Not just 'cause they're adorable...

In permaculture, we are always looking for solutions to problems that are good for the earth, have layers of benefits, and (ideally) lessen our work load quite a bit. The "problem"? We had really overgrown woods, thick with invasive species like bush honeysuckle and Chinese privet with plenty of poison ivy interspersed.

The "solution"? Well there were many options. We could have hand-cleared all that overgrowth. Our first year, we did and were able to get rid of some. That was time-consuming, hard work though; and with two youngsters homeschooled and lots of other farm happenings, we needed more than just a tractor and some hand tools.

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Enter goats. They're cute, they're snuggly, and they make milk. We thought we would have to get used to the flavor of goat's milk, but it is the cleanest tasting dairy beverage we have EVER had. Really. You read and hear about how goat milk tastes "goat-y", but it doesn't if you drink it fresh from a doe who isn't always co-mingled with a buck. And don't even get us started on making goat milk yogurt! It is the most velvety, luxurious thing to hit your palate. That's a subject for a blog post one day.

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Goats are browsers, which means they eat things that grow from about the height of their shoulders, up. This was perfect for our needs. They are also are great at fertilizing, their small size means they are gentle on the sloped ground we have (they won't turn everything to mud because of sheer size in the wet, Tennessee weather), and they are easily handled.

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We rotate our goat yards frequently (every 2-3 weeks, depending on the size and amount of underbrush available). When we move the goats, their house goes with them. Mostly they prefer to stay outside, but goats don't like to be wet or cold, so they'll stay inside on rainy days.

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Pasture rotation allows us to: keep the trees we want (so they are not stripped of bark), prevent parasite problems (to which goats can be prone), and keep the goats excited about the job they're helping us do.

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We utilize a deep litter bedding system (another blog post coming, one day) which produces a beautiful supply of compost to spread on our pastures so we don't have to fertilize them with synthetics. It's such a beautiful system and, now, can you see all the benefits?

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We chose Nigerian Dwarfs because they are a miniature goat and they have a nice butterfat content to their milk. They are registered so we can help to improve the breed and to help the ones we don't keep find homes where they are loved and well cared for. They are such sweet, intelligent, hard-working creatures that get to do what they love. Our goat herd doesn't just live here, they thrive. And that, when coupled with the bleats from outside, makes us smile.