"Backyard Dairy Goats" book

Kate Downham wrote:They are so cute! And the fibre colours are beautiful. They look like very healthy goats.

I'll be checking on the pregnant goats later today, and will try to remember to bring my phone with me to get some photos of the babies.

Thank you! I know I'm head over heels. I just hope hubs gets there, too - And SOON!! Yay!! I so love baby goats!

Baby goats... These triplets are part saanen, part Anglo-Nubian.

Sooo ADORABLE, Kate!! I just wanna pick them up, and cuddle them!

Two more baby goats born here yesterday! A boy and a girl born to a first time mum, she went really well, and the kids are beautiful, healthy, and feeding well.

Super adorable, Kate!!! 😍😍😍😍😍

Kidding season is now finished for us... Geraldine hid in the forest for four days and came back with these snow white twins - a boy and a girl.

Raising goats free range brings lots of challenges at kidding time, I'm really happy that it went well this year.

I separated some of those babies from their mums overnight for the first time last night. They seemed to handle it fine, and I got four or five litres of milk in the morning while still leaving some milk in the udders for the babies.

So now I have a big batch of chévre on the go, as well as viili yoghurt, kefir, and lots of milk to drink!

This is my chévre recipe. It's also in the book.

Sometimes I meet people who are amazed at the amount of stuff I make from scratch and what I get done while having a lot of interests and responsibilities, but I think with strategies like the one above (making cheese directly in the milk jar), and many other strategies and recipes I've figured out, it's possible to have lots of homemade abundance with minimal time. This is one reason why I'm passionate about writing books and sharing skills - because all of this stuff can be doable, and finding strategies to fit it into lives results in reduced waste, increased resilience and food independence.

Hopefully this abundance will continue, and I can start making some small hard cheeses, mozzarella, paneer, and feta again (these recipes are all in my book). It is really exciting to have lots of fresh raw goat milk!

Kate Downham wrote:I separated some of those babies from their mums overnight for the first time last night. They seemed to handle it fine, and I got four or five litres of milk in the morning while still leaving some milk in the udders for the babies.

So now I have a big batch of chévre on the go, as well as viili yoghurt, kefir, and lots of milk to drink!

This is my chévre recipe. It's also in the book.

Sometimes I meet people who are amazed at the amount of stuff I make from scratch and what I get done while having a lot of interests and responsibilities, but I think with strategies like the one above (making cheese directly in the milk jar), and many other strategies and recipes I've figured out, it's possible to have lots of homemade abundance with minimal time. This is one reason why I'm passionate about writing books and sharing skills - because all of this stuff can be doable, and finding strategies to fit it into lives results in reduced waste, increased resilience and food independence.

Hopefully this abundance will continue, and I can start making some small hard cheeses, mozzarella, paneer, and feta again (these recipes are all in my book). It is really exciting to have lots of fresh raw goat milk!

W00t!!! This is fantastic, Kate!  I'm reading as often as I can, but I've got too many irons in the fire, so I'm falling behind, on EVERYTHING! We've family coming, Tuesday, to stay for a week, and I'm not ready for them - but, they're they ball I'm probably going to drop, first, because they're our (grown) kids, and we are just going to have to put them to work! Otherwise, we won't be ready for the goats, or hubs' puppy, that's coming right after the goats. I'm working on shampoo and conditioning bar recipes, and other herbal concoctions, to be ready for the week of vacation that's nestled between they departure of our kids, and the trip to pick up the goats, and the liars weather predictors claimed we would have several warm, sunny days this week, (when I was planning to do much of this outdoor work) and now my debilitated ol' bod is going to have to do this stuff in the cold & damp, and I'm still trying to do everything from scratch - I need shortcuts!

Kickstarter sent me an email today to wish me a happy anniversary...

1 year ago today Backyard Dairy Goats was successfully funded. Thanks again to everyone that helped out - you have all been so lovely : )

Thanks to everyone involved- you have helped bring my book to life and helped others to learn to care for goats naturally and make their own cheeses.

There's no time like the present to get some goats.

With all the stuff that is happening and could happen over the next few months, I'm glad I have dairy goats during this time.

Amazon have the Backyard Dairy Goats book on sale at the moment too: https://www.amazon.com/Backyard-Dairy-Goats-Natural-Approach/dp/0648466108

It's kidding season!