"Field" Trip....

The fourth grade class at Hugh Cassell Elementary School went on a "field" trip last Thursday. No bus, no fuel, no money spent!  They just walked out of the back of the school and down the path...  

Ready and waiting for the kids to arrive!

Here they come!  

Better turn the electric net off!

The kids learned what the terms sustainable farming, biological control, invasive plants and environmentally friendly mean and got to see those words in action. They also learned about livestock guardian dogs and their purpose.

Clay telling the kids about Mr. Max.  He is the one who contracted meningeal worm when he was young. It caused him to become stunted and weak in his hind legs.  He is one of those animals that is not a "good business decision," so we found a job for him.  He is great with new goat kids that come into our herd from other farms.  His gentle nature is very calming to them and helps them to adjust to their new home.  

Mr. Max then went over for some special attention. He is a very gentle buck and loves to have his head and horns rubbed!

This is #17 he also loves attention!  Ms. Peabody is standing to his left. She is the one who had to have her front leg amputated.  All of the kids were fascinated with Ms. Peabody. She is a remarkable goat! Now whenever we see the kids out and about they all ask "Where is Ms. Peabody?"

The goats ran and followed the kids back up the path.  They were sad to see them go!  
 

Scenes From Kite Day...

Kite Day Coyner Springs, Waynesboro VA

Kite Day was a great success!  There was wind and the kites were flying high.  It was a beautiful site seeing the goats with the kites flying in the background. 

Kite Day Coyner Springs, Waynesboro VA

We did not know how they would react to the kites. They could have cared a less that there was a 50 foot octopus flying in the sky! 

The goats drew quite a crowd. The people really enjoyed seeing them in action and asked a lot of questions.

Of course, the newest member of our herd was a big hit.  

She even put on a little show dancing and prancing around.  

Her mother said enough fun and games!  She took the opportunity to teach some forage skills.  This kid is foraging at 1 week!  What a show off!

Then there was Chloe...  She was a hit when she was awake. She is not used to all of this activity during the day. She works the night shift and sleeps most all day.

"Ho Hum, I'll let them pet me. Just wish they would give me some of that kettlecorn!"

She preferred laying on the hill and looking regal!

Notice Chloe in the background.  This is how she spends most of her days.  

A special thanks to my great nieces Lauren and Maran for helping me give out samples of our Autumn Berry Sauce!

It was great for folks to see the goats foraging on the invasive Autumn Olive plant and then to learn there is a yummy way that THEY could help remove over 5,000 plants from the environment!  Good on pancakes, waffles, ice cream, cheese cake.....

Wild Harvested Autumn Berries

When the war on invasive plants is beyond your control it is time to contact....

 

Autumn Olive Farms has biological control agents on staff 27/7.

"The A-Team"

"Your battlefield is their banquet hall"

Fields of Grace....

We are thrilled that we were able to purchase the floor of goats at the Rockingham county fair again this year!  We ended up with 85 of them. 

They were running jumping and playing this morning.  It must have felt really good to get out in an open space and eat green forage after being in the barn all week showing off their handsome selves!  They are such nice animals from good stock. The 4-H and FFA kids did a great job raising them to showcase their potential.  

 The title of this blog post is appropriately named. If we had not gotten them they would not be running jumping and playing this morning. These children's hand raised goats would have been immediately snatched out of their cozy show pens and thrust into the harsh environment of large pens and trailers heading into the brutal and heartless Northeast industrial meat system. Unbelievably that was not the worst possible end result. One particular buyer in our area is actively buying 4H/FFA fair stock at high prices and they would be on their way to medical research programs focused on highly infectious diseases including leprosy research. More likely though is the medical program where these children's pet are partially blown up by the army in a controlled way in order to train medics how to stabilize severe trauma victims of IED and land mine injuries.  With other options available, how could anyone choose to use young children's pets in that way? 


With the very real threat of that being the outcome for the goats in this sale I am afraid we did have both a smart price and a also a "heart" price. Unfortunately for us the sale price was a lot closer to the heart price so we REALLY need to find at least one great forage job for them to earn some income to make it up. 


It is true that most of our stock will one day die to become a very healthy meat product for informed consumers.  Until that final moment though, all the Autumn Olive Farms goat's lives will be good days and filled with all the fascinating antics and details that make the goat uniquely what it is. 
  
In fact, although we have one of the finest meat products that a human can eat we would gladly forgo the meat side of our business if we could afford to keep all of them as full time foragers. That would require us to become Boer Bok snowbirds to Florida! Know anyone in need of our services from November to May in a fine Florida setting?

Jiggity, Jig, Jig....

Introducing the newest additions to Autumn Olive Farms... Two Ossabaw Island Sows.  

The girls have not arrived yet to our farm location as they are off with a Boar. Which means that this Thanksgiving instead of having kids we will be having piglets!  

Ossabaw Island Hogs are a unique breed of pig. They are listed on the American Livestock Breed Conservancy list as critically endangered.  

They were brought to Ossabaw Island in the 1500s off the coast of Georgia by Spanish explorers. Breeding pairs were left on the island to provide food for the explorers when they returned.

In my research I came across an interesting article on Gourmet.com.

The fat from an Ossabaw hog is found to be high in oleic acid which is the fat that is found in olives. The fat is so unsaturated that it is nearly liquid at room temperature. Could it be that this pork is actually good for you? 

We have learned a few things about the girls.  One is that they love to get massages! I know what you are thinking, no they don't stink. I was surprised to learn that pigs don't stink when raised properly.

They love to eat snacks... So when you come to visit, bring your scraps!

They like to forage in the forest...We are hoping for a good acorn crop this year! 

We will have to put Willow on "squirrel duty."  She will be thrilled with that job. 

They also like to root around in the mud, so wear your boots!  

Boer Bok Peninsula...

Chloe assessing the flood damage and "keeping the herd safe."

So we had our goats on the lower part of the farm cleaning up around the creek and garden area.  Did not know that they would be on a peninsula after the storms yesterday.  We had over 2 1/2 inches of rain here on the farm.

Our electric net fence is tough!

The good news is that all of our Boer Bok are fine and our fence did not get torn up from debris.

What just happened here?

 They were nice and clean right after the storm. I don't think that is going to last too long!

"1700 feet of a potatoes lover's dream"

The other good news is that Clay and his dad worked hard to get this garden planted before the rain came.  This garden is planted in 1700' feet of potatoes including Yukon Gold, German Butterball, Russian Banana Fingerling and Kennebec's!

Almost, but not quite.

The best news is that the water only came up literally to the very edge of the first row of potatoes! The soil is wonderful in this garden and full of earthworms so it drains very well. 







Unfortunately, our neighbor did not come out as well from the storm as we did.  He came home to find that the South River had risen quickly, stranding his sheep on high ground where they were cut off by flood waters. The high ground went under as well so his 12 ewes and 11 lambs were up to their necks in water. Some were literally clinging to a fence with their front hooves and "body surfing" to keep their heads out of the water. 


While he was rushing to get a boat ready to rescue them the lambs decided to swim for it and the ewes followed!  None of us knew that sheep could swim! Amazingly all made it across except for his oldest ewe who was swept away. What an unexpected turn of events for just 2 1/2 inches of rain!    

A Sad day at Autumn Olive Farms...

160 on right foraging at the Frontier Culture Museum.

Our day ended on a very sad note yesterday.  We had to put down the first doe that was born on our farm in NC.  She would have been 6 years old next month.  

Her name was simply 160 which was her tag number.  We referred to her as 160 while we were thinking of a name and 160 stuck.  
 

160 at two weeks old.

We noticed that she was having a hard time chewing her cud.  After careful examination we discovered that she was missing 2 back teeth on both sides of her jaw.  Clay recalls that he found her chewing on a Hickory nut last fall.  This must have broken her teeth.  A goat has to have a full set of back teeth to properly chew it's cud or it's digestion does not work properly.  In this case there is nothing that can be done.  

160 as a young mother.

160 was a powerhouse of a doe and was a fine example true South African Boer Bok genetics.  She was very hardy and produced many kids for us over the years. She even gave us a set of triplet does this fall. We are thankful that we will have these does to carry on her South African genetic line.  Thank you 160 for 6 great years and all of the kids you produced for us.  Job well done!

160 working as a "Biological Control Agent"