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| Chris and Idun, Rosemary and Skadi |
We got goats! Two
nubian doe-kids who we hope will chow down on the ubiquitous "Himalayan" Blackberry, and maybe provide us with milk next year if we decided to take them to a buck this winter. They are incredibly adorable and follow us tenaciously, eating when we stop and calling if we move away (especially if we go in different directions, something they have little tolerance for). The first few days and nights were very stressful though because the kids had just been weaned, and they cried ceaselessly when we left them alone. In fact they lost their voices, and take it from me, a hoarse nubian screaming in distress is one of the most pitiful and heart-wrenching sounds I've heard. Now they're getting used to spending time alone, though they haven't yet gotten their normal voices back fully. Salutations to our neighbors who put up with them, and to bobcat and bear who haven't troubled them, though I'm sure they had a peak through the bushes...
Now we can experiment to see if goats can effectively control the blackberry!
2 comments:
I'll be watching with bated breath to see how this comes out. Our nano-farm is named Braamekraal, which is Afrikaans for Blackberry... errr... "kraal". Guess what we have lots of.
How are you going to be fencing the goats. Or tethering?
Hi Chris!
Been a while. I can see that you and Rosemary are still going strong towards your dreams. That's fantastic! I dont have an ounce of regret for my own decision to depart from Montreal and come live here. I'm certain your own adventure will be as fullfilling as mine. Summer here in Gaspesie was great. A little too wet and not quite enough sun for the tomatoes, squashes and cabbages in the garden but averall a fantastic organic harvest. I keep on improving my old house and our self«everything». My 16 yo boy Jerome joined me this year to finish his highschool here. I'm greatfull for the oportunity to teach him the ways of nature, autonomy and selfsufficience and, so far, he seem to love it. The cupboards are full of great recepies in mason jars, freezers full of bartered «wood» meat and fish and next years' seed are drying up in the greenhouse. The next weeks will be spent on getting the furnice wood in and then we'll wait for winter to bury us in a cosy blanket.
Take goo care as I'm sure you will and may Gaïa hug you dearly in her loving arms.
Jean-René Martin
zenon@zenonjunior.com
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