Northern Virginia is filled with local homestead owners. My good friend Sarah is one of them! She lives in Great Falls, Virginia and owns and operates
Amalthea Ridge Homestead. Growing up in Ohio she was always surrounded by farm culture. She is an awesome cook and very creative in the kitchen. Fresh eggs and milk on site were the goal last spring and her first purchase included chickens and turkeys. Five months later eggs were laid, now she has plenty of eggs for cooking and baking. The ambitious person that she is she decided to purchase two female Alpine goats for the purpose of producing goat cheeses and yogurt. Her daughter Stella named the goats "Babe" and "Baby" (her favorite movie is Babe the pig hence the names). I didn't know this tidbit of information but apparently you need a female goat to have kids to start the milking process. After having both females bred 5 months later she has her first buck born on 4/6/2011 at 11:00 p.m. weighing in at 12 lbs. Meet "Penske"!
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| "Penske" |
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| Proud Mama-"Babe" |
If you ever run into Sarah you'll have to ask her how "Penske" got his name. I promise you it's a very funny story. In about two weeks she'll be able to start milking "Babe" for extra milk and start creating different types of goat cheeses and yogurts. In the future she hopes to start a
Goat Share Program where people will purchase a share of the goat. In return they will receive fresh goat milk. The money paid will support the feeding and maintaining of each goat.
UPDATE!!! Now
Amalthea Ridge Homestead offers bath and beauty products made from goats milk including lotions and soaps! Check out their product you won't be disappointed!
