I have a lot of dreams. And I love it. I wonder how those dreams come true...
One of the dreams was: goats. Why? My thoughts lead me back in time. I'm searching for the old bonds that have been broken. Bonds with the earth, nature and wilderness. How to build self-sufficiency? So I start dreaming about goats. And asking (and asking) my beloved husband how to make the dream truth. After months he was lured into saying: "If you really want it, we can try it." We made the decision just in time (autumn 2016) because an old firehouse in Bruvik was just taken down and we could use the wood for the shelter. The wood was full of spikes so it took few days to clean it. But it was worth the effort.
So we build the goat's shelter on a small plateau in the steep slope not far from our house. Our own property is tiny but our neighbors are very kind and we are allowed to use theirs. The shelter is surrounded by nice pastures which ware not in use for many many years. Only sheep from the neighboring pasture were visiting it time to time.
In August 2017 we bought three goats from a farmer on Osterøy (island). And Madli invented names: Líza, Řachanda and Bubli. Now we take care of them, observe them and learn. Goats are really social animals, and if they could, they would probably go with us wherever. They eat leaves and bark from trees and even conifers (they love juniper). Ferns, thistles and whatever grows from the ground.
We were thinking how to keep the goats on the pasture and how to avoid their escapes into surrounding gardens where even one goat can make disaster. Building a fence would take a lot of effort and still it is not perfectly safe. So we decided to try new technology - norwegian patent called NoFence. It's a small black box which the goats wear on their neck with GPS and other electronics inside. It's powered by sun. In an app you create a virtual fence and that's it. Position of goats we can watch on smartphone 24/7. Yes, we are a modern farm.
Milk: it took time to get used to it, but the fat sweetish liquid got us. It does not have a bad taste at all because the goats are constantly on the pasture and they are not closed in the shelter. They can go in and out when they want. Learning how to make cheese is awaiting me in the future. Milk and fresh cottage cheese are favorite for now. Yes, it's everyday work. But it makes sense to me and I am enjoying it. And it helps me to stay in present.
