Two More Goats

Roxie takes a moment to welcome Rosencrantz into the world.


Jumper gave birth to Rosencrantz and Guildentstern, both boys, on Saturday afternoon. Our friends (and CSA members) Jill and Dale were out for a visit and got to help with the birth and aftermath.

The names reference the fated characters in Hamlet, and pay homage to Tom Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. It helps remind us of the future destiny of these guys.

The goats born on Friday are named Marshall and Rosenberg, in honour of the developer of Compassionate Communication. Whether or not it's an honour to have goats named after you depends on your own opinion of goats, I guess.

Now we're just waiting on Gertie and Zola. Gertie is looking about ready to have her kids any time. Zola will likely be another week or so. There is a huge benefit to knowing when your goats were bred. Next time we'll know!

First baby goats of the season

Two male kids were born this morning. I checked in on the goats just after 6 a.m. and realized that Worri was in labour. I moved her to a separate area and by the time breakfast was over at 7:30 the two little ones were out and licked off. They're both feeding and Worri is doing well -- she downed about three liters of water and molasses in two minutes!

New kids are a sure sign of spring and the cycle of life on the farm. By the time these two boys will be ready for slaughter in the fall we'll have gone through an entire season of farming.

So, as we balance the obligations of tending new animals with harvesting for market tomorrow I am reminded of the quote we put on our farm Thanksgiving card in 2009. From "The Pleasures of Eating" by Wendell Berry:

The pleasure of eating should be an extensive pleasure, not that of the mere gourmet. People who know the garden in which their vegetables have grown and know that the garden is healthy and remember the beauty of the growing plants, perhaps in the dewy first light of morning when gardens are at their best. Such a memory involves itself with the food and is one of the pleasures of eating. The knowledge of the good health of the garden relieves and frees and comforts the eater. The same goes for eating meat. The thought of the good pasture and of the calf contentedly grazing flavors the steak. Some, I know, will think of it as bloodthirsty or worse to eat a fellow creature you have known all its life. On the contrary, I think it means that you eat with understanding and with gratitude. A significant part of the pleasure of eating is in one's accurate consciousness of the lives and the world from which food comes. The pleasure of eating, then, may be the best available standard of our health. And this pleasure, I think, is pretty fully available to the urban consumer who will make the necessary effort.

This helps keep the season in perspective.