One of The Goats Being Silly
Little Stella, being silly.
One thing is guaranteed, when you keep goats. They are endlessly searching for a way out of their enclosure. Endlessly putting in a concerted effort to even invent one. Here, they have opened up a hole in the fence that they can stick their heads out of to yell at me if ever I am a few minutes late at feeding time. Sometimes it happens. I am imperfect and human. But of course they are always fed. Not that they are actually even hungry given we only keep a small number in an area that could easily keep more than twice that number fed even with out additional feeding. They are in fact so fat, the vet told me to stop feeding them. I simply can not do that though. I did however cut way down on the quantity in an effort to follow the vet’s advice. So here is little Stella, sticking her head out to tell me off for being late and stingy.
To be perfectly clear, the vet told me after looking at their situation that they get all they need from what is naturally there this time of year. She recommended that feeding is only really required during the winter months. We believe strongly in listening to and following all vet recommendations. Farming is a sacred trust. One between people and the living things we keep. If they still have plenty in the bowl then maybe let them eat that first. But if it’s empty you fill it. You make sure they have food and fresh clean water. Except perhaps in the goose pool. No matter how hard I try to keep that thing clean he filths it up. Still, I replace the water in it just about every day though you wouldn’t tell from looking at it after it has been in use by the goose for 5 minutes.
I just thought this was very cute and silly and thought maybe it would be a fun thing to share. So there it is. Otherwise, aside from getting chewed out by the goat, the day is hot but beautiful, a bit humid, and the air smells like the forest. It is one of those days I would spend by the pool if I had one. But since I don’t I guess it is just as well to spend it getting chewed out by one of the goats. Yes, she can get her head back into her enclosure. She isn’t being injured in any way by the fence. I checked.
There are few things as amusing to a city girl like me, as getting chewed out by a goat early in the afternoon. The shenanigans, goats pull are constant and always adorable and pretty funny. They are an unending source of amusement. Every time they do something cute and naughty I am reminded again how much I love being out here living on my terms, working to be as self sufficient as I am able to be without dropping from exhaustion. Even when things are not going well…. Better that they go badly out here than back in the land of convenience, throngs of people, parking lots, tall buildings, and traffic with it’s noise and pollution. I am never sorry I came out here 7 years ago to teach myself a new way to live due to the pesky food issue that sent me to the hospital and forced me to think about eating a more organic and natural way, and due to how much cleaner the air is, how this place and it’s cleanness has inspired me to learn to be more clean and to work with the systems of nature rather than against them. I am never sorry I left it all behind to live my life out here, through the use of my hands as well as my wits. There is a science to it all that must be learned and that can be studied for a life time and still not known in full. I love the challenge of trying to do it all myself. And I love adorable moments like this one that make me laugh till my sides hurt.
Thank you for reading
Amanda of Wildflower Farm
Tags: ag, agriculture, agro, B&B, barn yard, dairy goats, DIY, farm, farm wife, farm wife blog, farmer, farming, Farming New England, farmstead, fur babies, goatcatraz, goats, homestead, homestead farm, homestead wife, homestead wife blog, homesteader, homesteading, homesteading New England, house wife, housewife, housewife blog, inn keeper, inn keeper's blog, inn keeping, lifestyle, massachusetts, Naughty, naughty goats, new england, new england homesteading, self sufficiency, self sufficiency homestead, self sufficiency life style, self sufficient, simple living, simpler way of life, stay home wife, stay home wife blog, travel, wildflower farm
Wildflower Farm, is a small New England homestead, B&B and AirBnB, in the Baystate. We came out here 7 years ago, when we returned from the better part of 10 years as peripatetic aristotelian nomads, for my husband's post docs. Upon our return, we had a plan. We had a lovely home. Everything was so clear. Then, I got sick. Things I used to eat all the time during our travels elsewhere in the world and even here before I left almost 10 years earlier made me ill. It took a couple trips to the ER and a trip to specialist... It became clear, something had changed in the way food is processed in this country since last I lived here. Some off label things was inevitably going to be my demise.
My husband and I looked around to see the clear path we were on, had exploded in front of us. We decided we had to create a new path for ourselves. We put children on hold. We found a small piece of land with a house we loved in a rural suburb in a right to farm area. I began researching how to do it ourselves. Grow it ourselves, make it ourselves, survive on our own as much as possible. We bought the property, and began plotting a new course. One that didn't involve off label chemicals. Closer to nature, with a lot more DIY, gardens, and animals for the products they provide. We created a life we loved though it hasn't always been easy and has of course come with compromise with each other, and even with ourselves.
Our family thought we had lost our minds. What were we doing leaving the city? We had no idea how hard this would be. They thought we would be back in 6 months. That was over 7 years ago, now. We have been making it work. They were not wrong, it isn't easy. But has anything worth doing ever been easy? And for us, avoiding as much store bought food as possible was simply necessary so I could live given how sick I was getting.
Then Covid hit.... We were lucky to have this place. It has allowed us a lot less need for public use territories which has kept us a lot safer and spared us much of the risk others face daily. This place, has given us a privilege through this of great meaning to us. To be of use in a difficult time. We have been able to help friends family and even strangers in need when things couldn't be found on store shelves. Or money was tight due to not working, rent being due and a child at home, or some other draining situation. We are so very grateful to have been able to not be helpless like so much of society through this miserable time. Our families, got used to it some time ago, us being out here. They made peace with it the day there was no bread and they had to ask me for some. Or when fresh vegies were rotten due to supply chain issues but they could find plenty in my garden.
Wildflower Farm, was a place I dreamed of. One of those sweet pastoral dreams a city dweller grows up knowing will never come true, that became unavoidable when I became ill. I never expected to get to do this. I never thought I had what it takes to make this work. I have learned pacing myself is important, compromise is critical, hard work never ends, burn out is real so breaks are just a necessary evil.
We are not fully self sufficient, but we work hard in that direction as we create a new path through life for ourselves, always reaching to do even more ourselves and to get closer to the ideal we envision. We are however far more self sufficient than many in this world. 7 years in, we continue to learn and grow in this homesteading lifestyle. We welcome comments and advice and ideas and questions.
We welcome visitors from all over to our home with strict covid policies in place. We spend our time learning to live all over again in a more environmental and sustainable way though even there we are far from perfect always learning and growing doing better as we know better.
This little homestead farm is a magical place named for the New England wildflowers that grow all around. A place where a physicist, watches the night sky on clear nights with the aide of mirror and glass, and a woman, works endlessly in the gardens, the kitchen, and a variety of projects to create and to keep a very unique life style running and functioning. Wildflower Farm, has become so much more than simply a piece of land we can grow a few vegetables on. The longer I spend here, the more alive the land seems, the more I learn about it's function and the more meaning it has. My place in the universe and the next steps on our new path become ever more clear.
We welcome you on this journey with us.
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