August went by in a flash! We were happy that we made it through with just one stretch of super hot and humid days. Whew! One way we keep the goats cool is through rotational grazing in the woods. And I am here to say that I am crazy for grazing! In my opinion, it is one of our farming practices that I am most proud of and I feel is most beneficial to our land and animals. The goats spend their time clearing weeds, eating sumac, grape leaves, poison ivy (yep, poison ivy!) and honeysuckle. I love hearing them munching away while they graze with their friends in the sunshine and fresh air. This is what nature intended for these amazing ruminant animals. Certainly, not confined or packed in tightly in a building. The animals that are in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) have no way to move or lay down.
Goats can provide an eco-friendly option to remove invasive plants from your land if managed correctly. In fact, they are powered by invasive leaves, not gas or diesel! The byproduct of this grazing is, dare I say a beautiful natural fertilizer. The goats digestive system breaks down weeds and seeds so they are not spreading the invasive seeds back into the environment. They do very little to disturb the soil which helps to decrease any erosion. One of the best parts is watching them eat their way through a pasture or woods. They love little sapling trees that they can bend to the ground by putting their front hooves on them for their friends to join in the feast. It is a pretty cool thing to observe.
We passed our annual Animal Welfare Audit last week. Please click here, if you would like to read more about this certification and the standards for dairy goats. We are proud to be certified by a Greener World as an animal Welfare approved farm and have been certified since 2016.
Thanks to all of you who purchased soap last month! We were able to donate 15 pounds of soap to the Eco Soap Bank! Please click here, if you would like to learn more about this amazing organization.
In other busy news, we will be harvesting honey this week! We will get it bottled in the next week or so. It will be for sale from the farm (please give us a call first) and online at our Etsy Shop.
We are hosting a Fall Festival on the Farm on September 28 from 11 – 3PM. This is a fundraiser for Healing Herd Therapy Farm (housed here at Gretta’s Goats) to provide free Animal Assisted Therapy for kids. Please like and follow our Facebook and Instagram pages for Healing Herd Therapy Farm as all news of HHTF will soon be found there. All the details for the fall festival and tickets can be found here.
If you would like to join us for fall goat hike or farm class please click here. Tickets are selling fast for fall goat hikes.
As always we are grateful to each and every one of you who keep our farm going from year to year! See you soon.