Last week was an interesting week for me here at the Lend-A-Hand Center. In addition to planning for our two participant informational meetings which took place on February 22nd and March 1st, we had some exciting happenings on the farm. We have also been out doing soil tests and had our first planning/planting meeting at the extension office which was very well attended. A later blog post will cover that meeting and the soil tests.

You can tell spring is here because of the new baby goats (kids) that keep showing up on the farm. Last week, Irma said that one of the goats was going to have a kid, so I stayed out in the barn to watch the process and make sure everything went smoothly. I had never seen a goat being born although I had barely missed the process several times and had played with the little twins that were born the night before. The barn was kind of chilly as I waited patiently, quietly reassuring the mother goat things would be ok and that she was doing a great job. Soon, after some laborious pushing, the front feet, then head, then entire baby goat was delivered into the world.

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It was amazing to consider the process that had taken place before my eyes. There was one fat goat and then there were two goats. The mother quickly set out to clean the baby, licking it as it came to, as it was opening its eyes, moving its neck around, and very quickly starting to get up and walk around. I helped the mother, taking a towel and wiping of the little kid. Petting its head and welcoming it into the world.

These little kids make the best pets (and help with producing compost for the garden). I am so excited about the coming spring season and all of the new relationships and gardens that will be grown this year through Grow Appalachia.

-Kathryn