History of Spellcast Farm
For a long time, for reasons unknown to me, I wanted a dairy goat. The beginning of October, 2008 (I was still employed), I put a deposit on a La Mancha doe and was scheduled to pick her up on the day I was laid off. I almost did not pick her up, but I'm glad I did. I dabbled with the La Mancha breed and decided it wasn't for me. The day I sold the last of those alien-looking goats was a good one. I had purchased one Nubian, but I didn't care much for that breed either. I also had a few Saanen does, but while they are good milking goats, plain, white goats are pretty boring. It's the Alpine goat that I really like and most of my small herd is made up of Alpines. In addition to the Alpines, I have two Oberhasli does. Both breeds are Swiss dairy goats and are quite similar in looks and temperament.
I think my internal healing voice was telling me to get a dairy goat to milk because I was developing arthritis in my hands. I do not know if it is the milk that has healed the arthritis or drinking goat milk, or a combination of both, but my hands are now supple and pain-free. The dairy goats are the core of Spellcast Farm. Their milk feeds so many of the other animals that live here. Unlike other dairies, we do not separate goat kids or calves from their mothers. In the evenings, we put the youngsters in an enclosure where their mothers can still see, smell and touch their babies. I milk in the morning and the babies have access to their mothers' milk during the day.
Raw milk!!!! It is one of nature's perfect foods. In addition to chevre, I make a wonderful, rich, creamy farmer's cheese out of Jersey cow and goat milk. I also make yogurt from the rich, creamy Jersey milk and when that is not available, I use goat milk. Because the animals that live here are fed so well, mainly on locally grown grain and hay and of course unlimited grass and browse, their milk has a sweet, clean taste. There is no "goaty" flavor to the milk or cheese. As in most states, it is illegal to sell raw milk or raw milk products in North Carolina for human consumption. I can, however, sell these products on the farm for animal consumption. I have been feeding my dogs and cats a home-prepared raw meat diet for over 20 years now and raw milk makes a wonderful addition to their diets. Goat milk is also good for raising orphaned animals. If you are interested in purchasing raw milk from me for animal consumption, please contact me for more information. To read more about the nutritional benefits of raw milk and the history of milk in general, visit the raw milk page.
On January 23, 2009, my sheep/goat/Border Collie friend and soulmate, Wally, moved in with me and became my full-time farming partner. I met Wally in 2006 when I bought seven Boer goat kids from him to use to train my Border Collie, Gel. The day I met him, this crazy city girl from Massachusetts with her lanky, herding-reject Border Collie, helped him band (castrate) those seven goat kids. This cemented our friendship and almost every weekend from that day on, we did some animal-related project together.
During my first year of unemployment, I learned to make soft goat cheese (chevre) and to can vegetables. While I had always enjoyed cooking, loosing my income forced me to stop buying expensive processed food and instead, to make all of my food from scratch. Because I was eating better and doing more physical labor, I lost a good amount of weight, but no where near as much as Wally did. He's going down two pant sizes since he moved in. This is not because I don't feed him: I do! He eats a lot, but it's all healthy, unprocessed food, much of which we grow and raise here on the farm.
During our first year together, Wally and I raised a Jersey calf on goat milk and a Hampshire pig on goat milk, whey and garden scraps. Both animals were processed and filled our freezers with wonderful tasting, healthy meat. It was a banner garden year and I canned over 50 quarts of tomatoes as well as corn relish, peaches and pickles.
We decided to sell all of our sheep in the spring of this year and that turned out to be a very, very, very good thing. This past summer was one of the hottest and driest on record. We did not have permanent fencing for the sheep and were using temporary (ElectroNet) fencing. ElectroNet works, but it's a royal pain in the butt to move every week (or less). As hot and dry as it was this past summer, it would have been horrible, horrible, horrible to care for the sheep. Given that I was no longer doing Border Collie trials and we discovered that beef from Jersey cows was every bit as good as or better than lamb, there was really no reason to keep the sheep.
In May of this year, I purchased a Jersey milk cow from a local dairy. She had fallen over the winter and was so lame she was having a hard time keeping up with the main herd. She was due to calf in August and if I did not buy her, she would have been sent to the processing plant. What a waste that would have been. This lovely cow, Gwen, has proven to be an extremely tolerant and patient creature. She contributing to the rearing of our second Jersey calf (Spot) and is now raising two younger calves, one is hers and the other was purchased from the same dairy the day after her calf was born. One would think that given that I have been milking goats on an almost daily basis Since October 15, 2008, I would be able to milk a cow but that wasn't the case. The first time I milked her, it took me what seemed like an hour to milk a half gallon of milk from her. It was a good thing we had Spot as it didn't take him long to figure out where the milk bar was located. I can now milk her out in about 15 minutes.
As I mentioned above, the summer of 2010 was brutally hot and dry. Unfortunately, farm work does not wait until it cools off and we spent the summer installing permanent fencing and constructing raised garden beds and it almost killed us. Formerly, my garden was a no-till garden rich in compost contributed by our farm animals and lots of rabbit manure from local breeders. Because of how hot and dry it was, I researched other methods of gardening, visited local organic vegetable farms and decided to construct the raised beds using French Intensive Methods of gardening. By the end of the summer, we had four raised beds constructed, but garden did not do anywhere near as good as it did last year. There's always next year and I expect we'll be in better shape because all of the beds will be completed with water-conservation, drip irrigation installed. In 2011, we plan to have a selection of fresh, organic vegetables available for sale. Please contact me for more information.
Our most valuable farm hand is a male Border Collie that was purchased to be an agility dog (he had been dubbed a herding reject by the woman I bought him from), but we soon discovered his true talent: a working stock dog. Gel has sired two litters and we currently have a young male from the last litter that we are raising up to hopefully be a back-up dog. We couldn't do what we do without this dog and we'd be in a very sorry place if we didn't have him. If this young dog, Mica, turns out even half as good as Gel, it will be okay.
In addition to the goats and cattle, we have a good-sized flock of chickens, ducks and guinea fowl. They provide us with fresh eggs and entertainment. The chickens keep the manure spread and the guinea fowl keep ticks under control. The eggs from these chickens are delicious and available for $3.00/dozen. Please contact me for more information.
During the months that the goats are in peak production, we raise pigs on their milk, whey from the cheese I make and vegetable scraps. The pigs are pastured and allowed to run and forage. This results in fabulous tasting and healthy meat. We have available on a limited basis mild pork sausage. Please contact me for more information.
You'd think with more then 25 years of experience as a paralegal I would have been able to find another job, but that hasn't been the case. The economy is so bad that it may be a long time before I am able to get back into my profession. I've worked as a temporary cashier at Wal-Mart and Walgreens, but I hate working in retail. Currently, I'm working part-time as a prep cook at a local restaurant. It doesn't pay much, but in general, I like the job. I much prefer working with food than in a retail setting.
We are blessed to be living in such a beautiful part of the country. Our house sits on 15 acres with a pond and we lease another 10 acres behind the house.
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