Clemmy and Ellie, who live at Lucas Farm, are miniature Jersey cattle.If you go
› What: The Great Appalachian Homesteading Conference› When: 9 a.m-5 p.m. CDT Saturday.› Where: Cumberland County Fairgrounds, 1398 Livingston Road, Crossville, Tenn.› Admission: $32.64 adults, $16.82 children.› Information: http://tinyurl.com/jed7d29
Trying to get back to nature? Return to the way things were in the past? Maybe you want to make your own soap, can your own vegetables, perhaps even raise your own animals – let’s say goats, because goat milk would be easier to get since they allegedly eat anything and are easier to herd.
Think again.
“Goats are very high maintenance,” says the aptly named Tinia Creamer, who raises goats and cows at Lucas Farms in West Virginia. “They are temperamental. Goats must have grain to eat.
“Anyone who wants to produce grass-fed organic milk must go with cows, not goats. A person really needs to think about whether he or she has the patience and the steady personality to deal with goats.”