A Great Book

Have you ever come across a book that so thoroughly engrossed you that time passed and suddenly, the book was finished, but so was the day (or night)?! Today I was fortunate to have one of those times. I began, and finished, the book Goat Song, by Brad Kessler. The subtitle reads, "A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese". What a phenomenal book. This is a story of a couple who chose to move out of the city, live out in the country, and raise their own goats to be able to drink raw goats' milk. They learned about cheese-making, had a great time, learned a lot, and eventually made aged cheeses from their super fresh raw goat's milk that they were able to sell in some very fancy stores/restaurants in New York.

In this country, you will find it extremely difficult to find fresh raw milk cheese. America chose the fast route of pasteurization to kill bad things in bad milk, as opposed to the strict supervision of raw milk dairy farms found in Europe. This is one of the reasons that Europeans consider Americans to be lacking in "culture"! The real story will raise hair on the back of your head. I don't know if I can copy anything from the book, but the history is documented in it, and it's well worth the read.

Brad Kessler has written a wonderfully entertaining, informative, emotional "tome" (not to be confused with 'tomme'--an aging wheel of cheese). Although he does compare the 'tome' with the 'tomme' in his book. The story draws you in and keeps you there. He and his wife live in Vermont, and while that is too far north for me, and way too cold, the support the state of Vermont gives its small farms and farmers makes me very envious of them. Maryland is not supportive of raw milk and has done a lot to discourage us. Again, aged cheeses can be sold, but the delicious chevres and mozzarellas that we make must remain "in house" due to legalities.

I highly recommend reading this book if you have any interest in pastoral life, cheese making (a few recipes are included, as well as many other books for you to look into for recipes and tips), or an interest in goats and goat herding.

Our goats are doing well. We're still waiting on Cocoa to give birth, but we keep seeing signs that say she's getting close. What that means in terms of actual dates is beyond us, but the "signs" are there!

We opened up all the yard pastures, and the goats love the complete access. They are "mowing" the weeds and the high grasses, and we're thinking about renting them out!! (Not really, but it's an idea!) The babies are getting socialized with the herd, and tomorrow night may be the night that we separate them from their mama for the night, and milk her part way in the morning. In another four weeks they should be completely weaned and we'll have milk from Nana again. And then, it's back to fresh milk and great fresh cheese!