Good Morning from the farm!
Hope everyone has a peaceful day.
Starting to feel a little like fall in the early mornings ~ we are even seeing some pumpkins start to peek out in the pumpkin patch. Come see us this fall for our last three soap making classes until spring. September 28 (just 2 spots left), October 6 & November 2 at the farm. Tickets https:/grettasgoats.com
If you live in Lake County, we will be back @elawafarm teaching beginner soap making on August 31. Sign up for that class on their website. Hope to see you!
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#sunflowers
#elawafarm
#supportyourlocalfarms
#soapmakingclass
#handmade
#womanfarmer
A moment of beauty on the farm yesterday ☀️ before the rain today.
The cheese making class on the farm is sold out for this Saturday in addition to the next class on July 13. The next opportunity to learn the art & science of simple cheese making will be on August 4. Just two spots left! Tickets can be purchased here: grettasgoats.com/event/artisan-cheese-making-class-august-4-2024-11am-1pm/ Hope to see you!
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#womanfarmer
#farmsteaddairy
#animalwelfareapproved
#learnonthefarm
#chevre
#goatchesse
#welovegoats
#microdairy
#regenerativefarming
A moment of peace on the farm.
As part of our Animal Welfare Certification for the farm we raise the babies with their mamas. Even without that certification we would not farm any other way. Raising babies with their mamas gives the babies a chance to develop a strong immune system which only benefits the farm and the goats down the road. Farm animals are sentient beings. Goats have the ability to experience positive and negative feelings. Scientific evidence supports this. From my experience of over 14 years of hanging out with these magnificent creatures I know they recognize their family members and deeply grieve if separated from their babies early on. You can always find generations of goats cuddled up together on the farm. Support small AWA farms if you can. Last minute snuggle added for tomorrow.
Tickets on our website https://grettasgoats.com Enjoy the sunshine today!
#animalwelfareapproved
#animalsentience
#grettasgoats
#welovegoats
#shortlegfarm
#humanefarming
#smallfarm
Baby goat Shenanigans! ⭐️ Farm News~ We sent off about 15 pounds of soap to the @ecosoapbank today!
If you haven't heard of the @ecosoapbank it is an amazing organization that partners with soap makers (like us!)to get soap into schools around the globe and create jobs for women. Did you know that every year 25,000 metric tons of soap waste is sent to landfills? At the same time, 3 billion people do not have access to soap and water at home. Thank you for all of your soap purchases. Those purchases help to get soap in the hands of people that need it. Gretta's Goats also donates monthly to provide hygiene education for kids.
Just added a last minute snuggle session for Thursday to the website. Tickets can be purchased there. Proceeds from the snuggle will benefit the @ecosoapbank.
HTTPS://grettasgoats.com
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#ecosoapbank
#farmingforgood
#goatmilksoap
#animalwelfareapproved
#womanfarmers
#hygieneeducation
Blue and Little Black Goat's babies almost 2 weeks old ~ enjoying that spring sunshine today. ☀️
@allgrassfarms was just restocked with goat milk soap and laundry soap!
The farmstore @allgrassfarms is amazing!!!! Packed with local, farmer produced nutrient dense food and products that has not traveled very far to get to your plate or home. Support your local farmers and your health while you are at it!
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#babygoats
#welovegoats
#sustainablefarming
#spring
#midwestfarmers
#goatmilksoap
#animalwelfareapproved
#womanfarmer
#allgrassfarms
These tiny faces are pretty special. ❤️ born a few days ago.
The goat hikes are sold out for the remainder of April. Please check our calendar of events page to join us for other fun stuff this spring! Tickets at https://grettasgoats.com
A restock of goat milk soap and lip balms made with raw honey from our hives is headed to @pine_chrome We love this adorable shop in Mt. Carroll. This shop has the kindest owner who supports local artists, farmers, and MORE. Check it out if you haven't already:) I hope everyone had a great Friday. Thanks as always for supporting small and locally owned businesses ~
#grettasgoats
#pinechrome
#shortlegfarm
#rawhoney
#goatmilksoap
#womanfarmer
#supportyourlocalfarmer
#supportsmallbusiness
#animalwelfareapproved
#sustainablefarming
Happy 1 week birthday to this little stinker! On the farm April always brings a pretty hectic pace but the little goat faces make the hustle & bustle of spring on the farm so worth it. We had another set of twins born yesterday afternoon - hoping to get a video of them later today to share. They look a lot like their dad, Otto. Jenny (our friend and aspiring flower farmer) has the flower plot tilled & is waiting for the ground to warm up so she can start planting - super exciting to have flowers & pumpkins on the farm this year to look forward to. Happy April and more baby goat content coming your way:) 🐐
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#flowers
#babygoats
#farm
#welovegoats
#womanfarmer
#animalwelfareapproved
#sustainablefarming
The spring snow today brought these two into the world. Twin girls, healthy & strong 💪 always a relief when things go as planned with a kidding. We give the mama and her babies the right nutrition from the start and throughout her pregnancy. We try to be on hand at every kidding with our birthing kit stocked with everything we would need. Over the years we have learned what that kit needs to have in it. For below zero days we have a hair dryer to quickly dry & warm the baby. Sometimes, I joke that the hairdryer may need to be replaced with a small bottle of bourbon.🤣
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#womanfarmer
#welovegoats
#animalwelfareapproved
#farmlife
#farmsteadcreamery
Thanks to one of our customer's who submitted my name to @okeeffescompany @xoxofarmgirl
To receive a fun care package. I'm not sure who submitted my name so I just want to say thanks for recognizing the hard work I do here on the farm!
Thank you:)
#gratitude
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#okeeffescompany
#okeeffesworkinghands
#forfarmersmovement
#womanfarmer
#thankyou
I feel pretty lucky to have found farming later in life. It's work that I am passionate about and fills me with meaning and purpose. It also suits my personality to be active, moving, and outdoors most of the day. I know that I would not still be farming today without all of the people who supported and encouraged me along the way. I'm super happy to now be able to support others in the beginning of their farming journey. It's been fun this past year to serve as a farm consultant to other farms just starting out. And now it feels very rewarding to host Jenny here on our land. Jenny is a long time friend of the farm who worked here for a season while we were building the dairy. And Jenny forgave me after getting some pretty serious poison ivy after milking the goats on pasture:) Looking forward to spring, flowers, and baby goats!
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#encouragement
#gratitude
#nodreamtoobig
#farmflowers
#womenfarmers
Feeding the bees! With the unusually warm temps we have experienced lately the bees have been super active. This time of year they are usually dormant. We knew there would not be much for them to eat outside the hive now so feeding them honey from a hive that did not make it made sense. This video shows Eric showing our farmhand and Future Farmer of America, student, Grant how to open up the hive and add the frames of honey. If you would like to get started on your beekeeping adventure join us March 30 on the farm for a beginner beekeeping class. Tickets on our website https://grettasgoats.com
#sharetheknowledge
#savethebees🐝
#nobeesnofood
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#farmlife
#pollinators
What is Animal Assisted therapy and education? It incorporates so much but in a nutshell it's goal oriented, planned, structured, and documented therapeutic intervention directed by health & human service providers as part of their profession. It is directed and delivered by a licensed or degreed healthcare professional or human service professional. Our primary focus will be animal assisted therapeutic education with children while still offering our therapeutic goat hikes to the community. Nothing about Gretta's Goats and our farm products will change it will just be a nice addition to what we already offer:) Any questions or suggestions for names ~ please comment! Thanks so much.
#therapeuticfarm
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#community
#goathikes
#welovegoats
#animalwelfareapproved
#humaneeducation
#healingpowerofnature
#goatfarm
#goats🐐
Meal time at the farm ~ for most of the animals its an extreme sport. For Marty it's a time to chill with your friends and relax on your food. Sometimes that's all the energy you can muster. I get it, Marty, I get it. 😂
Marty (AKA Martin) is our goat of week! He is never far from Nugget, his brother and his mom Sweetface.
Rockton area customers @ricracgifts was just restocked. Thanks as always for supporting small woman owned businesses!
Soap classes just added to the website ~ one in June and one in September. Tickets on our website https://grettasgoats.com
#grettasgoats
#goatoftheweek
#shortlegfarm
#learnonthefarm
#animalwelfareapproved
#soapmakingclass
#goatmilksoap
#naturalskincare
#womanfarmer
I am determined to share the gifts of my farm with others. I have a long-held dream to offer animal assisted therapy and education to my community. Starting from my years working in human service, I have experienced the healing power of nature and animals. My students thrived during visits in forest preserves while honing their orientation and mobility skills. My grandfather, a WWII survivor, raised pigeons in his backyard to help heal his own trauma. And my dad-also deeply affected by WWII, moving from refugee camp to refugee camp - spent 55 years raising and running sled dogs. The combination of nature and animals is powerful medicine for us all. #lifebeginsat50MEA
@chipconley @richroll @meawisdom
Since bees don't like to poop in their hive often times the first warm day in winter they will emerge from the hive to do just that - POOP!
It was amazing to see and hear them yesterday.
It feels like nature's magic that they lived through those below zero temps we had. Sometimes this farm stops me in my tracks and reminds me of how powerful Mother Nature really is. Go bees Go ~ we need you.
Just added a baby goat snuggle session for Saturday May 11. Hope to get most of them added to the website this weekend for those who have been asking:). There will be a few random ones added once we get closer and have an idea of exactly how many little stinkers we will be lucky to have this season. The snuggle sessions are purposely small to ensure the comfort of all of the goats & their babies. Animal Welfare is our first priority at Gretta's Goats.
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#beesofinstagram
#savethebees🐝
#nobeesnofood
#midwestfarm
#womanfarmer
The last couple of days have been hard with these bitterly cold below zero temps. It is especially hard on the older goats. It's these types of days on the farm that you seriously question your sanity. Happy to report everyone is healthy and huddled up so far today. Except for this one. She has had the zoomies and I love it. It's almost like she senses my worry and wants to cheer me up. Well, Vivi - mission accomplished and in another couple of days we should be back in the single digits! ❄️
Thinking ahead to spring and goat hikes. Lots more hikes just added to the website. Tickets at https://grettasgoats.com
Stay Warm everyone.
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#winteronthefarm
#brrrrr
#greatpyreneesofinstagram
#womanfarmer
#midwestfarmer
#animalwelfareapproved
#goatdairy
Come to the farm and get creative on February 3! Learn the art & science of cold process soap making and make your Valentine a gift while you are at it! The class will be held in our heated classroom and a tour of the farm will be included in the price of your ticket. Tickets at https://grettasgoats.com click on events & classes. With the super cold temps today I am focused on getting our 2024 calendar of events more updated.
Stay Warm & Cozy everyone.
#winteronthefarm
#goatfarm
#goatmilksoap
#coldprocesssoapmaking
#learnonthefarm
#womanfarmer
#animalwelfareapproved
#midwestfarmer
#sustainablefarming
It's a gloomy day weather wise and it seems mud is here way too early in the season. You can often hear me say throughout the winter even on brutally cold days "At least it's not mud!" The month of March's mud I could definitely do without on the farm. The mud and overcast weather are NO match for these pumpkin eating fuzzy faced donkeys. These two eating pumpkins are always at the top of the farm's joy list!⭐️ Hope you are having a peaceful & joy filled Sunday.
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#minaturedonkeys
#animalwelfareapproved
#womanfarmer
#farmlife
In the evenings these two have been enjoying leftover pumpkins. There is something about the crunching & chewing noises that make hanging out with them while they eat kinda meditative ~ until someone wants someone else's pumpkin!
We have gift certificates available again this season that can be used towards future soap making, beginner cheese making, and beginner bee keeping classes on the farm. Classes will resume again February 2024. We typically have them from Feb - end of November.
Goat hike gift certificates too! Goat Hikes will resume March 2024. We will have goat hikes most Saturdays @ 11AM throughout the year except December - February.
Please email me at grettasgoats@gmail to get a gift certificate. They will be emailed.
Spring class schedule will be posted to the website by Christmas.
Happy Holidays from all of us at Gretta's Goats!
#grettasgoats
#shortlegfarm
#minaturedonkeys
#happyholidays
#giftcertificates
#farmlife
#animalwelfareapproved
#womanfarmer
Winter Holiday gift boxes are ready to ship! What's inside? 1 peppermint lip balm, 4 full size goat milk soap bars, 2 mini bars, 1 rustic metal goat ornament,
Goat milk holiday spice caramels, cedar soap dish, and cranberry pomengranate hand salve.
Thanks for supporting your local small farmers this holiday season. 🐐❤️
