We have been plodding along with our small goat herd. Last fall we sold a bunch of animals to bring our herd down to a more manageable size. Our herd had grown to 15 does and a buck plus kids. 

The 2018 season was horrible. The rain was terrible for our critters. We fought off parasites and hoof rot all summer and fall. Other goat farmers have commiserated with us. It was a terrible year for all of us. While we have some shelter for our animals none of the shelters have concrete or rock flooring. That means it was hard to keep their feet dry and clean. This work was time consuming and physically challenging for us. Trimming hooves is back breaking work and let's not even talk about doing it in humid, wet, hot, miserable weather. Thus, we decided to cull our most challenging does and create a more manageable herd.

The 2019 season is looking better. We have 12 kids from 8 does and everyone is healthy! For now the weather has been "OK", let's hope it is a dryer summer than 2018!
- M

The birthing of kids has gone well. The ladies did everything themselves and are very good mothers. We couldn't ask for more.

We have 7 more does on order with our friend Priscilla and they will arrive late summer or early fall. With the addition of these does we expect over 20 kids next spring. Perhaps then the battle with weeds will then be won.

Mary continues her work at the LVHMC markets as Outreach Coordinator. She has found her niche and loves her job.  Bob continues to fight with fencing (keeping dogs and goats on our property). He has become the gentleman farmer and planted several fruit trees and 3 nut trees. The garden is finally a priority.

Our blog, Farmer's Market Junkies on Facebook has gone by the wayside a bit. We are enjoying our time as a family and the page takes second place. We do continue to be inspired by farmer's markets and plan to get back to our blog.

Questions to ask at farmers markets -- Part 1
Posted 9/22/2011 2:52pm by Bob and Mary Haskins.
There are a lot pages that cover what questions to ask at farmers markets (approximately 3 million hits) and even one written (mostly) by my lovely wife, Mary. However, none of these cover the questions *I* think you should ask when attending farmers markets. I have so much to say that I'll probably write a whole series of blog posts on this subject. So here goes.

For the purposes of this discussion, I will focus on meat producers (since that is what we do) and producer only farmers markets (markets that do not allow resale of product from other farms, since that is basically what you get at the supermarket). Your questions should be based on what you value, what your goals are, what your world view is, and a whole host of other topics that create your "frame of reference". What you want to establish is does this vendor meet your personal values or goals? Some people's goals are pretty clear. For example, the folks that shop on price are just worried about the cost to their pocketbook. That's OK, but not really applicable at a *Producer Only* farmers market because costs are so much higher than the factory farmed products. (Don't believe me? I'll show you my prices and then my bank account, and then you'll better understand.)

Besides price, there are a whole host of things that matter to people