Plenty of much-needed rain was a great excuse to tear ourselves away from planting and go pick up a couple of new friends. A quick hop over to Chatham, Va. garnered us two new farm members, Dolly and Mocha.
Dolly is a purebred Oberhaslis goat and Mocha is a Nubian x Boer x Oberhaslis mix. Both goats came from Griffin's Ark where they were just weened. Neither goat will be producing milk this year.
As with our planting choices, we enjoy having a variety of animals on the farm to increase bio diversity and make the most of the space we have. Mocha and Dolly are share the one-acre pasture between fields two and three with Buster, our farm dog, and a chicken tractor full of Rhode Island Red Hens. (Chicken tractors are the mobile coops we keep our chickens in. We move the coops around the farm so the chickens continue to live on fresh grass and our soil is continually fertilized.) If left vacant, this pasture would grow brush and provide a habitat for rabbits, skunks, and ground hogs who love our vegetables just as much as our customers do. With the addition of livestock, not only do we cut back on pests, but we are also able to enrich the soil around our fields. We are glad to have these new members of our farm team and look forward to adding to our herd over time.
Very cute! Exciting to see the farm rounding out with the addition of the goats!
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