Raising Bucks: 2012

Bucks, like many other cattle, battle for dominance at times and at other times simply agree to get along.  Here are 2 bucklings sparring.  This is Achilles, on the left, and Triton, on the right - both born in 2012.  Triton recently purchased- further details below.


Here is a portrait of the bucks on our farm in 2012 and the breeding facts.

Bucks from left to right:

Butler - arapawa/saanen cross
2010
purchased off farm
Arapawa is a small animal found on island of Arapawa in New Zealand

Helios - saanen/arapawa cross
6/2/2011 from doe (Further/Saanen)  Buck (Butler/Arapawa)

Cupid -  saanen/arapawa cross
2/14/2012 from doe(Pearl/Saanen)  Buck(Butler/Arapawa)

Achilles -  saanen/arapawa cross
4/2/2012 from doe (Khaos/ from Sorrelina & Butler) Buck (Helios/ from Further & Butler)

Triton - nubian cross
2012
purchased off farm

We keep our goats as a non kill facility.  We may  be partnering with another family looking to produce goat meet concurrent with our dairy operations.  We are giving it some thought.  For myself, a vegetarian, I find it difficult putting an end to a life that I care for on a daily basis - not from the standpoint of the work that I do or the TLC, tender love and care - but more from the standpoint of really seeing through to the soul of every creature.

That being said I know that not everyone is a vegetarian and that includes some of the animals in my care for decades - notably dogs and cats.  Since I feed them meat, based on the very nature of their food choices.  I witness my cats harvest many mammals from the wild including field mice, birds, chipmunks and rabbits.  I have run to the rescue of many of these animals - preferring to give them a chance at life when I can save them.  That is just my nature.  So how do I reconcile raising animals and also sending them to slaughter.  I will post on this again and continue to ponder on it.

In the meantime we have 4 withers and may not use the arapawa cross bucks for breeding since the offspring are too small for dairy, in my opinion.

Music: Favorite mellancamp song

Back to the Farm: Cheesemaking

Back to the Farm: Goat's Milk & Cheese

Lilac Wine

Garlic Festival

I am sure sales from this festival helps many a farmer pay their property taxes for a year!  For us this year it was a chance to replenish our garlic seed to plant which is in short supply due to freakish  crop losses.  Must be the weather.  Anyway, our garlic is a hardneck rocambole, easy to peel, medium sized cloves and  bulbs, and mild flavor.

Garlic is key to our Italian Farmhouse Recipes and helps ward off garden pests, as well as being really suitable to our UpState NY climate growing conditions.

The festivals that we know of at this time include the Hudson Valley - hvgf.org, one by the garlic seed foundation, another in Vermont at lovegarlic.com, plus another NY festival  www.svgarlicfestival.com/

Nina Prize: The New York Times

We grew up reading one of the best newspapers published.  Their numerous prizes for investigative reporting helped keep democracy free.  The Sunday paper was always a big treat - and I mean big - back in the day before internet service, of course.

I salute the paper - my first Nina Prize - and thank them for all the great reporting and general interest stories.  I've tried to learn a lot from reading this newspaper.

here are some of the journalist excellence  - these items are highlighted in the Times - the list goes on:

"An investigation into how Wal-Mart used bribery to dominate the market in Mexico. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2013.

This series delved into business practices by Apple and other technology companies, showing the darker side of a changing global economy. Winner of a Pulitzer Prize in 2013.

An investigation into unexplained deaths of developmentally disabled people in New York group homes. Finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2012"

Today, it is fashionable to say how the "liberal news media" are co-opting our democracy.  Others state that conservative media misleads the public to further their agenda.

In my opinion, one needs to do research - which means studying many sources.  The many facets of a newspaper such as The New York Times can't be labeled - first and foremost - it is educational.   Intellect can be measured.  And reporters for this organization meet this criteria on every level.  They are one of many sources I use for research.  I invite you to read articles on a subject you know something about - and see why their coverage is top notch!  

POSTSCRIPT:
In this age 2017, when powerful people declare "fake news" and random people publish "fake news" - it is good to have an expert in the field that rises above all of it. Like the doctor you relied on to perform surgery - the one that saved your life - or the other kind - the "Quack" - that made you sicker - the importance of professional journalism should NOT be understated or taken for granted.  The New York Times is that journalism - the organization is not infallible - but they make a strong effort to report the news - to investigate - to be above the fray...and unlike certain persuasions who liken every form of intelligentsia to "liberal" values - intellect is not lost on me - and I hope - not lost on the majority of humans - without it - we do not have civilization at it's best.  

The New York Times has won many many Pulitzer Prizes over the decades!

2017 Pulitzer Prize Winners - 3 for NYT!