feel different...

The first thing you notice is the traffic. Where you once drove down the street alone not another car in sight, slowly becomes filled with cars at every stop sign. Behind you. In front. There are more urgent drivers. Faster. Ruder. Honk their horn at you when you're at the stop sign. Try to pass you on the road when you are going the speed limit. You see more and more younger drivers with their rash and un-thinking moves they make.

The one thing that made this area so enticing 'to me' was how you felt upon hitting the first of many wide open spaces as you drove home, the stress of your day just started to melt away... while you were driving out of the urban and into the rural landscape.

Everyone is in a rush. And you can feel it. The vehicle behind you --pushing you to go faster.

You start to avoid certain stop signs and cross roads, as they are becoming more and more dangerous to cross. You start hearing on the news, yet another accident at this or that intersection. So, you take alternate routes that are safer, just not quicker. And start to realize that no route is safe any longer.

Honking. Everyone is honking at you now. The first thing I noticed when I moved was the silence. I didn't use my horn for over a decade. I didn't wave my hands, because I just got cut off.

Random drive-bye's become more un-nerving. I get it that people want to see where the goat farm is, possibly see the goats, usually they stop, roll down window, wave, say hello... not anymore. It's more of a check you out, a type of snubbing situation. Will they or won't they buy from you. They park at the street and just stare. Or they expect the opposite, you're in the middle of daily chores, and they just walk on the property unannounced. To purchase. Not even asking first if you're closed, open or have product. Totally disregarding the 'no trespass' signs. They don't care what your situation is, only theirs.

You feel like you live in a fishbowl.

Going to the store becomes a chore... When you start having to schedule your time to get to the store after the rush, because there is no place to park during certain hours. Or the aisles are too crowded, waiting in long lines. You've just altered your life to avoid people. And still nothing has changed, infrastructure is still the same. This area was 80% built out when I moved here.

No one is smiling. Everyone seems so self-absorbed.

People are just not the same. You look around, and one day notice, YOU are the only one that is in working farm clothes, where in the past you were one, among many. And you, nor they, gave it a second's notice that you were in muckers, dressed this way, or smelled funny. It didn't matter the store, restaurant or service place everyone looked a lot like you did. Or drove a vehicle like yours. I noticed just yesterday i was in a parking lot full of mercedes and town cars.

Bills continue to increase yet the product doesn't change. Shopping, food and anything retail seems to cost more.

Neighbors start to change. While overall younger isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is when they move in and the first thing they want to discuss is why the road isn't paved. Or they move in and put up lights around the whole property. It's lit up like Shay stadium. Or every imaginable service truck is in front of their house, weekly. Why have 2 acres if you don't plan to be out side on it? ... ever.

I drive by homes now that I've never seen a person out doors.

The sense of urgency in people's actions. Where they jump in head first, before thinking it thru. I find this an urban thing. Farm thinking and rural thinking are just slower. More methodical. Trust worthy. More and more purchasing livestock, farm type animals, have them a few short months and then realize forget this -- it's too much work. Or they're too dirty. Or destructive. I do blame this partly on the person selling, but in fairness what one doesn't ask, how can the other learn. And then it becomes a lack of accountability or worse, its the animals fault.

I never locked my doors, nor the vehicles, or the shed, never worrying about stolen animals, my safety, the animals, or dogs getting picked up for roaming. There is this type of urban 'do-gooder' syndrome that just can't wrap their head around - it is what it is, or live and let live. Now, it seems, I need to lock the doors - just in case. They have to fix it, better it, get involved, change it. There is something to be said about minding your own business. You will know it when a rural neighbor is in need--they ask. Their lack of observation is palpable. Or skewed to some urban ideal, that it should be that way, or they think something is wrong, or it's abandonment. Stop changing the very thing that was so enticing when moving here.

Assessing a situation is always urgent, dangerous, or worse, they think they know better then the person, property, animal in question. People are quick to call in government services to solve an issue.

Instead of adapting, they want it changed.

Properties are purchased and the next thing you see is massive changes. Lots fully treed, homes hidden in the brush, are now cut down and home is sitting in the middle of all fake grass. Why didn't they purchase a home on land already clear cut, I'm sure there are plenty out here just like what they were looking for. Putting your stamp on the property is one thing. Changing it to look urban is another....

I lived such a beautiful quiet rural lifestyle. I changed to fit into the area, not the other way around. And this is the problem. People want to live a more simple, quiet existence, but they don't really make the necessary changes to accomplish it. They are still in a rush. They are still on the iPhones in the middle of nowhere. They still have on headphones walking on a path. They don't know how to enjoy the natural beauty of where they are. They want to change the very existence of why they thought they moved out here in the first place. They don't leave the urban thinking behind, they take it with them. And then they want to know why you aren't like them.

All Growed up....

2016-06-25T11:11:00.000-04:00

Every year the kids at St. Andrews School (Boca Raton) hatch (or try to hatch) out eggs we give them in their embryology classes. I've written about them before, HERE. This year they hatched out all 12 of them. As promised, I keep a log of them as they grow. Here they are:

Above is the photo card they sent me as a thank you!

Can you see which chick became which pullet?

I have two roosters here: One is a mutt. The other is a Black Copper Maran. You can see the influence each create. The maran gave me some beautiful dark colors.

The colorings of these pullets are just extraordinary.

I love it.

Growing Up Kids...

2016-02-16T16:22:00.001-05:00

I don't normally pay so much attention to how quickly they grow.

This year I decided to keep all the girls. 5 of them.

(so far...)

Usually, I pick one or two, sell the rest.

I can see so much...

I can see how two sisters who came out together grow differently.

The first two shots are at 5 days old. 2nd two shots of them now at 7 weeks.

At 5 days old could barely get them out of the stall.

7 weeks I can't get them back in.

I see how the two wombats are inches above the Nubians.

But only 4 days older.

I see that Sable's daughter is whiney, and capricious,

and all about her even at this age. Just like her dam.

I can see the runt is almost half the size of her sister.

And see why her sister is twice the size of her. She is a fighter.

And she likes stealing from the others.

But, if her sister calls from far away she is the first to come to her aid.

I see the runt take advantage of it, too.

The runt, I might add is just wonderfully sweet... and getting so much

attention only wants to hang with humans.

She bides her time and puts up with the others, till I go out again.

I see them play all day. I see them roam further on their own then I like.

I see the leader of the pack stick up for them when Gimpy comes to menace.

I see the dams sniff them but, meh, not interested in them.

But then give a side glance.

I see all the conformational stuff, too.

But, this is more fun.

desi #1 triplet.

Fern #1 and #2 and both are cute as can be. Sweet just like their dam.

Runt always last to know which way they go.

Potential herd queen in the making. Queen of the kids. She is the bold one.

left to right Desi#1. Fern #2. Sable #1. Fern#1. Runt (Desi #3)

This is how it started...

2015-10-10T12:56:00.000-04:00

There are just certain days in your life you never forget. The day I picked up Samson and Delilah were one of them. Raining. Lost. Dark. Crying babies. Bottle feeding. Thinking what the heck did i just get myself into.

Little did I know then the impact she would have on my life. The trajectory was all her. If she hadn't had a precocious udder, would I have even started milking?

For years this is how we milked. Even when I started to have small groups come to the farm to learn. And she loved it. She was the center of attention. And she always stayed that way. Every goat that came on this property (till recently) knew it, and never tried to take it away. She was the first to eat. First on the milk stand. And first to get her morning hugs. She was the Herd QUEEN.

When I finally got a milk stand she didn't want to have anything to do with it. She would run out and stand by the gate where we would normally milk. Finally, we agreed it was easier on the stand. Then she realized she wanted to be milked last because the last goat on the stand can hang out with me while i clean up.

Her best pal was Oliver. Who kept them safe. I'm going to miss him too. He was just put down last month and they are both buried next to each other.

She was the goat I learned to do everything to. A bucket of food and she would let you do practically anything to her. Here we were shaving her for Linear appraisal by the ADGA.

For a very long time it was just her, Samson, and Oreo. I had a job off the farm. I worked in Stuart. And didn't even have any chickens. Just one lone rooster. How boring I was.

She above all the others lived a charmed life. She only had to whisper a bleat and I would come running. They had the whole property to roam. They never left each others side. Or mine. For years after Samson was gone she lived in the house. And we would take long goat walks. Her teaching the next generation how things worked. If you were talking to me, she would be the goat that was standing by my side, as if she was in the conversation too.

This is her first day here. She lived in the garage and slept in the kennel. 10 days old. I was too afraid to leave them outside. Alone. Now when the kids are born I toss them out almost immediately! My my.... how things have changed.

She was without a doubt the prettiest kid I've had. She has milked 8 years of her 11. Thousands of pounds of milk. She became a Superior Genetic goat a few years back. Which isn't an easy feat. Sadly, I only have 3 offspring of hers. Every year I would sell her kids because I knew what she could do and could produce. If anything, I regret not keeping more of her offspring.

When she died I laid her head on her stomach the way she normally enjoyed sleeping and that is how i buried her. And though i've had death here before with the full size goats, she is the only one I've buried here.

Thanks to Delilah every time I sell milk, eggs, cheese, honey or soap it's all because of this little girl and what she inspired me to do.

She will be missed.

Here are some links to other stories about her and growing up.

http://jojosfarmlife.blogspot.com/2006/02/regal-with-hint-of-whimsy.html

http://jojosfarmlife.blogspot.com/2006/03/udder-update-33106.html

http://jojosfarmlife.blogspot.com/2008/02/kidded-finally.html