Reviews for: City Farm Austin

As a young college student looking for the health benefits of raw milk, Paula made the choice to milk SO EASY!

At first I was intimidated by the whole idea of milking my own milk, but Paula was always there to coach and support throughout every step until I felt comfortable enough to complete the entire milking process alone.

Paula cares so much about keeping the shareholders happy and making sure they're taken care of and it makes for a wonderful experience from the very beginning.

I had never been around any dairy animals before at all, but with the process in place truly anyone can take up milking with City Farm Austin.

I recently took Paula's and Lynn's soap making class, and I was truly delighted. Paula was delightful as usual, and provided great guidance. Lynn was a mine of knowledge, and shared her lifelong experience with making soap with patience and thorough explanations.

The two of them explained the safety requirements, all the materials, where to get them, and demonstrated various techniques, making it look easy (the true quality of good teachers). I was able to make my very own soap and take home a foot long block of wonderful goat milk and honey soap, complete with oat toppings and honey comb markings on the bottom. Once cured, I cut it in beautiful, luscious bars worthy of a fancy shop. The soap is so soft and delicious, with rich lather and only safe and natural ingredients: a real treat!

The even better part was the folder with several accessible recipe favorites, some more information, and a list of resources, plus their contact information for support.

I highly HIGHLY enjoyed my soap class and learned a lot, even though I was not a novice. Take the class, it is definitely worth it and you will be glad you did. You can also offer the class to your loved ones and friends, or book as a private group: what an original gift to them or yourself!

I found City Farm Austin when I was looking for a cheese-making class for myself and a fellow cheese-lover. Paula was super-helpful in designing the perfect class for us. We tasted a variety of delicious milks and cheeses, learned how to milk the goats, and made cheeses from goat's and cow's milk. All in all, it was a wonderful experience. Paula was very patient, knowledgeable, and supportive of our novice efforts, and we learned a lot about the goats and about the basics of making different kinds of cheese. It was also really fun just spending time with the goats, chickens, and of course Paula herself! I highly recommend Paula's classes to anyone who is interested in following the cheese-making process from farm to table. We had a great time!

We absolutely LOVE Paula and her goats are wonderful. We go milk all 4 goats once a week as a family, and our 8 year old helps with chores and sometimes milking. It is a great, relaxing experience and we come home with over a gallon of delicious, fresh raw milk from healthy goats that are treated well and fed a healthy, balanced diet. She is adamant about cleanliness and proper milking process, so we feel safe drinking the milk. The health benefits are wonderful too.

Paula is extremely nice, very funny, and also very patient and great with kids. She made sure we were comfortable milking the goats and trained us/milked with us for a very long time until we were comfortable flying solo. Paula is very proactive and keeps everyone informed regularly. She keeps a very detailed log of everything about the goats and their milking, and is completely on top of things, which is another reason why we feel so safe drinking the raw milk. She cares about her customers and her goats.

Price wise, it is very reasonable considering you get to have precious fresh raw goat milk, you know exactly how the goats were cared for and milked, and you also get the farming experience and Paula's teaching too.

We cannot recommend Paula's City Farm enough: try her out, you won't be disappointed! And for some info about the benefits of raw goat milk, take a look at this article: http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/goat-milk-benefits/

Happy Milking!!!!!

My time spent at City Farm Austin has been a wonderfully calming experience. I like doing the work needed and helping with the goats. And I absolutely love having the fresh raw milk to drink, use on cereal and anything else I would do with the processed milk I previously bought. I have severe arthritis in my hands had cannot do the milking directly for myself. Mrs. Tarver has been so great in working with me and either doing the milking herself or trying to get me partnered with someone who will milk while I do all the chores and this has contributed to the overall experience I have had with this Farm. I would recommend highly this farm to any one who is interested in the quality of the product because you surely know where your milk is coming from!

My 7 year old daughter and I love to come visit with the goats and milk them. What a wonderful experience. DD loves miking and taking care of the goats as well (mostly brushing them so far). Makes me feel good that she grows up connected, making food a much more personal experience for the whole family. DD is so proud when she shows her Dad the jarred milk she worked so diligently for. We label our milk bottles in the fridge with the names of the contributing goat: Eve, Trisket, Abernathy or Misty.

Paula (the owner) has been a real patient gem and very flexible as well. It took me a while to get the hang of milking and DD was not much faster, though I know now she has an advantage due to her smaller finger size (;-}). But Paula stuck through it with both of us, as long as we needed to. We also appreciate the flexibility of the co-op: when we were sick we were able to cancel on short notice without much ado about it. Overall this has been a real pleasurable experience.

Regarding the price, it is probably comparable to the farmer's market price, but I have not done in-depth comparisons. I feel I get so much more here, not the least: the milk is really unprocessed and raw, which to us is priceless, so it the personal connection with the goats.

About the people: I've been a member of this herd-share for a month now, and it's been a great experience--Paula's been great about working with my schedule for milking times and teaching me everything I need to know to be comfortable and proficient when milking--and I didn't have any experience to start. She's also always gone out of her way to ensure that each shareholder feels like a valued member of the community--I've never felt like my input has been ignored, and I've always been kept up-to-date with changes happening around the farm. She's very proactive.

About the animals: Milking has totally become my "zen" time, and I love it. The animals are well-fed and well-kept, with clean living spaces and milking area.There are 4 adult goats, and records for milk-production tracking.

About the milk: Delicious.

Thoughts on cost: Full disclosure--The amount of milk you get, for the monthly share price, may not seem cost-effective if you compare to cow's milk. However, I've found that my costs (I have a full share) are comparable to or cheaper than what I'd pay to buy goat milk in-store, or cow's milk from a local, organic, ethical dairy...and I get all this knowledge and experience with my purchase, as well as knowing EXACTLY how the animals were treated, and milk obtained. It's well worth the cost.

In my opinion, this is one of the best local-food deals in the Austin area.

I love, love, love milking goats!

I truly never thought I would love it as much as I do.

City Farm Austin makes the experience easy to understand and is always improving the experience for themselves, the goats and the community .

City Farm Austin provides a safe, clean and happy environment for the goats and milking apprentices. The owner imparts a wellspring of knowledge about goats and keeping goats happy & healthy.

The goats all have distinct personalities, I really enjoy spending time with them, aside from the milking, and as goats take a ton of care and knowledge to keep healthy; I am grateful for the goat education I receive at City Farm Austin.

I also keep bees and chickens so I know what it takes to love , care and provide for a small urban farm and I appreciate the effort that City Farm Austin puts into this endevour.. It's not easy.

Taking up milking, for me , is so much more satisfying than just picking up a gallon or two, from a cooler, but you can do that too, if milking isn't your thing.

Check out the options, get involved, support your local community!