Wrapping Up the Summer

Vines beside the driveway

As we wrap up summer here on the farm, the 2010 kids have gotten as big as some of the grasses they are charged with trimming, and the plant life is showing signs of autumn. Yesterday I noticed a black walnut tree shedding swirls of yellow leaves on a morning breeze only to realize that the camera was inside the house. The heat has raged furiously this summer, prompting multiple changes of clothing each day and encouraging sedentary behavior. Even so, we welcome the cooler seasons with mixed feelings--saying goodbye is never easy, not even to days soaked with humidity over whom towering clouds sail until the afternoon thunderclouds loom heavily across the skies.

Walter at work

The 2010 bucklings are sporting some delightful topknots and pompadours. Although the photo does not do Walter's hairdo justice, we find it reminds us a bit of the original Walter for whom Thumbelina's older twin is named.

This Walter has surpassed even Graham in the independence department. Graham who saw no fence as a barrier and no cage as an enclosure is now corralled with the buckling herd behind the barn, but Walter continues to roam free. He prefers to hang out with the goat gals--which is acceptable so long as he is not demonstrating breeding behavior. With a five-month gestation period for caprine critters, we're hoping to delay the goat breeding season until later this fall because a crop of spring kids will have better chances at survival than kids delivered in the dead of winter.

We had hoped to host a buck exchange program, trading BullyBob with a brown Nigerian Dwarf buck named Boots from a nearby farm for a month or two; however, a telephone call yesterday revealed that Boots succumbed to pneumonia over the winter. His owners then divested themselves of Nigerian Dwarfs and are focusing solely on their fainting goat herd. Here at P&CW Farm we need to focus our goat breeding program as well. As much fun as the Nigerian Dwarf goats are, I think we may be leaning toward larger goats for milk and meat.

Marcie and Luther, side by side

After all, Marcie--our Saanen-Nubian cross dairy goat--has so improved our quality of life with her abundant supply of fresh, wholesome milk that she has made us converts for life.Should we ever even consider forgetting milking time, the barn cat Barney will come down to the house and twine himself insistently back-and-forth through our ankles until we get the hint, "It's milking time, people! Get to work!"

The cats take precedence at the milking stand, always receiving the first bowl of milk despite any eager canines in attendance. Only after the cats have been appeased will we collect milk for human or canine consumption.

With cooler days ahead, we can look forward to increased milk production and overall better herd health. Did I say I would miss summer? Not so. Allow me to revise that remark immediately: Welcome Fall!