prairiemom

The Goat Lady

     Yesterday we had a most enjoyable adventure. We went to visit the Goat Lady.  We had a great time.

     David has known Yvonne,  the Goat Lady, for a few years now. When she suggested we bring Jonathan to see the baby goats, we jumped on the idea. I'm always looking for ways to introduce him to the agrarian lifestyle.

     Yvonne is a fascinating lady. She worked in corporate American for a number of years in the San Francisco Bay area. She was successful in her career, but unhappy. She read an article about raising goats and decided to make a huge lifestyle change.

     She is married to a junior high teacher and they have a home built into a hillside between Conrad and Choteau. In addition to caring for 400 goats, she also has a successful upholstery business.

     Yvonne graciously gave us the tour of her place. Jonathan was a bit timid at first, but got the hang of picking up the baby goats and snuggling them.

     He was very impressed with the huge pile of goat manure, which is supposed to come in second in richness only to bat guano. In the fall, we are planning to trade our garden leftovers for some manure.

     She had a very clever idea that I would like to share with people who raise goats. There is a semi truck dealership somewhat near her place. She gets their used "hood scoops" to use for goat shelters and they work very well. Hood scoops are the large pieces that fit on top of the truck sleeper cabs to deflect the wind.

     I should mention that the goats she raises are strictly for meat. Many people of ethnic origin, especially on the East coast, eat goat meat; such as Middle Easterners, Africans, Pacific Islanders, people of Mediterranean descent. It is mainly our Western culture that turns up our noses at goat meat. David and I hope to try some one day.

     David tells me that Yvonne has even written a book about raising goats called Way to Goat  and will be a columnist in a magazine about goats. She is truly amazing.

Hi again

{ 05:12 , Sunday, June 3, 2007 } { Posted by FarmWife }

I can't help but be drawn to blogs about goats--dairy or meat! The Goat Lady raises 400 goats. Good heavens, that's a lot of HAY. :-)
As far as goat meat is concerned...well, that gives me an idea. I think I'll blog about my goat adventures. Come on over!

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{ 09:12 , Sunday, June 3, 2007 } { Posted by talindamood }

This sounds like a fun adventure. I have never eaten goat meat. I'm not a vegetarian but not a huge meat eater either, so I probably wouldn't go out of my way to find it. When my Mom and step Dad were in Mexico on a mission trip they were invited to a neighboring community's church to fellowship, with a feast afterward. My Mom is the kind of person you can read every emotion she has as it crosses her face! She prayed that God would help her so that she would not hurt these beautiful people they were ministering to by gagging on "strange" food. After they had left that day my step Dad, who is fluent in Spanish, told her that her Tostada was made from goat meat. She told him, "I liked it and I don't want to know what it was!" LOL I didn't know that the goat manure was so good for gardening. I'll have to let my cousin know. She just bought 5 acres near Mt. Rainier. She wants to get a couple goats to help with the brush and undergrowth and she also wants to garden. This lady sounds fun and she certainly is a smart cookie! I'm glad your son got to experience the baby goats too.

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{ 09:01 , Monday, June 4, 2007 } { Posted by HandsNHearts }

What a great idea -- the semi hood scoop things! Never would have thought of that.
Right now we just have 2 little goats...not much of a 'herd' starting, but I'd love to get back with the milking goats again. The two little defective beauties we have right now are the Nubian-Boer crosses. I say defective because one has a hereditary hoof issue -- no pads in her front hooves :o( and the other is blind as a bat.

I loved having our goats back north.
Deanna

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{ 07:42 , Tuesday, June 5, 2007 } { Posted by erisarei }

Mmmmmm! You have to try goat curry! That is, if you like curry dishes. It's very good!

I've Missed You

{ 07:17 , Thursday, June 7, 2007 } { Posted by Patti }

I have missed you, so I decided to stop by and visit for a bit.

I, too, have never tried goat meat, and I probably won't. I am not much of a meat eater, but I love chicken. That and salmon are my foods of choice.
Actually, I really didn't even know that people ate goat meat. You only hear of using the milk.

May your day be blessed. By the way, I am missing blogging!

Love,
Patti