Goat Fix

Hello folks,

Yes, I've been missing in action this past month and now I'm back.  Probably.  Let me see... We are on the verge of closing on a farm!  My company will be located in Dudley, Massachusetts on 23 acres of pasture.  The hay barn will be converted into the cheesemaking facility.  The goats will come later.  Know of any good general contractors on the Worcester area?  Pictures to come...

In other news, I seem to be the happy target of videos starring goats.  Friends have been posting to my Facebook page and what better way to share the cuteness (and oddity) than to compile them here:

Someone in Utah feels really strongly about the wild goats of the area.  He has taken communing with Nature to a whole new level, as told by The Bellingham Herald on July 20th.

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/07/20/2609402/goat-man-spotted-in-mountains.html

On July 12th, the Huffington Post Los Angeles featured a story about Dana McGregor's surfing goats spotted on San Onofre State Beach.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/surfing-goats_n_1670261.html?utm_hp_ref=los-angeles#slide=1220377

Backcountry.com Facebook Page, what.

https://www.facebook.com/Backcountry

Buttermilk Sky is a ROCK STAR! At the expense of siblings.

In the mood for life

Oh my!  Half way through my two-week apprenticeship at La Chèvrerie de la Grandouze and I am as thrilled as ever to be in cheese and agriculture.  Isabelle and Jacques Douillon have been at it for nearly 30 years, starting out on their own in their early 20s after several less-then-interesting farm hand jobs.  With degrees in agriculture, this young couple began with 50 goats in the Beaujolais mountains.  While at lower altitudes the land is almost entirely covered with vineyards, the Douillon land is just higher than the famous grapes and rests in a cozy bowl between two mountain faces.  From their barn you can look to the south and see the clouds run up the western mountains and back down to the east.  When the rest of the landscape is covered in fog, you can often find the sun at la Grandouze. 

Today, Jacques cares for about 160 goats, producing between 200 and 400 liters of milk per day depending on the season.  Meanwhile, Isabelle makes between 400 and 800 fresh goat cheeses, depending on the type.  While most farmers in the area work alone, the couple decided early on to employ people to help with the cheese and the goats because they value their time off.  While this small enterprise runs every single day of the year, Isabelle and Jacques manage to take every Thursday off (except when something needs their attention, which happens often) as well as one weekend per month.  Side projects abound, inspiring new energy in what could be a tiring daily ritual.  For instance, Thomas, their eldest son, has come back to the farm to create an educational center complete with a new reception room, yurts and walking path.

Last Tuesday I was alone in the barn when a mama goat went into labor.  Doing as I had seen Thomas and Jacques do, I held on to the kid's front legs as they emerged in the correct, superman-style position.  I made sure the head was in position with my fingers, and after some very painful goat yelling I held a new born kid in my hands.  Holding the kid upside down, as I had observed, I worked the front legs back and forth to encourage breathing and then laid him down, encouraged by his sneeze.  The doe then proceeded to lick her infant clean and I left the pen happy and very proud.

Agriculture is funny

Oh, my. Thanks again to flatmate, Andy. Besides the craftiness the advert writers have displayed in reaching a younger crowd of consumers, I just love the image that this dairy advertisement portrays of farmers. Dare I hope that my generation will bring ingenuity in holism for global agriculture? Yes, I dare.



Yeo Valley isn't the only dairy company amusing itself with clever self-promotion. Whilst painting cheeses recently, I imagined the team of MonS affineurs walking together in slow motion towards the video camera, Charlie's Angels-style. Blaring cheese drying fans would glamorously whip back our hairnets and aprons. We'd have in hands our affinage brushes, our pallet film, our straw mats, and Andy wants to roll in a giant wheel of Emmental. Friends and coworkers last night suggested a choreographed dance. And Andy thinks Hervé should make a cameo appearance at the end with a very serious wink right before cheese-filled rolling racks from both sides cross in front of the big boss and end the scene. It would be brilliant.

But on a much more serious note, a friend of mine sent me this clip documenting the threat goats pose in America:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
People Destroying America- Goats Steal Landscaping Jobs
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election March to Keep Fear Alive