Ideas

In 2020 when Laura and I (Francis) decided that it was time to get out of the city, owning dairy goats wasn’t the first thing on our priority list. It wasn’t even a thought. But the idea of animals and a hobby farm was definitely on our mind. In January of 2022 we moved into our house in the middle of the woods here in Carlton and quickly set about turning it into our own.

The first idea of owning goats came when Laura and I started talking about having another baby. We fed our two older boys formula when they were babies when we had to, but neither of us liked it much. As a matter of fact, neither did our boys. I then recalled that my parents fed me goats milk as an infant and that my dad was also raised on goats milk. Thus the idea of goats began.

Self Sufficiency

The idea of being self sufficient has always appealed to me. Now, I know that its is very difficult to be completely self sufficient, but I like to entertain as many practices and skills as I can. As the years have gone by I have built sheds, coops, hives, garages, and gardens. We have raised chickens, goats, meat birds, guinea fowl and pigs. Through all this we have learned how to do almost all of our veterinarian work and butchering. We have learned how to make multiple kinds of cheese and goat milk yogurt.

Value

Something that I have come to realize is that the amount of money that we put into raising our own hens, or dairy goats, or meat birds, etc… will never save us money compared to going to the grocery store and just purchasing similar items. Quite the opposite. More often that not we are spending more on our farm raised options by far.

But there is a value in what we are doing here that can not be counted in dollars. We value the fact that we can raise much of our own meat without added hormones and chemicals. We value the hard and constant work that is nessesary to be successful in this venture. Most importatnly, I value having my sons by my side as I teach them the same value of work that that Laura and I have.

Resourcefulness

Having dairy goats has put a pressure on us by having this constant flow of milk that must be dealt with before spoils. But this interesting challenge has brought us to a point of creativity and resourcefulness that I love. This year (2025) we embark on this creation of our Lantern Woods Farm goat herd share. We are hoping to offset some of our costs of raising our own animals. Just as important, we hope to make new friends and build a community of people who enjoy our goats milk. We would love to hear from. you and offer a tour of our farm.