Yesterday, Philip took me to Spring Gate Farm north of Charlottesville for a tour of their cashmere goat operation. (Side note – I love a man who knows I’ll love a goat tour for my birthday.)
Some of the Spring Gate goats.
The farm is on 220 beautiful acres along the Rapidan River. The farmer, Jane, has a vegetable business, and she produces honey, cashmere fiber for knitting/crocheting, eggs, and goat and sheep meat. It’s an amazing operation.
But of course, we were there to see the goats. They have a large herd – with lots of yearlings, bucks and does, all with their gorgeous horns. When we saw the older bucks, I couldn’t help but think of the minotaur – his gorgeous horns splaying behind his long face.
We meant an older doe named Oprah, who let us pet her, even though we didn’t have treats. We saw how they put up fencing and give the goats shelter from rain and sun. We watched the older bucks claim rights to lay in the piles of hay in the pasture . . . it looks like straw had sprouted horned-heads.
So we are now seriously considering cashmere goats. I would love to have animals from which we could get fiber to sew and (maybe) sell. In time, we will have alpacas, I hope, but it would be nice to start this venture off right away. I have to do more research to see how cashmere goats do with other goats because I may still want pygmy goats, and Philip definitely still wants some of those fainting folks. But yeah, maybe cashmere goats come spring.
Plus, if we get kids from Jane, she can guide us and help us along. I love the idea of supporting another local farmer and building a friendship at the same time. 
So please, take a look at the Spring Gate website, and if you’re a knitter or crochet, please order some of their fiber. (I’m using my birthday money to get some myself.) And come April, be sure to plan a visit here to see our kids frolicking on the God’s Whisper pasture.
Oh, I can’t wait!!
If you’d like to have your name or the name of someone you love on our goat fence, we’d love to surround our animals with our community in this small way. Just visit our Farm Store to order.