Working with Goats

around the farm

We are into the swing of high summer and three weeks into a heatwave. Days are long, full and exhausting. I rise early to beat the heat, feed and milk the goats, let the ducks out and collect the eggs, and feed the sheep before they head for the shade to wait out the heat of the day. The land is baked dry, our sparse, shallow soils are parched and grass growth has stalled in all but the lowest, dampest spots.

I am working on the land with the goats, clearing fields that have long been choked with purple moor grass and bog myrtle, the aim to rejuvenate and restore fresh, green, diverse and productive pastures. Goats are good for this work; they relish and thrive on the rough forage that has grown too tough for sheep. Sheep need good pasture, at least for some of the year, and good pasture we are lacking. We are feeling the loss of the few acres of lush, lowland grass we left behind when we moved onto the hill last summer, and this spring (did we even have a spring? Because it felt like …