Greene Hills Farm

Here I am camping out in the goat barn. I decided to train two of the new goat kids to be pack goats. What a great excuse to hit the trails hiking...gotta train the goats! From what I read, goat kids need to imprint on humans to make good pack animals. The first 48 hours are critical. They don't need to be bottle fed, but they need to have as much human contact as possible. My task? Sit in a lawn chair and cuddle kids. We're now into the 4th hour of life for my two little boys. I need to give them names. Oh no, one of the other goats has gotten into the maternity ward. Gotta go!

Our 300 meat chicks are growing like crazy. The cornish cross chicken breed is used almost 100% for meat in the United States. It's been breed to eat and eat and eat, which results in a harvestable bird at 8 weeks. Good for the farmer's bottom line, but not good for the actual birds. They grow so fast that their hearts and legs have trouble keeping up. Unfortunately, this big breasted breed is what people expect when they think "chicken". Jamie and I decided we are going to  introduce our customers to slow growing heritage chicken breeds this Fall. They are every bit as tasty and are better adapted to run around our pastures. Who needs big breasted birds anyway?  So far two of our goats have had kids. Only five more to go! Goat kids have got to be one of the cutest creatures on earth. Travis, our livestock guardian dog is the perfect baby sitter. He lays close to the kids, especially when Mom wanders out for a bite to eat. The kids scamper on top of him and he just lays there with a goofy grin. We have been sowing seed like crazy. Now is the time to get in the early spring greens like mizuna, spinach and arugula, plus lettuce. The race is on to have produce for the opening day of the Prosser Farmer's Market!