Years ago, I had a plan to raise drought-tolerant herbs and flowers on an acre of land, thinking it would be more sustainable than corn or other crops that need constant water and fertilizer inputs.  Emmett is really a desert climate, with only about 12 inches of rain per year, so I wanted to raise crops in keeping with the climate.  I named my farm business Sage Flower Gardens and marketed organic herbs and flowers at regional markets.

Well, about the same time I bought 5 young Angora goats, because I love goats and had the space for them.  I could not do meat goats, because I couldn't raise friends to be sold for meat.  Even in raising dairy goats, you need to get rid of the males to be economically feasible.  Imagine my joy at discovering fiber goats!  Both males and females produce equally valuable hair, and I don't have to sell them to profit off of them!

Very soon, the beautiful mohair fiber marketed better than the organic herbs and flowers, so mohair is the product of my small farm business.  I enjoy the animal husbandry end of the business the very best.  I enjoy working with the fibers--carding, spinning, crafting--but I love working with the animals the best.

Wow!  It has been a long time since I have updated my blog.  Life intervened.  So many changes.

I have sold my beautiful farm in Emmett and moved to Boise, but I kept the goats and the mohair business, Sage Flower Gardens.  I have eight goats, most of them aging.  Amazingly, Honey Dear is still alive at 17 years old and still healthy and active.  She is the only one remaining of my original 5 and is the same one pictured in the banner photo.  She was always such a good mother!

Valentine, contemplating life, the universe, and everything.  I love my goats and the peace of it when I am among them.  People hassle me a lot that I work too hard.  They think I am slaving away trying to take care of my goats and property.  They think I am trying to prove how tough I am by commuting two hours a day to keep a full-time job in Boise, then coming home to take care of them.  But I have entertainment and relaxation every day just being a part of the herd.  I come home and get rid of my itchy, confining office clothing, get into some grubbies, and let the goats out.  They eat the leaves as they fall, the weedy parts of the garden, and the windfall fruit that falls under the apple and pear trees.  Now the acorns are starting to mature and fall to the ground.  I love just moving along with the herd, showing them where the goodies are.  Every day is a vacation if I can spend a little time with them.