Hello! My wife Laura and I live in a strawbale house that we built on about 45 acres in rural Vermont. We have a small herd of Nubian goats, chickens and raise our own vegetables. I have recently retired from teaching elementary school, so can now devote more time to projects at home. We also have a loving and energetic dog and two cats.
A typical day includes feeding and giving water to the chickens and goats at least twice. Before kidding, the goats get grain, alfalfa and sunflower seeds once a day, along with fresh water and hay. After kidding the mothers will get grain twice a day. We separate the kids from the moms at night so we can milk them in the morning. We milk by hand, as we only milk 3 or 4 does. We also let everyone go to their outside pasture in the morning. At night we close them up in the barn or coop so that they are safe from predators. We rotate the goat's pasture by enclosing different areas with flexible electric fencing. In the summer there are also gardens to water and weed and vegetables to harvest. A few times a week we make cheese, something we are happy to teach you how to do. We make a variety of hard and soft cheeses including chevre, Gouda, Italico, Camembert, aged chevres and what we think is the best tasting yogurt around. We also make amazing caramels.
We have three spare bedrooms, and two and a half bathrooms. Two of the bedrooms are upstairs in the main part of the house and one is in an addition attached to the main house. The addition has its own full bathroom and upstairs is a shared bathroom. There is also a half bathroom downstairs.
We like to eat our meals together and share in the cooking. Both Laura and I love to cook and bake, and we designed our kitchen to work well as a place to cook with others. We love to use our own produce and dairy products as much as possible.
I love to knit, read, take walks with our dog, and play traditional fiddle music. Both Laura and I love to spend time outdoors, kayak, garden, cook and bake and of course make cheese. There is fabulous hiking near us, including in the woods behind our house, and some great swimming and kayaking spots. In the summer we do try to go for a swim every day! Our favorite spot to swim in is a neighbor's pond just down the road. There are also wonderful places to bike here if you don't mind some good hills.
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Learning opportunities
Vegetable farming
Poultry farming
Sheep or goat farming
Dairy farming
Cheesemaking
Vegetable or fruit preservation
Bakery
Traditional crafts
Methods or systems
Biological pest control
Holistic management
No-till farming
Mentoring opportunities
LGBTQ+-operated
Woman-operated
Host type
Self-sufficiency property
18.2
Hectares
|
45
Acres
