A visit to Harley Goat Farm...

So in the course of my cheesemaking, I was looking online for more information about local cheeses. I stumbled upon a website for a goat dairy called Harley Farms, and found that it's located here in San Mateo County, about an hour away in Pescadero. The website was fantastic and I noticed that they give tours every weekend. Voila! My Mom and I went today and we could not have had a better time or been more impressed!

So. Harley Farms is run by Dee Harley, who lives on the premises with her husband and son. It's a small operation and the tour was so incredible! For those of you reading this who live in driving distance of Pescadero, you simply must go. My Mom and I (and the other 15 or so people on the tour) got to play with the goats in the fields, including the 148 baby goats born on the farm so far this Spring. Every single person on the tour got to milk a goat (!!!), tour the goat cheese making facility, and of course, sample lots and lots of beautiful, scrumptious goat cheese.

I recommend a visit to this place strongly, enthusiastically, and with the knowledge that I'll be back again, soon. Over the summer there are nearby U-Pick strawberry and olallieberry farms, and the small town of Pescadero is authenticly small and charming, as is the dairy itself. It's $20 for the 2-hour tour, and it's completely worth your time and money. Tours sell out quickly, so book yours soon to see the baby goats while it's still Springtime! The drive on Highway 1 is gorgeous and it makes for a spectacular day all around. Go see for yourself!

PS The tour guide told us goats are the third smartest animal, after pigs and then dogs, I'm guessing (I'm not counting primates of course). I cannot convey how adorable, soft, sweet and non-smelly they were. My goat-coveting in the previous post is now amplified by about ten and I can't wait to buy some property where I can realize this dream! I think Ty will really like to have some goaty sisters.

Cheese and bread, my way...

Over the hot, hot weekend my plants sucked in water like crazy, I was watering them twice a day to keep up with their thirst! Now that we're back to cooler weather, I felt like baking. I just took 3 beautiful loaves of whole-wheat bread out of the oven and the house smells like a bakery! I also crafted some more homemade mozzarella, it turned out wonderfully as well.

The garden's coming along great, the baby spinach now looks like baby spinach, but I'm going to wait until it's regular adult spinach to harvest. I have small green strawberries and a couple of new additions to the garden--dill and lavender, both planted yesterday. I must say, being laid off sure has improved my quality of life by about 1000%--no complaints here:)