The farm we’ve been at the past month in Ireland
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| Here the goats are being milked by machine |
My goal for this farm stay was to learn as much as possible
about goat husbandry. I feel rather content with what I’ve learned in that area
so far. Although, there is a lot of things I would do differently myself. On
the first day we arrived (which was a Friday) we were put to work immediately.
I was given the job of cleaning out the pig pen then & every morning thereafter,
along with feeding the three kid goats three times a day fresh goat’s milk.
That first evening Dominic (the father) recruited me to help him make ice cream
(using goat’s milk of course). He was trying to perfect his pecan flavor. Along
with ice cream I learned how to pasteurize milk & make yogurt. I also got
the job of picking peas and blanching them for freezer storage. Something I
have never done before and am happy I learned how.
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| I'm feeding the Kids |
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| This is Jack |
One day Dominic asked if I would like to see how to castrate
a goat. I said, “Yes, of course.” I’m usually up for just about anything. I
asked a few questions about the process and he said it’s very easy and the goat
hardly makes a fuss. I should mention we are talking about my favorite goat
here that I named Jack. He instantly became my favorite out of all the other goats
because he was so sweet natured & friendly. Let me tell you, hardly makes a
fuss was the understatement of the year! The poor guy screamed out in agony! To
make matters worse we had to do one side a 2nd time because it
didn’t work properly the first time. I was absolutely horrified! Jack wouldn’t
come near me after that for two days. I think in the future I will leave any
castration jobs to Lucas.
The biggest reason we’ve been disappointed with the farm is
because they aren’t organic at all. Due to the harvest Lucas was busy the first
two weeks working really long hours with the lads. He didn’t mind at first
because he was learning how to drive big tractors & work machinery. After
about a week the long hours starting getting to him and the excitement of the
big tractors wore off. Slowly he grew more and more agitated with the way they
do things. We had no idea big farmers spray their entire crop with herbicides to
kill everything so that it will dry out to harvest. After they harvest the
grain and make their bales of straw they give the fields another dose of round
up to prevent any weeds from growing. They also use artificial fertilizers
along with animal poo fertilizer. After much discussion Lucas and I agreed it
was good for us to see the operations of this farm. It’s only made us more
passionate about living an Organic lifestyle.
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| Lucas driving the tractor |
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| Me milking Tayto |
