The ladies, ready and waiting to be walked up to the milking parlour in the morning.
Our time at Prodigal Farms seems so long ago, but really only ended just last Wednesday! Each day was filled with the brim with things to do, things to learn. Caitlin and I, after a few missteps, became an excellent milking team and loved every minute that we were able to spend with the goats.
Our hosts, Kat and Dave, have only been a certified dairy for 6 weeks, and really have only been goat farmers for less than two years. Kat was a high powered attorney in New York for fifteen years and Dave a high-end contractor with his own business - they took all of that drive and dedication that made them so successful in their first careers, and are unloading full-steam into the development of Prodigal Farms. It is a sight to behold!
Not only have they fought Homeland Security, but have also fought tooth and nail against the North Carolina bureaucracy that has made each step in their attempt to create and open the dairy a difficult and tiresome process. It shouldn't be as hard as it was for them to open and run a farm, especially if you're going above and beyond standard requirements in your desire to be excellent stewards of the land.
So after numerous delicious meals, learning how to: milk, pasteurize, make cheese, make cheesecakes (to die for, seriously, if you're in the triangle area on a Saturday morning, go to the Midtown Farmers Market in Raleigh and by yourself one of these cheesecakes... mmmmmmmm), clean and sanitize a dairy kitchen, set up and maintain electric fencing, make fried green tomatoes (yum x 20) and ultimately, develop relationships with your goats.... we left Prodigal Farms on a Wednesday afternoon to head to Asheville, NC and couchsurf for a few days to both see the area that we had heard so much about, and to study for the GREs, which, at that time I thought I was going to take.
Long story short: I saw Asheville, I fell in love with Asheville and Ashevillians, and I'm pretty sure my heart is scattered in little tiny pieces all over that magical town.
Tim, Linda, Me and Cait!
Between our wonderful, kind, generous and beautiful host Linda and her boyfriend Tim; Dustin - the guy we met at a coffee shop who then took us to a friends house and then up on a hike to what we thought was a mountain vista (but was really a cell phone peak!); Rich and Greg, the brothers that we helped plant 20,000 trees in two days on their family land (and who will one day have their own Biltmore on that land!); and Alex, a queer musician we met while planting trees who shared a meal with us and her partner and made us feel completely at home and welcome in this wonderful city..... between all of these people, and the countless others that even just smiled at us as we shook our booties at the drum circle in the center of town on Friday night.... these glorious people made us feel so warm and gooey inside I think our innards turned to fondue.
Asheville just mesmerized us... and have I mentioned the food? Or the art absolutely everywhere? Or the number of successful local businesses that seem to just be thriving? And how about those freaking mountains!!! Everything about it, I just loved! Plus, Caitlin and I could hold hands! In the South! and it was great.
It was hard leaving... but onward we must go. We are currently at Little Short Mountain Farm in Liberty, TN. Attending potlucks and weeding brambles and reveling at being in a queer community again! I've just made French Onion Soup and I have to say that Kaitlin's at San Ysidro Farms was better... I'll have to get a hold of her to pass her recipe on so I can share her warmth with others!
Missing everyone who's come before and looking forward to all that's ahead!!
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