"Wood" Spanish Goats
Originally purchased for their ability to provide a little value-added product for the farm, we purchased Spanish Cashmere goats in 2016 from Ann Wood in Ohio. At the time we did not realize that Spanish goats are threatened, and appear on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy watch list. The Spanish goat has the ability to breed out of season, and is an excellent range animal because of its small udder and teats. In addition, Spanish goats are very hardy, able to survive and thrive under adverse conditions, with only limited management. Spanish goats have shown excellent hardiness and have shown themselves to be a low-input goat compared to other meat breeds. In 2009, there were approximately 8,500 purebred Spanish goats nationwide. They are now held to be a conservation priority by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, and in 2007 the Spanish Goat Association was organized to help conserve this breed. We have the largest known stock of the "Wood" line of Spanish Goats in the country and our objective is to increase the number of caretakers/breeders to increase the numbers of this line of Spanish goats and make them less imperiled.
Hampshire Lambs
Raising meat lambs is a project that we started in July 2017. We purchased two 4 month old Hampshire Ewes. The Hampshire is a large, open faced and active sheep with a mild disposition. Mature rams weigh 275 pounds or more and mature ewes weigh 200 pounds or more. They have a lot of growing to do still and we still have to find a ram and a third ewe. Plus we need to split the pasture and build a place for them in their own section of the farm. This will take about 2 years before we are able to provide grass fed lamb.
Farm Products
Cashmere - is one of the value added product from the Spanish goats. Harvesting it entails combing out the goats in the spring when they begin shedding their warm winter under-fleece. What makes cashmere? The fibers need to be below 19 microns. All of our goats, regardless of age, produce cashmere that is below 17 microns with the finest being 13 microns and even the oldest Dam of 13 is producing a mean fiber diameter of 15.7 which is unheard of for a goat of this age.
Home Made Soap - was born out of the desire to understand how our ancestors survived. JoAnne began learning how to make soap and render the fat that goes into it. She has used a variety of fats and when we have had fat that was harvested from the grass fed sheep that also went into the soaps.
Hand made Lotion- Soap and lotion goes together. Once you learn to make soap then curiosity leads to learning how to create lotion. It's a completely different process but fun. All lotions are custom made depending upon the needs of the client.
Grapevine Wreaths- We have an old wild Muscadine grapevine that has yet to produce grapes, but it is prolific in producing long tendrils. When we trim it back to keep it under control we use the cuttings and produce beautiful large wreaths that we sell.
Pine Cones- We sell large pine cones that drop from the plentiful pine trees on the property for the artsy people who like to create their own natural art work. Our philosophy is that if it can be used we should find a way to use it instead of throwing it away and clogging up the landfills with yard waste.