News on the Farm

Meet the animals: "cricket"

2/15/2014

Name: Cricket
Creature: Dog
Age: 4
Breed: Australian Shepard
Occupations: Sleeping on the humans' beds, barking at leaves, running with big sticks, and generally keeping the fun meter up for everyone.

My story began with a used Steuben saddle. My human, the goat cheese lady's daughter, was 12 years old and had been after her parents for a year and a half to get a puppy but had had no luck in that pursuit. One day they went to buy a horse saddle, and came back with both the saddle and myself. One look at my cuteness and my humans mother rolled over and agreed to get a puppy and so I became part of the Crooked Mile Family.

Since then I have valiantly defended my humans from the safety of the front porch. For example, I barked and barked from that doorway at the dangerous grain bags in the back of the truck until the offending intruder was gone. I have been voted "best smile" for the farm for the last four years as I always, always, always, smile as well as being the portable bed heater during Vermont's frigid winters.

Winter scenes

2/15/2014

As we are now snowed in with several feet of deep snow, I thought this would be a good time to look back to when Vermont was truly beautiful in the end of December and appreciate just what a beautiful place we are fortunate enough to live in.

Spring is here!

4/21/2012

The trees are finally budding and the hills are greening up! We've started the garden which the chickens think makes a really good place to take a nap in. Our ducklings are getting bigger by the day and are enjoying running outside on the new grass. We don't have any kids (baby goats)... yet, but we are expecting TONS of kids this year! Right now all the animals and the humans are relaxing and enjoying the spring sun.

Summer Stories: Charles Dickens by the goat cheese ladies daughter

12/26/2011

This is the story of a very brave and unexpected summer resident at Crooked Mile Farm and Animal Inn. Charles Dickens was the "chick that was hatched by a duck". To clear any confusion about this statement I shall have to tell his whole story.
One sunny afternoon, a lazy chicken decided that it was too hot and muggy to go all the way over to her favorite nesting place behind the barn and decided instead to just lay her egg in Mrs. Ducks nest, which was right below where she was laying in the chicken coop. This lazy hen went down and said to Mrs. Duck: "Why don't you run over and take a swim and I'll look after your precious eggs?" Mrs. Duck was very hot and thirsty so she agreed to this plan and waddled off to the pond. The naughty little hen laid her egg in the ducks nest for Mrs.Duck to take care of, then she wandered off to go find the gallant Mr. Long-Tail Rooster, for he might have some food for her! When Mrs. Duck came back she didn't notice the chicken egg in her nest and settled back onto her nest to warm up her eggs after that naughty chicken had gone off and they had gotten cold. Not knowing that there was a chicken egg in her nest, she very dutifully watched after and protected her eggs until three weeks later she heard a peep and one of her eggs moved! Out came a downy little chick.
Now Mrs. Duck is a little old and can not see very well so she could not tell that this was a baby chick and not one of her own baby ducklings . So Mrs. Duck took the newly hatched Charles Dickens under her wing and cared for him as her own. There was only one little problem, this baby of hers didn't seem to understand her very well because he was forever peeping and she was always quaking trying to show him how a proper little duck spoke.
When Mrs. Ducks other eggs didn't hatch she was very glad to have this duckling even if he was a little odd. They went out together and she showed him how to go around in the world. It was hard for them to understand each other and to know where the other was. To help Mrs. Duck out in keeping track of this spritely little youngster, Scaliwag, the border collie, always kept watch over little Charles Dickens. This was how Mrs. Duck would find him by looking where Scaliwag was.
Eventully though, Charles Dickens grew up and decided that he rather liked to hang out with the chickens instead of the ducks because the chickens didn't try to get him to swim in that horrid little pool of water! He always kept in touch with Mrs. Duck though and brought her many presents of worms. The End.

Walking a crooked mile ..... Our Origin Story

7/10/2011

We started with two goats which my mother-in-law bought for my daughter because the little darling wanted to “milk somebody.” That was four years ago and my daughter was only nine years old at the time, so of course I expected that they would really be my goats. But actually, my little girl has continued to be the primary goat keeper here on what was rapidly becoming a farm.

Once we brought the two milkers home, we realized that we had no idea what to do with all the milk. I looked up cheesemaking on the internet (which, with dial-up was one of the most time-consuming activities of this project!) and ordered some kits. From there, I started foisting my cheese creations on friends and neighbors and quickly got the idea to become a cheesemaker.

That was four years ago and I am just now achieving licensed cheesemaker status! We have twelve milkers and our buck, Mr. Darcy. I have a cute-as-a-button little cheese house and a re-re-renovated little barn. The obvious thing is that this is a SMALL operation. In the last four years, I have visited cheesemakers, met with goat people, taken classes, read books and ruminated on the whole project. We started with one plan, abandoned that, created another and another and finally, here we are. It has definitely been a crooked mile that we have walked to get here!

We’re Kidding!

4/28/2011

April 23, 2011 by Goat Cheese Lady So I found the checkbook in my underwear drawer, the celery in the freezer and the half and half in the spice cabinet — I know I’m tired now! Sixteen baby goats in four days! A truly exhilirating, exhausting and exciting time!

It is remarkable how each doe has her own personal needs for birthing. Annie needs me to be with her. I could swear that she waits for me to arrive and yells at me if I leave the barn while she is in labor. I try to view this as endearing but at two in the morning when I want to go up to the house, warm up and have a cup of tea, she just sounds like a diva. Lizzie likes to be stroked and massaged throughout, while her daughter Izzie wants nothing to do with anyone, no talking and no touching. If we make noise in the background she will shoot us a look that would freeze any well-meaning soul! Amelia goes quietly off to a corner and silently brings gorgeous fuzzballs into our world and Lucy yells like I would (ok, I did!).

But by hook and by crook they are all finished now and I am very grateful there were no major medical mishaps or emergencies. Done with the kidding –on to the raising!