Naomi D'Andrea's Page

Bought the kids July 2015. Bred Mira January, first travel and goat-sitters March, babies June, learned how to milk, sold babies August, started playing with chevre and cheddar, built cheese press, rigged a sort of cheese cave, expanded goat yard, added more play structures for the goats...

...and I keep putting off the eternal question from Willow, "Can I keep another doe next year?" I keep waiting for the proverbial bloom to fall. I waited to see if she'd get tired of the constant…

Willow and I decided on the name Hackberry Woods.

Hackberry is the predominant species of tree in the goat area. We love the funny bark, the precious little berries, and the haphazard look of the foliage.

For nature nerds: Hackberry is native to Indiana and a lot of the Midwestern US; the small berries (or drupes) are edible in autumn; also goes by the names Sugarberry and Nettletree. The name Hackberry is from the Scottish "hagberry," meaning "marsh berry."

These…

In the spring of 2014, my daughter Willow asked me for the hundred and twenty-third time if we could get dairy goats. Like always, I said something to the effect of "that would be fun. Maybe someday." This time, though, instead of moving on, she followed up with the line we all know and love: "I'll buy them with my own money. I'll do all the work." And just like that, now we have goats.

Now, the actual full story is longer and boringer.

We spent three months just reading books…