A Day On The Farm

Hello! My name is Amber and I am working at Dreamfarm this Summer alongside Diana and Alicia. I thought I would share a day on the farm with you. Get ready for cute overload! It doesn't get better than baby goats!

As soon as I arrive Marley and Attica, the family dogs, are at my door greeting me with their kisses and paws. The day begins in the cheeserie (with coffee and NPR) where we pack cheese orders for Willy Street Co-op, CSA, and/or the Farmers Market. The fresh goat cheese is portioned into stainless steel bowls by Diana and fresh herbs are added. Garlic, Herbs de Provence, and Dill to name a few. After each container is filled and weighed, they are labeled and stored in the cooler ready for delivery and market day. After cleaning the cheeserie and washing dishes it is usually lunch time. Now that the beautiful sun and breeze are finally showing themselves, we have been sitting at the picnic table enjoying a salad and each others company Watching the cats lay in the hot sun and the dogs getting bored and feisty with each other is our entertainment. 

One afternoon Alicia and I made two pens outside for the baby goats as they will be outside from now on. It was interesting trying to get them to follow us to their new home; they kept scampering back to the familiar barn so we eventually carried them one by one to their pens. It was really sweet watching them experience the sunlight and fresh grass for the first time. 

After lunch we collect eggs from the five hen houses and lay new straw in their roosts if needed. I have decided I am not a fan of chickens but I love their eggs so I can't complain! The eggs are washed by hand and Diana puts them into cartons for market after they are dry.

We also clean pens in the barn (Yes! It is gross!) and then the farm chores start! All of the animals need to be fed before evening and this takes around 2 hours, which is on the light side I am told, since there will be more to do as the season progresses and as more animals are added to the farm. We are getting pigs soon! 

All of the chickens are given grain in their troughs and water is refreshed. The lady goats receive generous portions of fresh hay and the three youngest baby goats are bottle fed warm goats milk! It's as cute and charming as you would imagine it to be! I'm in heaven! The dogs and cats are next. P.S. Marley is at our side the entire time "herding" the animals and terrorizing one of the cats she likes to pick on. After the goats are fed we take hay out to the sheep and jersey cows and look for more eggs the chickens like to lay in various places on the farm. At the end of chores we take buckets of milk with nipple attachments out to the pens and feed the rest of the baby goats. They like to play and distract themselves so we are constantly putting them back on the nipples to make sure they are eating enough. They love climbing up our legs and nibbling anything they can get their little mouths on. 

This is an ordinary day at the farm ~ the work is onstant but rewarding at the end of the day. I'm looking forward to this season with Dreamfarm.

Kids and Cheese

     The season officially begins when the first baby goat (kid) is born. That happened on March 11, a beautiful healthy single doeling. Her name is Orlee and she is growing so fast. In a typical year, we are over half done with our kidding by mid-March. It is April 8 and only 8 does have kidded. We are waiting (impatiently) for another 24 mothers to have their kids, which means approximately 48 more babies. Goats most likely will have twins, and triplets are not uncommon. We have had quads in the past, but we prefer the mother to birth 2 nice big kids rather than 4 little kids. Kids have a much better start if they have some weight when they are born. Hazel, our lovely Alpine, had triplets on April 1, two girls and a boy. She is giving us lots of milk, a very good milker for Dreamfarm, and we plan to keep her does (baby girls) to join the milking herd next year.
     Soon we will have enough milk to make our first batch of fresh goat cheese. It is exciting to get back into our cheeserie and craft cheese; once the cheese schedule starts, the days and weeks are filled.
     The first cheese we will make is our fresh goat cheese, also known as chèvre. After 4 milkinsg (2 days) we will have enough milk to process. The milk is hauled from our milkhouse to the cheeserie in sanitized buckets. All the milk is gently poured into our vat/pasteurizer and heated gently to 145 degrees for 30 minutes. This is a federal requirement for all fresh cheese. Then the milk is cooled to 75 degrees, and culture and vegetarian rennet are added. The vat of milk is left to develop overnight into a wonderful yogurt-like consistency. In the morning, it is gently hand-ladled into cheesecloths lined baskets and drains until the following morning. This creamy cheese is mixed with salt and herbs and hand packed into containers. It is stored in our walk-in cooler until delivery.
     Dreamfarm offers this fresh cheese through our CSA. Shares are still available. If you would like to receive this cheese every other week through the season, please check out our website at www.dreamfarm.biz. We would be happy to have you join us!
     Dreamfarm cheese is also available at the Westside Community Market beginning April 16 at the Hillfarms Office parking lot, and at the Willy Street Coops.