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 :)