If you’re looking for a reliable source of clean, great tasting milk, consider a dairy goat.

A good quality dairy goat can provide a family with 10 to 14 gallons of milk per week. Goats and people began their partnership about 10,000 years ago and goats genuinely enjoy human companionship.

Goat milk is extremely nutritious and easier to digest than cow milk. It acts as a universal milk replacer for many mammals – our farm has provided milk to help rescue baby guinea pigs, deer, cats, dogs and rabbits.

Clean goat milk tastes great and can be used to make any type of cheese. Can you make cheese? The first evidence of cheese making dates to 7,000 years ago; most of us have kitchens and equipment that are fully capable of producing delicious, clean cheese.

At Emerald Springs Farm our goats supply all the milk and cheese for our family, saving us thousands of dollars a year. The kudzu that was in the tops of our large trees is completely gone, as is the poison ivy and most of the greenbriar.

Join Emerald Springs Farm for a three-hour workshop to learn what it takes to set up a home dairy operation. Tour our farm and we’ll show you the basics needed to keep a healthy, happy dairy goat. We’ll cover land, shelter and fencing, feed, health care, equipment, time and money requirements.  We’ll also talk about goat psychology – an important consideration for these intelligent social animals.  We’ll talk about breeding, kidding and kid care.

Important food safety and milk and cheese handling techniques will be taught. You can sample goat milk and cheese to see how great they taste. Cheese-making techniques used to produce cheese and yogurt will be discussed.

The workshop is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 2 from 8:30-11:30 a.m. Call Lee or Bill Barker at 828-863-4162 to reserve a place.  The workshop size is limited.

Emerald Springs Farm is located in the Green Creek area at 5860 S NC 9 Hwy, Tryon.

– article submitted by Lee Barker