Goat Milking

On Monday I had the pleasure of learning how to milk a goat. Now, this doesn't mean that I actually got any milk out. BUT, I was trying, teet in hand. How did I get to experience such a thing, you might ask? Well, at the learning farm, there are four goats owned by a woman named Gretta. Gretta makes goat's milk soap. She gave me a bar of her peppermint and it is amazingly creamy and moisturizing! Let me know if anyone would like a bar; she makes them in peppermint, lavendar, unscented, coffee soap (which is good for exfoliating and doesn't smell much like coffee), beer soap (with brews from a brewery nearby), spearmint, and probably a few others. Gretta gets to keep her goats here in exchange for the Learning

Farm being able to use them for educational purposes. It is a pretty neat deal! Sharon will be learning how to milk the only goat that is producing milk, named ShamWow interestingly enough (the brown one), over the course of next week, and then I will get to learn. Sham was not very cooperative when we tried to milk her on Monday and we think it is because since Gretta is the one to always milk her, Sham thinks Gretta is her baby and won't let anyone else "nurse" her. We are going to make it a slow weaning process so that she can get used to Sharon and I. The white goat is Naya, and she is a fiber goat. Gretta combs the fiber off of her and her brother Diego and is planning to sell it to a woman who wants to make a sweater out of it. Next year, Gretta is hoping to sell goat cheese! I'm hoping to get some sooner though, and maybe some goat butter too :)

Earthworms and Cecataes

Okay, I know that's not how you spell Cicada. But I have a new little friend who spells it that way! My "landlord," Mike, had his niece stay with us this past weekend. She, her friend, and her friend's niece are on a road trip from Denver to Martha's Vineyard. They are very good cooks and love wine! We had steaks from a farm in Nebraska that they stayed at on Thursday night, and a delicious roast with sauteed red cabbage last night. Cecatae made some delicious salad dressing with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and mint and chamomile from the yard. It was wonderful being able to spend some time with interesting people! Now I know that if I ever want to spend time in Martha's Vineyard, I have a place to stay :) And who could pass that up??

Even though today was Sunday, Sharon and I worked almost 9 hours in the Children's Garden, getting it planted! That's okay though, because now I get Wednesday off and tomorrow shouldn't be a very long day. We planted beets, popcorn, sunflowers, kale, radishes, squash, cucumbers, and many other veggies and edible flowers! On Tuesday and Thursday this week, I will be working with two different incubator farms on the Prairie Crossing Farm property. Tuesday I will be working with Meg of Wild Goose Farm, and on Thursday I will be working with Alex and Allison of Radical Root Farm.


Today Sharon took me to ACE Hardware so I could get some potting soil to pot my plants that I got from the farm! So far I have planted tomatoes, kale, cilantro, parsley, purple basil, thai basil, and chamomile.

Ciao