Spring Babies at Rainbeau Ridge
Spring is in the air and for my friend and neighbor, Lisa Schwartz of Rainbeau Ridge, that means it’s an especially busy time at her produce and dairy farm. You may recall that Lisa produces award-winning tangy and delicious goat cheese from the milk her goats produce. Spring is the goat-birthing season and she expects more than 40 does to kid, hopefully producing 40 new milkers. This is Lisa’s 9th season of raising goats and it was interesting to learn that for the first time this past year, she introduced four new does from outside the gene pool to, hopefully, bring in new favorable traits to her herd. Proof will be in the cheese.
1 At the entrance to Rainbeau Ridge - This logo appears on all of Lisa's goat cheese products.
2 Lisa making the rounds and checking on all of the pregnant females
3 These ladies are patiently awaiting their due dates.
4 This is LeAnn, as in LeAnn Rimes and Macy, as in Macy Gray. They are both due soon.
5 And this is Melissa, as in Melissa Etheridge, having a dialog with a Bourbon Red turkey, perhaps telling him that she was very pregnant and was due at any moment.
6 The live BarnCam - You can see what's happening in the goat barn and watch for new babies being born. http://www.rainbeauridge.com/cms/content/view/253/390/
7 This proud mother is Judy, as in Judy Collins, and her baby was just two days old.
8 Gwen, as in Gwen Stefani, with her little two-day-old doeling
9 And what an adorable little doeling!
10 Lisa saying hello to Lulu, the llama, who was assigned a new task of looking over the baby goats who had just been moved off their mothers.
11 These babies are now bottle-fed goat's milk. The reason they're taken off their moms is to maximize the efficiency of milk production for cheese making and to protect the goats' udders.
12 Lulu is very protective of her charges.
13 The babies are taken off their mothers at about two weeks of age and bottle fed goat milk until they are ten weeks old.
14 This is Blair Harshbarger, the cheese intern at Rainbeau Ridge.
15 Kevin Ferris, the property manager, just put in this paddock for the baby goats. Kevin is responsible for making sure everything works properly and seamlessly at Rainbeau Ridge.
16 Lauren, the farm director, bringing hay to the Kerry cows
17 This is Destiny. Kerry cows from the United Kingdom. They are a rare breed and are quite scarce.
18 And this is Destiny's Child.
19 Aimée is a local volunteer who comes by regularly to collect the eggs and to bottle-feed the kids.
20 Maple syrup making, known as 'sugaring' takes place in Northeastern US and Canada just as winter is losing its grip.
21 Sap flows steadily during temperatures that alternate between freezing and thawing.
22 The sap is 90% water. It takes 40 gallons of sap to boil down to 1 gallon of maple syrup.
23 Blair was on her way to get this sap boiling.
24 There are lots of seeds started in the gardener's studio.
25 Lisa rotates a flat of bunching onions.
26 Vera and her daughter Angeli are visiting Rainbeau Ridge volunteering their services in the vegetable garden.
27 One of two hoop houses on the farm - This one winters over tender artichokes beneath these protective covers.
28 It's much too cold in this environment for artichokes to survive the winter.
29 Lettuces abound in the other hoop house.
30 Beautiful nutty-tasting mache, or lamb's lettuce
31 Another view
32 The leaf lettuce had just been thinned out the day before.
33 Lovely, spicy arugula
34 Zuke, one of the farm cats
35 The middle of March is the time for planting peas.
36 In Lisa's kitchen at the farm, the maple sap has been boiling away.
37 Lisa is proud of the light amber color and flavor of her syrup.
38 She mixed some syrup into some of her goat cheese, producing a delicious cracker spread. Behind is another great treat - dulce de leche made with goat's milk.
39 And another - goat cheese mixed with dried cranberries and walnuts
The Birth of Twin Kids at Rainbeau Ridge
Photos By Martha Stewart @marthastewart and Eliad Laskin @joemartha
Martha Pins
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Martha, I watched the birthing of the twin kids and it is an amazing miracle.
Rainbeau Ridge looks like a fun place to visit. Thanks for taking us along.
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | March 29th, 2011 at 12:59 am
Martha, How very interesting. I think this was a new breakthrough in computer viewing. Something we probably would never experience. Thanks.
Sultana Deanna
Posted by: D. Redenbach | March 29th, 2011 at 8:03 am
OMG - I thought I was going to faint!!! I never watched a birth before it was truly amazing.
Posted by: Ann | March 29th, 2011 at 10:28 am
Hi Martha, What a fabulous farm Lisa Schwartz has with those delightful goats, the llama, the rare cattle and cute little Zuke plus all of the vegetables and the maple syrup and goat cheese she makes!! She is a fascinating person who has lots of volunteers there at her fantastic Rainbeau Ridge!! These photos are very charming and how cute the new goat babies are as well as their terrific mothers. Thank you so much for the video of the twin baby goats' births! What a strong goat that mother goat was while delivering those babies. You sure do have fantastic friends and it's wonderful to see such delightful blogs like this one. Speaking of fantastic things, your TV Show and Martha Bakes yesterday were superb! I just love watching your Hallmark shows daily! On my way to comment on The Daily Wag today with wonderful photos of Francesca and Sharkey being so happy to be back together at the farm. Precious!! Have a great day and will listen to you and Biz on Sirius Radio 112 at 1PM PT. Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | March 29th, 2011 at 10:33 am
My husband watched birthing of our baby boy and did not faint, but I almost did!! Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about farming in NY in FARMER BOY and the story never ends. Calf-birthing season here and weather is not co-operative but spring always comes with Green Grass.
Posted by: ann | March 29th, 2011 at 11:07 am
You are so inspiring. And you are everywhere, I can't keep up with you. Thank goodness for your blogs. Am itching to go to Home Depot and see your many new products. Nor have I been shopping at PetSmart for my English Mastiff. You have inspired so many people and me. THANK YOU!
Maybe Jude will settle you down for awhile. But no there is probably something you will discover with Jude that you will want to share with us. Like you always do. I love the mural you had done for Jude. Enjoy your family. They are beautiful, just like YOU.
cb
Posted by: CB Ballard | March 29th, 2011 at 12:25 pm
Hi Martha,
Wow, so many animals and so many names to remember but I love the names. The little huts for the babies to huddle up in are really cute too. Lulu watching over her charges – lots of multiple births I see. Watching the twins being born was quite interesting since I have never seen that before – I forwarded that link to a few friends to have a look see. I hope no one fainted – haha. Lisa is a busy lady so it’s nice to see she has help. If she needs any help picking artichokes, I’m available and maybe she’ll give me one! I love artichokes! Thanks for this blog Martha – I enjoyed seeing all the expecting goats and the new babies. I am not sure I have tasted goat cheese but every time you mention it, I swear I’m going to get some. Maybe this time I will! Trish
Posted by: Trish | March 29th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
Martha, the birthing of those babies was GREAT. Thanks so much. P.Mergel
Posted by: Pat Mergel | March 29th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
I loved the video of the birth of the twin goats. That was awesome to see!!! Another lovely farm full of life! Thanks so much Martha for these wonderful pics of your neighbours!
Posted by: Frances | March 29th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
Goats are on a real come back throughout the country. Our neighbor has quite a herd. The young boys bounce over the pasture on bikes to drive the goat herd into the corrals. I love to watch them (the boys riding the bikes over the rough pastures--they know just the right speed to make it work).
What is the role of the Kerry cows?
Posted by: Margie | March 29th, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Martha, the names just crack me up so funny! Now will she name the babies the names of the stars kids? Thanks for sharing this lovely blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | March 29th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
That was so beautiful...so sweet! Thanks for posting.
Posted by: Judy | March 29th, 2011 at 6:14 pm
Fabulous video of the birth of the twins! Is there anything cuter than kid goats? I don't think so! Thanks for taking us along - as always Martha!
Posted by: Donna | March 29th, 2011 at 6:49 pm
Thank you, the video was very special and something I will always remember. Mother Nature's work is amazing.
Posted by: Rita | March 29th, 2011 at 8:53 pm
I am so impressed with this farm. Your neighbor is living a dream of mine. Would love to visit her farm one day.
Posted by: Cheryl Jones | March 29th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
Loved the baby goat names, but so sad that they are taken from their mothers so soon - how can I savour my goat cheese again? The birth of twins was so mesmerizing I forgot to breathe - would have been better without the music though.
Posted by: Catherine Black | March 30th, 2011 at 6:50 am
Thank you for posting will be showing my children the miracle of new life. This is part of farming that I remember well and will be educating my children.
Posted by: Karen | March 30th, 2011 at 7:58 am
Precious : )
Posted by: Debra Van Dyke | March 30th, 2011 at 9:22 am
Your show today said Clinton is a vegan! husband's mother and his grandmother both went to school in AR. Hope you are doing OK, your husky voice draws us in and we learn much from you. Living on the northern prairie, where grass grows tall naturally, has given me knowledge that animals can convert plant material to protien in a most economical manner. Emeril's beef is so delicious and easy to cook. Will be so happy to learn more about using wonderful eggs your chickens provide. Thanks, Martha for accepting all.
Posted by: ann | March 30th, 2011 at 10:18 am