Happy Happy New Year - 2012

Thanks for making 2011 The Simple Farm's best!

We look forward to what new growth 2012 has for us and for you!

PS - New baby goats on the way in the beginning of March!

Here's a glimpse of one of the things we do at the farm.

Next On The Farm Agenda

Baby goats - properly called kids - doelings and bucklings are on the "next thing to do" at the farm.  We've been on "goat watch" for a couple of days and are anxiously waiting the arrival of these new Simple Farm additions.

We actually thought Storm was in the beginnings of labor yesterday morning. Not.  This morning she's displaying even more signs of labor....a little mucus, her tail head ligaments gone and her udder quite tight. Because we want/need to be present, I ended up not attending Jill and Rebecca's Arcadia Edible Garden Tour - even though the van was packed and ready to go with a new Simple Farm speciality - Herbes de Provence.  Oh, well, we are here - waiting and waiting and just hoping it's not a 2:30 am time in the birthing pen.

Those of you that have been invited to observe - please be on call and text me your phone numbers (again) please.

Those of you that have been invited to help bottle feed the babies - the hours are 7:30 - Noonish - 4:30 and around 8 pm. Please leave a comment if you're interested in having your little one help out.

All Kidding A S I D E...no, better make that F R O N T & C E N T E R

We're about ten days away from the first kidding at our suburban farm.  Sweet Lavender leads the line up. If you've come to the farm lately, she's the doe with the blue collar that waddles around as if she's not quite sure what to do with herself. These days, we're constantly checking on her, talking to her and telling her not to worry, it's all O.K. She just stares back at us but somehow I think she knows what we're saying.

Needless to say, we're excited for this impending birth of baby goaties.  We're hoping for some beautiful twin does (triplets would be nice) from the nice combo of Lavender and Charlie. Two of those girls are tentatively spoken for and the others will be sold (let us know if you're interested).

The past few days Michael's working hard at completing our kidding stall aka birthing pen. It's about 8 ' x 13 ' and we can see this area from our sunroom. Sides and the roof still need to be attached and then lights in case she decides to kid in the middle of the night (and she probably will).  After that we'll lay down a think layer of fresh hay, hook up newly sanitized empty buckets for water bucket feed - for her grain and fresh alfalfa. 

A few weeks ago, we completed Lavender's final hoof trim and her BoSe injection (selenium/vitamin E combo that helps prevent uterine dystocia - abnormal labor), aids in passing the placenta and it helps prevent white muscle disease in kids.  

She's also had her CDT toxoid vaccine booster.  The provides the new kids with some immunity from enterotoxemia and tetanus in the first few months of life. 

Each herdsman has a unique management practice and we've been developing ours.  We consulted those who are our goat mentors as well as read as much as we can about different practices and the reasons why.  In that we have added two other vaccines to our birthing preparations that have to do with helping prevent mastitis.

Within the next few days we'll do Lavender's Spa Treatment - we'll trim her tail and udder area.  This will help her stay cleaner during and after kidding. This keeps the goopy goo and bloody discharge from sticking to her, causing us/her problems we don't need.

Last night I began to put together our kidding kit. Anita says it's like a woman getting ready to give birth - she's got her suitcase packed and ready to go.  

It's always a miracle to watch a birth (even in the middle of the night) and I wish that all our farm friends could come and stand around the kidding pen to see this beautiful miracle of life.  Unfortunately, we've needed to limit requests and our quota is full.  We want to be sensitive to Lavender and her time to labor and kid and also, this is our first, so we're a bit nervous as well.   

Raising goats are a kind of therapy for me. Sometimes I can hardly believe that I "get to" have goats again.  They're the most amazing creatures.  I tell people they're like big dogs that give milk. If treated kindly and respectfully and cared for they will give you more than you could ever give them.  You get to learn about life and love and care through these animals. They also reveal our own character issues of stubbornness and bossiness as well as our neediness.

Many people don't realize the care and expense and time that takes to raise goats -  checking each doe daily (especially when they're pregnant), feeding, milking (twice a day), processing that milk with stellar sanitization practices and then testing the milk, health care -  giving shots, oral applications, anal thermometers, tending to their wounds, breeding, assisting in deliveries (etc.), but when a task is a "get-to" and not a "got-to," it's so worth the effort.

I know our goats are therapy for others too. Elaine comes by on market day to love on Miss Storm (one of our younger does). They  have a bond that is too sweet for words.  One day Michael and a friend of ours who is an Anglican Priest, Father Ed Jones, sat in the goat yard for about an hour, observing the goats and philosophosizin' about God, life, purpose, community and loving others. Therapy, indeed.

Farm Life Today

Yesterdays market at our farm went quite well. Batavian and other gourmet lettuces (from seeds purchased from Italy) went like hot cakes. So did our Detroit red beets, cherry belle and French breakfast radishes, spinach, arugula (rocket), bright lights chard, mustard greens and of course our herbs ~ lavender, French tarragon, mint, parsley, oregano and English thyme. Oh - all but two dozen of our farm house (fresh) eggs went home with someone. That's good.

Today is a new day and it's Goat Dairy Day this morning at our farm.  I mentioned {here} that Lavender is due to kid in four weeks and she needs special beauty treatments to hopefully ensure healthy kids and the healthy delivery of those kids.  Actually all the does and the bucklings require different vaccinations, vitamin boosters, milk checks, hooves trimmed at different times and it just so happens that today is a day for much of that.  So, we're off and running.  Hope your day goes better than anticipated. Attitude and gratitude makes or breaks a day!  Tell someone thank you!

A Busy Wednesday at The Simple Farm

The day after our market days is always busy and today will be no exception. Michael's going to build some raised beds in a few areas where he decided the ground just wasn't workable and yet the spot was perfect for our organic vegetables and herbs.  This is exciting for me.  I think the spot he's choosing has been crying out for something to happen and I can't wait to begin to seed there.

I love how Michael designs and creates. He'll often stand back and just stare at a spot. I've learned to let him 'stare' because he's really designing and pondering and considering in his head about what should go where.  So, in our farming relationship - he designs and builds and I get to fill it in with beauty. It works well for us. His ideas are always pretty amazing.

Today, I'm doing some goat kidding preparation work and researching a bit on some health issues with a few of our does. The community of "goat lovers" is wonderful - extremely helpful when a problem arises.

I'm also pulling out bitter lettuce in my personal potager and will amend those raised beds to get ready for planting - what, I'm not quite sure.

Hope you have a wonderful day!

The Girls

We Love Our Goats - Our Goat Story

Years ago I experienced the joy of owning a small herd of dairy goats. Circumstances and life took me down other paths that goats weren't possible in my life.  But, what did happen is that goats got in my heart. They have this way of doing that. . . getting in your heart.

So, when the opportunity came to rent the house on Cactus Rd. and lease the land - the possibility of having a few dairy goats seemed more like a reality. We spent many many months in preparation - building, tearing down, putting up and cleaning out the spaces on this property to not only house our dairy goats but to reclaim the land to be the farm/ranch it used to be years ago.

In the meantime with all the building, planting, etc. I'd spend time searching online for 'our' Nubians.  I wanted Nubians because I think they are adorable with those long ears and I liked the butter fat content they produced.

My search took me to Kathryn and David's ranch in Show Low - Black Mesa Ranch.  Michael didn't fully understand (yet) my love of Nubians and he was so sweet to just go with it.  After many conversations with Kathryn about our needs and goals we settled on Lavender and Cinnamon knowing they'd be perfect for our suburban farm here in Scottsdale.

During this time, I started researching and reading and talking to other goat owners. Michael and I needed to go into this new adventure in becoming goat herders with a little bit more confidence.

So, that led me to a few conversations with Rhonda Crow of Crow's Dairy.  In April, the Crows were so kind to invite Michael and I out to Buckeye to their dairy for a visit. It was an invaluable visit with a little training session and what that has turned into a precious friendship for Rhonda and I. I call her my "Goat Mentor."  In our opinion, Michael and I think that Wendell and Rhonda are two of God's very best and their cheese is the hit of this town - being sold in many restaurants and farmers markets.  They've recently even opened up the dairy to the public for tours. Go here for more info on Crow's Dairy tours.

In May, I started ordering goat management supplies along with the milking equipment we'd need.  We also took a two week trip to India to visit friends and attend a wedding.

I also took a quick trip to Pdx to visit our daughter and three incredibly amazing grandchildren.  Goats require a commitment and I knew that once our girls came to the farm, I'd be limited on the time to get away.

While in Portland, I also bought seeds. . .

. . . and books on cheese. . . and then finally the day came in June we headed up to Black Mesa Ranch to pick up Lavender and Cinnamon. . .

. . . and spend a bit of time with David and Kathryn . . .

  . . . totally enjoying these two amazing people and of course David's cooking.

Uh....it's not advisable to wear flip flops around a bunch of goats.

A highlight of the trip to Black Mesa included seeing the last of David and Kathryn's does kid. Amazing.

Michael had never milked a goat before and so here's his first 'training' session milking our Lavender.

It was quite an interesting trip home. It's about five hours from Scottsdale to Show Low and when you have two goats in the back of your van - you have to go really slow. I became the designate driver and Michael sat in the back with the girls who flagellated all the way home.   I never laughed so hard in all my life.

There's this strange thing among goat lovers. It's hard - really hard to have just two (you must have two - goats are herd animals and would be horribly unhappy being alone).  It didn't take long before I returned to Black Mesa Ranch web site to see if Kathryn had any other does for sale.  She did and it was fairly easy to convince Michael that Storm needed to be at our farm.

In the beginning of September, Marie and Charlie came to the farm too. Both are amazing Nubians and were loved immediately.

And, now the rest is history. . . we are hopeless goat lovers, love goats milk and the cheese Michael makes.  Goats aren't just a "Lylah" thing - they're an "us" thing. They've gotten in Michael's heart just as much if not more so than mine.  He's the one who gives them their cookies and massages their backs and talks to them.

It's now breeding season for us and many goat owners.  And so I imagine this is just the first of many goat stories we'll get to share with you.

We 'heart' Crows Dairy Farm

Crows Dairy is the valleys only licensed goat dairy that provides the valley restaurants, stores and farmers' markets with the most amazing chevre' of all kinds.  We love Crows!

Queens of The Farm

Girl Scouts Learn To Milk a Goat

The end of September we had our first simple farm tour and 'how to milk a goat' tutorial for a local girl scout troupe.  Six eager girls learned the importance of knowing the farmer who grows their food and what 'eating in season means.'  They were able to take a little tour around our farm and through our gardens and to our hen house.

Our 'on-site' farm helper sprays the bottom of every one's feet as part of our bio-security measures to help limit the spread of disease into and out of our farm.  It's important to us to do everything we can to protect our livestock (dairy goats and our chickens) from the possibility of disease.

If you asked the girls what they enjoyed the most - they would all tell you it was learning how to milk a goat.  Each girl earned a Certificate as a Star milker (I still need to pass them on to the troupe leader).

Our farm is in the process of developing our simple-farm tours for children with a minimal fee - starting in January 2012.