market-farming Goats and Trees

Dori Green dorigreen00 at hotmail.com
Wed May 2 06:27:05 EDT 2001


Well, the first 250 trees died on their own and because it was our first 
foray into baby trees.

It has taken me five years to figure out the basics of keeping goats where I 
want them and away from where I don't.  They did indeed eat and knock over 
every single one of the nectarine and apple planting, the very year that one 
of the nectarines actually set one lovely piece of fruit.

I watched that thing ripen, and waited, and thanked the devas, and watched, 
and waited.  And got home from work one day to see a scene of total 
devastation, my one nectarine lying on the ground untouched.

So I ate my $1000 piece of fruit and it was good.

This morning I am putting steel tent stakes into the woven wire fencing and 
the current jailbreak exercises will stop, and I can plant the garden.  I 
had been putting it off for the arrival of a new apprentice short-term, who 
was supposed to be here on Saturday, called on Saturday to say he'd be on 
the Monday bus, called on Sunday to say he hadn't made a connection and 
would be on a later bus, would call as soon as he knew exactly when.  
Haven't heard from him since then (it's now Wednesday) and he's in very 
great danger of finding his invitation rescinded if and when he does bother 
to deal out the courtesy of a @(^@%^% phone call.

I put up with such behavior from goats.  They're only goats.  From people I 
expect -- no, demand -- better.  And the more I see of people, the better I 
like goats.

Dori Green
Ash Grove Community Farm & Center for Sustainable Living
Corning, NY

http://www.ic.org/agrove

_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com




More information about the Market-farming mailing list