Sangha Farm: Grown the Way Nature Intended

MA Raw Milk News
ACTION ALERT, April 2010

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MA Raw Milk Farms Threatened as State Moves to Make Buying Clubs Illegal


The State of Massachusetts is proposing new language to be added to the regulations that govern the sale of raw milk, which would make it illegal for consumers to entrust another individual to purchase milk from the farm for them. This is aimed at the buying clubs that have made raw milk available and accessible to hundreds of families over the years. The purchases made through these clubs have been instrumental in helping to sustain dairy farms and these clubs have saved thousands of gallons of gas by essentially carpooling milk.


There will be a public hearing on this proposed change on May 10 at 10:00 a.m. in Conference Room A on the second floor of 100 Cambridge Street, Boston, MA. We are urging everyone who is concerned about food rights, access to healthy milk, and the preservation of Massachusetts dairy farms to attend and be heard. Written comments will also be accepted up until May 10, and may be sent to Scott J. Soares, Department of Agricultural Resources, 251 Causeway Street, Boston, MA 02114.


We are also urging people to contact their legislators to express their opposition to this proposed change. (To see who your representatives are, see here.) Educate your senators and representatives with the following information:
MDAR supports the sale of raw milk at the farm and regulates it to ensure its safety. There is no valid public health reason to distinguish between a person going to the farm to purchase milk for themselves, and having someone else bring it to them.
Raw milk for sale at the farm must meet the exact same testing requirements for pasteurized milk sold in grocery stores, yet there are certainly no restrictions on buying pasteurized milk for others.
These clubs have been in operation for years, some of them very publicly. MDAR has certainly known about them. During that time there have been absolutely no public health problems. That kind of success should be rewarded with an expansion of markets, not a reduction.
The clubs do not sell or distribute milk - they do not maintain an inventory, mark up their product, or offer it for sale to the public. They are acting as agents of individual consumers who contract with the private club to provide a service.
The proposed change is so broad that it would make it illegal to pick up a gallon of milk for your neighbor.
Buying clubs save gas and the environment, just like carpooling.
Buying clubs support the farmers, which means protecting jobs, preserving farmland and helping the economy.
No state in the nation has acted in this way to make milk buying clubs illegal. It is short-sighted and counter-productive on the part of Massachusetts officials to try to do so, as it will harm dairy farms and likely result in consumers purchasing milk from dairies that are not licensed to sell raw milk. Milk from these dairies is not tested by MDAR to ensure that it meets the standards for human consumption, and a regulation that would result in people drinking milk from these farms is unacceptable.


The proposed change would have negative effects on other farms and farm products as well, as the clubs often also purchase produce and other products from neighboring farms for their members. With milk being the main product for these clubs, if they are no longer allowed to purchase milk for their members they may well also stop buying other products.


The full text of the proposed language to be inserted is:


"No person shall sell, distribute, provide or offer for consumption to the public any raw milk elsewhere than on a dairy farm where that raw milk was produced provided that to such farm a Certificate of Raw Milk for Retail Sale has been issued by the Commissioner. For the purposes of these Regulations the term "offer for consumption" shall include any sampling of milk by the public or offering of samples to the public."



The full regulation is available at:
http://www.mass.gov/agr/legal/docs/330-CMR-27.00-Proposed-Raw-Milk-Regulation.pdf


For more information, or to find out how you can get involved in the Massachusetts Raw Milk Network, a program of NOFA/Mass, please contact Winton Pitcoff at winton@nofamass.org.

We have nine pregnant goats and five pregnant sheep, which means at least 30 babies are on their way — and we really could use some help with naming all our babies!

We have decided on a flower theme this year. Send us your favorite flower and if we choose it as one of our babies names, we'll email you a picture of the lamb or kid along with a coupon for a free goat cheese truffle made by us from our goats. Coupons are redeemable at the Ashfield or Florence Farmers’ Markets beginning in May. (goat cheese truffles are slightly sweetened chevre dipped in semi-sweet chocolate)

Babies will be born beginning the first week of March through June. Our sheep Cassie will be the first one to have babies the beginning of March. Being a Finn Sheep she’s probably going to have 4-5 babies, maybe even 6! Births will be announced through Hilltown Families and our facebook page (Sangha Farm).

Keep in mind that we can come up with names like Rose, Petunia and Violet ourselves. What we're looking for are names of lesser known flowers. So get creative and share your favorite exotic flower or rare New England species. Email your flower name to us info@sanghafarm.com Thanks

WATCH THE BROADCAST AND TAKE ACTION
Democracy Now! Reports on the Growing Stop Siddiqui Campaign



President Obama's nominee for the Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the office of the US Trade Representative, Islam Siddiqui is currently a vice president at CropLife America, a coalition of the major industrial players in the pesticide industry, including Syngenta, Monsanto, and Dow Chemical. He was previously a lobbyist for CropLife and also served in the US Department of Agriculture under President Clinton and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. A coalition of over eighty environmental, family farm and consumer advocacy organizations, including the Organic Consumers Association, have sent a letter to the Senate Finance Committee urging them to reject his nomination.


The Organic Consumers Association is initiating a letter-writing campaign asking the USDA to take quick action on the NOSB recommendation. While we wait for the USDA to begin enforcement actions, we're calling on consumers to boycott fake, falsely labeled organic body care brands, and instead to buy only USDA certified organic products.


WATCH THE BROADCAST AND TAKE ACTION
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27042
(copy & paste to your browser)

TAKE ACTION: Stop Siddiqui
Islam Siddiqui, Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

Islam Siddiqui has been nominated as the Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. If Congress confirms Siddiqui, he will no doubt continue to undermine public health, biodiversity, climate stability and food security as the "inside man" in the Obama Administration for his former clients at CropLife (a front group for genetic engineering and chemical-intensive agribusiness corporations including Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont and Dow Chemical).




Croplife America’s regional partner, Mid America CropLife Association, notoriously “shuddered” at Michelle Obama’s organic garden and launched a letter writing campaign in protest, saying that Michelle's rejection of toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers in the White House Garden was a slap in the face for Food Inc. and America's chemically-addicted farmers.

Another Washington wheeler-dealer using the revolving door between government and big business, Siddiqui formerly worked for Clinton's pro-biotech USDA. Siddiqui gained notoriety in 1997-98 as an insider pushing for the infamous proposed USDA regulations for national organic standards that would have allowed toxic sewage sludge, irradiated foods, and genetically modified organisms to be labeled "organic." At the time, Siddiqui explained:

"Number one, there's no prohibition in law against these two issues, both GMOs and irradiation. Number two, we know that Organics Board had recommended against those two items in the organic agriculture. There's a considerable debate on these issues; it's a public debate issue. So essentially, the department has felt that we want to open it up, we want to seek comments. And it could be any one of the three choices; either it could be allowed, it could be prohibited, or it could be allowed on a case-by-case basis, especially dealing with GMOs"

This appeared in the Ashfield News a few years ago. I thought it was beautiful, actually when I read it it brings tears to my eyes. It really captures what it is to be a farmer.

“ I Am Only A Farmer”
By: Anonymous

I am only a farmer. I know the sun better than anyone. And the soil. And the wind. And the rain. I am the person who works with them. Who loves them. And who sometimes fears them.

I am only a farmer. I am the sower of seeds. I am the tender of stock. I am the reaper of harvest. I am sweat. And tears. And pride.

I am only a farmer. I am the person who feeds the young. And the old. The weak. And the strong. I am the black earth of Spring. The green hills of Summer. The harvest gold of Autumn. And the cold white stillness of winter.

I am only a farmer. I am warm memories of the past. The steely reality of the present. And a hopeful dream of the future. I am an optimist. A thinker. A watcher. And a doer.

I am only a farmer. I live in a complex world. Made of simple things. And they are my source & joy. And hope. And comfort. I have walked the morning fogs. I have paused for the Summer song of the meadowlark. And I have savored the breeze off freshly cut hay. I have paused remembering, by the stream I knew as a child. I have felt the power of a thousand storms. And rejoiced in the fresh world left in their wake.

I am only a farmer. I am accountant. Chemist. And doctor. I am midwife. And mechanic. I am seller. Trader. And buyer. Helper. And partner to my spouse. I am parent. Comforter. And teacher to my children.

I am only a farmer. Not a person of riches. But a person of great wealth. I have learned to treasure life. And all things living. To respect their maker. And my own. I am humbled by the earth’s bounty. And awed by endless rebirth. I am fascinated by the marvelous intricacies of my world. And enriched by their beauty.

I am only a farmer. If a person can be truly free, then I truly am. The day. The week. The month. They have been entrusted to me. They are mine to spend. They are mine to invest. They are mine to use wisely. It is a solitary profession I have chosen. Or, perhaps, that I have been chosen for. A profession where there are no certainities. Where no guarantees are granted. No promises given. No excuses taken. I have but one person to answer to. One person to depend on. One person to confide in. And in the quiet of the years, I have come to know me well.

I am only a farmer. I am perseverance. And creativity.

I am only a farmer. I am confidence. And ingenuity. And intelligence.

I am only a farmer. A seeker of excellence……..and I will endure.

Rain, Sun, Hail, Thunder…What’s Next?
A word from Derek your farmer:
I originally wrote this section on Monday after 3 full days of sun, but then Tuesday another storm came through this time with hale, so I decided to rewrite. The Ashfield News reported in its July edition that as of June 22nd there were 14 recorded days of rain, dropping 5.34” of precipitation. As we have seen the rain didn’t stop on the 22nd. What does that mean for our crops? They are in desperate need of sun & more than just a day here or a day there, we need weeks of sun in order for the plants to catch up to where they should be. While we haven’t had extensive crop loss as some farms in the Valley have, we have lost a few. The last planting of green leaf lettuce rotted from the rain, the cucumbers & summer squash which we should be harvesting from right now have just sat there waiting for the sun to show so the plants could grow. Those plants went in right before the rain began last month. I have had to replant where plants rotted, for the 3rd time on Thursday we replanted yet again. We are having to face the fact that this may just not be a good year for cucumbers. Peppers & eggplant which also went in right before the rains started have also just sat there, we’re hoping they will bounce back & start growing. Some onions were pulled out of the ground due to the hale on Tuesday.
Another issue is not being able to get the next set of plantings in; the ground just can’t be worked when it’s saturated with moisture. I was finally able to get the beds ready for the next plantings of carrots, beets, lettuce mix, and green beans on Thursday. Today after harvesting I’m hoping the compost will be dried off enough to turn in so we can plant. On the brighter side of the weather, the cooler temps have been great for the broccoli, kales, & chard. The cabbages look pretty good also & should be ready to harvest in the next couple of weeks.
What does all this mean? There is going to be a lull in the crops soon, it doesn’t mean you won’t receive anything, just that there may not be anything new on our tables. The season started out so well, & there was such an abundance of food. If you have taken everything we have offered so far this season full shares have averages $31.55 worth of produce & half shares have averaged $19.35 per week. Which we think is great considering we base our share price on $21/week for full shares & $12 for ½ shares. Usually shares average this much when tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers etc are on. So in spite of the rain the beginning of the season was full of abundance, let’s all pray for sun so the abundance can continue. P.S. tomatoes are trellised & 90% of them look strong.

Volunteering:
Some of you indicated that you would be willing to come to the farm & help out. Due to all the rain we are behind on cultivation, so if anyone has a spare hour or two & would like to come & help pull some weeds, we would really appreciate it. Just give us a call & let us know when you can come & we’ll get you to work. Thanks

Bags:
Finally this week I have your totes bags for you. I apologize for the lateness. I had to order them from another company because The Bag Store in Greenfield where I have ordered in the past went out of business, & I ordered the wrong sizes. We didn’t want to reorder the bags & had to figure out how it would work for you. So I took out Maia’s sewing machine & did some readjusting; now the bags are closer to the original size. The bags are how we determine your share amounts each week. So please bring your bag with you to the farmers markets for your shares, so you can have free selection of vegetables. On occasion we may ask you to take only 1 or 2 of something so there is enough for everyone, we may also not offer things in the CSA that we have for sale if when we harvest there isn’t enough for all members. Thanks for your patience & understanding.

Ashfield Farmers’ Market pick up:
The Saturday market is where the majority of you have decided to pick-up your shares. Which is great, we hope that it is working for everyone. Something that has happened the last couple of weeks is…some of you have come closer to the end of the market & we’ve run out of things. This makes us all feel bad, & the 4 of us have been trying to figure out how it can work better for you & us. We don’t really want to take anything home from the market if we can help it. Some crops have to be composted after being exposed to the elements for 4 hours.
When we harvest on Fridays we harvest what we want to sell & what we need for shares. We have been holding some items back (like carrots,beets,broccoli) but we need to have a time limit for holding things back. The fairest thing we could come up with is to ask you to come to the market by 11:30 to pick up your shares, after 11:30 we will put any items we have held back on the tables for sale. Your still welcome to come later for your share we just can’t guarantee your selection. If 11:30 doesn’t work for you please let us know & we’ll work something out. Thanks for your understanding.


Introducing Vicky:
Vicky is the newest addition to our herd of goats. She joined us on Sunday July 5th. She is a star milker & we’re really glad to have her. Our goats have been slow in having their babies which has made cheese making a challenge. A week into her lactation Vicky is giving us a gallon plus of milk per day, we expect her milk production to increase. Vicky is also a very sweet, large goat. What her former farm told us……if Vicky doesn’t want to go she’s not going. She is very strong, but so far she has gone where we need her to. She has adjusted to going out to pasture each day. Welcome Vicky.
Joie one of our other goats gave birth to twin does on
Tuesday. Mom & babies are doing well. We are holding Joie’s milk for her babies but so far she’s giving us close to a gallon/day.
Once we add her milk to the other goats we expect to be able to make cheese on a daily basis, which makes me very happy.

Picture in the Recorder:
Moses & Abraham were in the Greenfield Recorder the end of June. They are very pleased with the publicity. When I showed Moses he actually licked the picture. They seem to be holding their heads a little higher & prouder these days.
One of the driving forces behind our desire to farm is to grow healthy food for low income families. We have been able to do this through our participation in the Senior Farm Share program; we supply 30 low income seniors with vegetables for 8 weeks of the growing season. We also grow quite a bit of food for the Hilltown Food Pantry in Ashfield. The Food Pantry serves 140 families on a bi-weekly basis.


Recipe:
The beets have really been amazing this summer haven’t they? A customer shared this recipe with me so I thought I would pass it along. Bon Appetite!!
Pasta with Beet Greens
Serves 6
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 medium red onions (1 lb), halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 lb beet greens with stems (from about 2 bunches beets), stems cut into 1-inch pieces and leaves cut crosswise into 3-inch-wide pieces, divided
• 1 cup water, divided
• 3/4 lb penne
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup pitted brine-cured black olives, coarsely chopped
• Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add pine nuts and toast, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon.
• Add garlic to oil remaining in skillet and cook, stirring, until golden. Add onions and 1/4 tsp salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add vinegar and cook, stirring, until most is evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add beet stems, 3/4 cup water, and 1/2 tsp salt and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until stems begin to soften, about 12 minutes.
• Cook penne in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 Tbsp salt for 6 qt water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta.
• Meanwhile, add raisins, then beet leaves to onion mixture in handfuls, turning each handful with tongs until beet leaves are wilted before adding next batch. Add remaining 1/4 cup water and 1/4 tsp salt and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add olives, then add pasta and cook, tossing and moistening with some of the cooking water as necessary, just until liquid has thickened slightly. Serve sprinkled with pine nuts
Wagon Ride:
We had hoped to have Abe & Moses bring our wares to market every Sat unfortunately with all the rain the fields we were going to cut through are just too wet, & it doesn’t look like they will dry out anytime soon. We would like to invite all of you to the farm for a wagon ride through the fields so you can see where your food is being grown. Keep watching our website for the date, it will probably be the last weekend of July or the first Sunday in August.

From CISA:
As a member of Sangha Farm you already know the advantages of supporting local agriculture. Now you can take your involvement with local food and farms to another level by joining CISA’s Community Membership Initiative.
Since 1993 CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) has increased business opportunities for small farms in western Massachusetts through its highly successful Be a Local Hero, Buy Locally Grown public awareness campaign. Your membership in CISA directly supports the programs and services that make it possible for farmers to thrive in western Massachusetts —and to continue producing fresh, locally grown food and other agricultural products year ‘round.
Membership begins at $35 (individual) or $60 (household) level. Tell us the name of your CSA farm and take $5 off. Join for yourself...for your family...or make a gift membership for someone special. Visit www.buylocalfood.com to enroll or call 413-665-7100.

When bills such as these are writiten a distinction should be made between large corporate entities & small family farms. The farmers that you are purchasing vegetables or fruit from at a farmers' market or road side stand are not the culprits in all the tainted spinach, tomato & peanut cases, its the large corporate farms that are mass producing the food that are at fault.
We small farmers can't afford for someone to get sick from our food, so we painstakingly grow, harvest, & wash it. Our lively hood depends on the quality of our products & our own integrity.
Should we share in the financial burden of corporations that lack integrity,whose bottom line is profit not quaility? Personally I don't think we should
Please act now.
Thanks

Farm Safety Bill - Help Stop It! - Just When We Thought We Were Safe

Background Information

A new food safety bill is on the fast track in Congress-HR 2749, the Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009. The bill needs to be stopped.

HR 2749 gives FDA tremendous power while significantly diminishing existing judicial restraints on actions taken by the agency. The bill would impose a one-size-fits- all regulatory scheme on small farms and local artisanal producers; and it would disproportionately impact their operations for the worse.

HR 2749 does not address underlying causes of food safety problems such as industrial agriculture practices and the consolidation of our food supply. The industrial food system and food imports are badly in need of effective regulation, but the bill does not specifically direct regulation or resources to these areas.

To read a detailed account of the bill, go to: http://www.ftcldf. org/news/ news-15june2009. htm

Alarming Provisions:

Some of the more alarming provisions in the bill are:

HR 2749 would impose an annual registration fee of $500 on any "facility" that holds, processes, or manufactures food. Although "farms" are exempt, the agency has defined "farm" narrowly. And people making foods such as lacto-fermented vegetables, cheeses, or breads would be required to register and pay the fee, which could drive beginning and small producers out of business during difficult economic times.
HR 2749 would empower FDA to regulate how crops are raised and harvested. It puts the federal government right on the farm, dictating to our farmers.
HR 2749 would give FDA the power to order a quarantine of a geographic area, including "prohibiting or restricting the movement of food or of any vehicle being used or that has been used to transport or hold such food within the geographic area." Under this provision, farmers markets and local food sources could be shut down, even if they are not the source of the contamination. The agency can halt all movement of all food in a geographic area.
HR 2749 would empower FDA to make random warrantless searches of the business records of small farmers and local food producers, without any evidence whatsoever that there has been a violation. Even farmers selling direct to consumers would have to provide the federal government with records on where they buy supplies, how they raise their crops, and a list of customers.
HR 2749 charges the Secretary of Health and Human Services with establishing a tracing system for food. Each "person who produces, manufactures, processes, packs, transports, or holds such food" would have to "maintain the full pedigree of the origin and previous distribution history of the food," and "establish and maintain a system for tracing the food that is interoperable with the systems established and maintained by other such persons." The bill does not explain how far the traceback will extend or how it will be done for multi-ingredient foods. With all these ambiguities, it's far from clear how much it will cost either the farmers or the taxpayers.
HR 2749 creates severe criminal and civil penalties, including prison terms of up to 10 years and/or fines of up to $100,000 for each violation for individuals.

Action to Take:

Contact your Representative now! Ask to speak with the staffer who handles food issues. Tell them you are opposed to the bill. Some points to make in telling your Representative why you oppose HR 2749 include:

The bill imposes burdensome requirements while not specifically targeting the industrial food system and food imports, where the real food safety problems lie.
Small farms and local food processors are part of the solution to food safety; lessening the regulatory burden on them will improve food safety.
The bill gives FDA much more power than it has had in the past while making the agency less accountable for its actions.
HR 2749 needs to be defeated!! Please take action NOW.

To contact your Representative, use the finder tool at www.Congress. org or send a message through the petition system (the petition will be on our website this evening) at http://www.ftcldf. org/petitions_ new.htm. Or call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

To check the status of HR 2749, go to www.Thomas.gov and type "HR 2749" in the bill search field.

Updates on HR 2749 will be provided as events warrant.

A word from your farmer Derek
After the last week of rain the crops look great. The lettuce doubled in size, peas have flowers, scapes are growing on the garlic. We've eaten a few baby carrots & beets from the field this past week & plan being to harvest them for the next pick up. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cauliflower, brussel sprouts were planted this past week. Now its time for our second planting of lettuce to go in. We've added azomite to our field prepping this year, I can really see a difference in the health of the plants. Azomite is a natural mined rock from a specific volcanic deposit in central Utah marketed as a free-flowing, less than 200 mesh, tan to pink powder with a density of 48 lbs./cubic foot. No additives, synthetics or fillers. Mineralogically, Azomite is rhyolitic tuff breccia. Azomite has 67 major and trace elements, so its name means "A to Z Of Minerals Including Trace Elements."
Hope you've all been enjoying your shares.


News from the organic front:
I recently read the following in the 'Natural Farmer' publication from NOFA (northeast organic farming assoc.) for obvious reason I was greatly disturbed by this. Genetic engineered food is not the way we need to go to end world hunger. "The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Monsanto's hometown of St. Louis Missouri, $5.4 million devoted to political & lobbying activities designed to break down regulatory resistance to genetically modified crops in Africa. The center hopes to secure the approval of African governments to allow field testing of nutrient-enhanced GM bananas, rice, sorghum, & cassava. So far, there have been no takers." source ACRES USA, March, 2009 On the other side, even the World Bank & the UN's Food & Agriculture Organization, having conducted their own study,concluded that industrial agriculture, including GM crops,does not adequately address world hunger problems & often exacerbates social & environmental harm. They recommended that policymakers should focus on things suchasagro-ecological techniques, building local economies, and protecting local control of seeds.

More News from ACRES:
GE Crops Don't Deliver - Despite 20 yrs of research & 13 yrs. of commercialization, genetic engineeering has failed to significantly increase American per-acre crops yeilds according to a report, " Failure to Yield" by the Union of Concerned Scientist, "In comparison, traditional breeding continues to deliver better results" said author David Gurian-Sherman. Over 10 yrs of field data are now available,a nd UCS has made use of them all. See the full report at www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture
Germany has banned Monsanto's GE corn strain MON810, joining France, Austria, Hungary, & Greece, which have also imposed 'safeguard' bans on the variety. In March 2009 a European Commission porposal to force Austra and Hungary to lift their bans was defeated by EU environmental ministers. The 3 other countries will also be facing scruntiny by the commission, which seems tohave arrived at an impasse.

My question: why are American farmers still planting GMO crops & why doens't our government follow suit of all the other countries in the world that have banned GM crops.


Meet Bennie
Bennie has the honor of being the very first livestock to move here (with Cassie). She also started me on the road of cheese making. As farmers we have a very strong desire to produce as much of our own food as we can. The decision to get a goat was made purely for financial reason. When our children were younger we wanted to give them raw milk to drink, at the time we didn't know of any raw milk dairies in the area, buying a cow wasn't an option so we started searching out goat breeds. We had tried goat milk before but didnt' like the goaty flavor, neither did Maia or Jayden. We tried our first Nubian milk at Goat Rising in Charlemont & bought raw milk from him. The kids loved the milk, drank a lot of it. It quickly became apparent that it was cheaper to just buy a goat then to buy 2 gallons of goat milk a week.
We had no idea how to milk a goat & honestly the first few milkings were a disaster. Bennie was very patient with us & stood quietly while we fumbled with her teats. By the second week we finally had the milking rythem down. Maia & Jayden loved the sweet rich milk. We would take Bennie & Cassie for walks to graze which everyone loved.
Bennie loves to climb trees & she is very good at it. Last week while trying to take pictures of all the goats for our web site, Bennie exhibited her climbing ability for me. She was demanding alot of attention (something she loves to do) which prevented me from taking pictures of the other goats. To get her out of my hair I asked her to climb a tree for me. She looked at me & then walked to the tree found a branch she wanted to reach & proceeded to 'climb up' to reach it. She allowed me to take 3 pictures of her. After I took the pictures she came up to be 'thanked' & then walked off to pasture to graze. Whoever said animals don't understand what we say obviously never talked to their animals.
Bennie preparing the "climb"
Bennie climbing

Recipes of the week:

With all the salad greens you've been getting I wanted to share these 2 recipes with you. The first one we had available at the market on Sat, I hope those of you that took romaine also took a recipe. Its a great salad. I made it for Easter one year, everyone in my family loved it, its been part of our Easter meal ever since.
"That Good Salad"
3/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic minced 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper 2 bunches romaine, torn
2 cups chopped tomatoes 1 cup (4 oz.) shredded swiss cheese
2/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted 1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 cup Caesar salad croutons
- in a jar with a tight lid, combine oil, lemon juice, garlic & salt/pepper cover & shake well. chill
- in a bowl, toss romaine, tomatoes, swiss cheese, almonds, & parmesan cheese
- shake dressing & pour over salad, toss. Add crouton just before serving
- makes 14 servings

"Greens with Herb Dressing"
this dressing is great over the lettuce mix
6 T olive oil
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp each fresh minced tarragon, & thyme or 2 tsp fresh herbs of your choice
2 cloves fresh minced garlic
2 T. cider or red wine vinegar
2 tsp. lemon or lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
8 cups lettuce mix
- in a jar with a lid combine first 8 ingredients, & shake well
- place greens in a bowl & drizzle witht he dressing & toss to coat.
- serve