Out & About with Farmer John

Many of you have heard me talk (type) about my buddy, Farmer John. Well, here is a picture of the man himself

Isn't he a handsome devil?

One afternoon I got a call from John asking me if I would like to attend the Sheep & Goat Education Day with him and if that would be ok with Ryan seeing as I'm a married woman and such. I jumped on that quicker than you can say "What the hell is a Sheep & Goat Education Day?"

See the thing is, I had brought a copy of this flier by John's place to see if he would go with me but since he was out of town I just left on the door. My plan worked perfectly because he called to ask me, picked me up in Colettes' Mercedes, and had breakfast ready - Pepsi & an apple. I was so dang excited to be going with him that I about licked myself from head-to-toe.

The S&GED was quite the event and it's safe to say I stuck out like a sore thumb. I'm thankful that John was with me because it was clear when I walked in the room that one of these (me) was not like the others. These folks were tried and true ranchers. Then there was me with my blonde curls and a silly grin on my face. But they were really great people and were interested in my little farm. I was also able to hold my own during the questions about herd size, breed, eating habits, kidding, etc.

I learned all sorts of things at the S&GED that I didn't even know I had to worry about - disease, potential wolf situations, Scrapie, tagging, breeding, etc... I leaned over to John about every 5 minutes for clarification on things and he patiently brought me up to snuff.

Lunch consisted of lamb shanks and goat tacos. I know... Goat. Tacos.

I was totally freaked out but interested at the same time. People always ask me if we eat our goats and the answer is no. Not really my thing. However, the tacos they served were top of the line. The goat meat was super moist and flavorful without being gamey.

The last breakout session we attended was the Goat Health class with a couple of Veterinarians. This was a great chance to pick their brains and get questions answered regarding my herd. I asked about Martha's fishtail teet and they offered some good suggestions. FYI - her teet is doing great now :) Someone started talking about castrating their young billy's and I raised my hand to ask if it hurt too much to do it when they were first born or to wait a couple days. Stupid, stupid, question...

As I was the only female in the room, every head turned my way. They vet - also a male - says:

"Well Trish, I've never been castrated so I really can't tell you"

I didn't know whether to laugh out loud or crawl under my chair and die. I bit my lip until it bled and nodded my head as if I understood. Obviously I don't always think before I speak.

Big thanks to John for letting me tag along with him to the S&GED. I had a such a good time!