Letter from Alexis in USA
Hi everyone, I’m so excited to be a guest writer at thekitchensgarden & glad you have stopped in with us today. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about why I starting homesteading & also to encourage others who may be thinking about homesteading to start. I feel like there isn’t just one reason to why I decided to start homesteading, more like many small reasons. I’ve had an interest in being somewhat self sufficient since I was a child, I have always loved animals, especially farm animals, also loved the idea of “farm fresh”& I can’t stand not knowing where some of our store bought food comes from or how its handled before it gets to us, scares me a little bit to be perfectly honest.
Now I know there’s a very small chance that I’ll ever be completely self sufficient but I figured I would be where I could! So I started researching and using one of my favorite websites to save all the awesome ideas I found, Pinterest. If you don’t have one you need to get one, its amazing and you can find the neatest stuff on there but anyway enough about Pinterest.. Lol
After I had looked into homesteading extensively I had an opportunity to get my first milk goats, the breed I went with is Mini Nubians & they are the BEST! I’m not biased or anything… haha Growing up we’ve always had animals but never really producing farm animals until 2015 & I instantly fell in love with owning them once I got started. It’s a wonderful feeling the first time you bring in your first few eggs or that warm fresh milk piled high with creamy foam, ahh so satisfying, I was instantly addicted! Homesteading is a wonderful thing but I quickly found out it does take consistency and hard work to keep things running on a farm, even just a small farm is quite a bit of work. Dedication and determination is a must but once you get to that goal you’ve set or reach the point when you start seeing the fruits of your labor it is well worth it & you’ll be happy you decided to take on this journey. I know I have enjoyed it so much, I really would love to also eventually raise our own meat on the farm and start a small garden but I’m going to take it one step at a time! The garden will be a big undertaking for me because I’m not very good at keeping plants alive… So I’ll definitely have to get better in that area before I attempt to grow our own food. 
I’ll continue on my homesteading journey learning & growing, and I would love to hear from anyone who would like to share their experiences or tips with me.
Alexis
godslittleacrefarmblog.wordpress.com/.
31 Comments on “Letter from Alexis in USA”
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Goats! I’m hopping over to your blog to read more about them (BABY GOATS!). I’ve often mentally ruled out goats because I always hear about them being so naughty, but I think they’re so funny, and I am interested in them as an alternative to a dairy cow. Assuming you didn’t grow up drinking goat’s milk, did it take you long to adjust to the flavor?
I won’t lie they can be quite naughty, but that’s half the fun! Haha I LOVE mine, it’s been so fun owning them, it can be quite a bit of work but I think it’s worth it. The main thing is to make sure you have good fencing from the start and that all gates stay securely latched at all times…. Lol if you have that covered, other than the occasional escapee you won’t have any problems!
Sorry Nadia, I just noticed the rest of your comment, it honestly didn’t take me long to adjust at all! In fact I liked it from the start, now I’m sure you’ve heard not all goats milk is created equal as far as taste… Definitely research a little before you purchase to see what kind of milk you prefer, I have Mini Nubians and I love their milk but not all goats milk taste the same. The Mini Nubian milk is creamy and has just a slight hint of sweetness, very similar to whole cows milk but also it’s imperative that the milk is handled correctly or it can taste yucky! Actually a few different factors decide how the milk will taste but correct handling is one of the biggest deciding factors, I have learned that the hard way a time or two. Lol it needs to be cooled quickly or else it’s taste off, so I have developed a system to cool it quickly and since then haven’t had any issues with taste.
Those are the cutest goats.
Thank you Deb! Farm fresh eggs are my favorite 😊
Thanks for sharing today Alexis, especially the goat photos! Your eggs look lovely, which reminds me that I need to go get breakfast… 🙂
Thanks for entertaining us today. 🙂 We had goats when I was a kid. They caused a lot of problems (got out of the fence and went to the neighbors and got on top of their car, denting it like a hailstorm hit! Ha ha), so we did not have them long. I am curious to know why you love Mini Nubians and why they are your choice in breed? Farm fresh eggs are the best. I know I will always have chickens!
I love the size of the Mini Nubians, they are not as large as a full sized Nubian so they are easier to handle but not as small as a Nigerian so they still give a very nice milk yield! (:
Thank you for writing a column for us today, Alexis. Your goats are adorable. I do love goats from my few years of living with two Toggenburg sisters, Snickers & Milky Way & one offspring, Zero. They were all very naughty but also charming & fun. I wanted beautiful colored eggs like yours but our kinds of chickens just laid regular brown & white delicious eggs. We had geese & guineas too & their eggs were also delicious. I enjoyed gardening but never achieved any real self sufficiency. Still I love reading these blogs about your all’s efforts & aims to do so. Are your chickens nesting in mulch there or just settled into dust baths under the vines?
Thank you! They are just enjoying a dust bath, that’s my area for dumping mulch from the barn and the girls just love it! Haha
Hi Alexis! We have goats too, and just love them! They are Lamancha goats and really produce wonderful creamy milk with which we make kefir, and all sorts of cheeses. The milk supports us, our dogs and cats, chickens and our pigs! Homesteading is hard work, but so rewarding!!! 🙂
We started with Lamanchas as well, and I still love how much milk they produce and how sweet it is. We have added Guernseys to our herd, and I love them as well. Farming is a helluva lot of work, especially on a day like today! (2′ of snow and higher drifts out there…)
I’ve heard lamancha milk is some of the best, I would definitely love to try it! I’ll have to find a lamancha breeder close by and give their milk a try. 😊 Same here when they girls are in full swing production we have no need to buy milk for anything and even have quite a bit left over!
Thanks Alexis for such a lovely blog post! Have a lovely day with your goats and chickens!
Thank you! 😊
Thanks for giving us a peek into your life homesteading. The ability to get freshly-laid eggs daily would make it all worthwhile for me. For us city folk, they’re a delicacy. 🙂
Ah yes they are definitely worth it! ❤️
I am so envious of that beautiful basket of eggs … those colours are amazing and I bet they have those deep orange yolks too 🙂 Those little kids are cute, will check back to your blog in future. thanks for todays peek into your homestead. Laura
Thank you! So glad to share (:
Ohh I love the look of that basket of eggs! And your goats look very sweet.
Nicely written Alexis!Q Do you make cheese with your goat milk? I’m praying that my goat is pregnant and I get a kid this year! My first goat delivered a stillborn and I haven’t bred her since. I was so distraught over it! Hoping for better luck this time so I can make some cheeses!
Yes I do dabble in cheese making, I’ve not gotten past making simple cheeses yet but I would love to try to take cheese making further this year! Oh no so sorry to hear about that, I hate when tragedy like that strikes in a farm 😞 I will pray with you that your girly is pregnant & has a healthy delivery!
Hi, Alexis! My friend has goats on her acreage, first for milk, second to keep the fire hazard of grass to a minimum. She loves it when one (or more( of her mamas come wandering home to the pen with her newborn trailing behind. One turned out to be a mini-mini! Little tiny guy!
We do the eggs here. My daughter comes to visit from L.A and always goes home with eggs – to her delight. (chuckle! Not sure if she comes to see us or to get fresh eggs!)
Thank you for the peek into your lifestyle. Enjoyed it!
Yes it’s so wonderful to see the babies out and about enjoying life, they are so fun and relaxing to watch. Im sure your daughter wishes you could ship those farm fresh eggs to her all the time! Haha
There’s something about goats–maybe I love them because I am a goat (January born). But I love how they sound–every once in a while I go to this YouTube post of screaming goats and laugh my head off. When we were on Maui I made my husband take me to a goat farm (hard to find) called Surfing Goats Dairy Farm where I got to hold baby goats and milk a goat. Good luck, Alexis with your healthy farm!!! And thank you for sharing your life with us. Your goats are darling!
I have done the same thing, gotten on YouTube and watched the funny goat videos! Goats are amusing in so many ways 😂 thank you very much, we just love our little stinkers!
Very sweet post. I’m glad there are people that are able to do small home farming and do it in a humane and organic way. That was never an option for my nomadic lifestyle but I would definitely have been a candidate to give it a try in my younger years. I think we are becoming more aware than we were a generation ago. The young can teach the old in so many things. Keep up the good work.
Thank you! I love it and try to educate any chance i get, I am so surprised sometimes as how many ppl aren’t aware of how much better fresh food and other things are for our bodies.
Not everyone has access to the information or the food. Growing up, we didn’t even have a yard of our own living in apartments and moving every 6 months to every couple of years. Mostly we were lucky to get to eat and that was true through my mid 30’s The education comes slowly but growing my own food was never an option. But now as a senior citizen, I’m much more careful about what I eat and where the food comes from. You and Ms. C. keep teaching the world one mind at a time. Just teaching your own little ones will make big changes.
Love your post! I started my homestead with chickens just to know that I knew where at least one more thing I eat comes from. I know the folks who get eggs from me now appreciate not only the quality and freshness, but also knowing that they are local. Not a day goes by that someone asks how my “chooks” are doing. I really want get a few goats and see how that goes, but working an hour away from home 5 days a week really makes me think that I wouldn’t be able to devote enough time to them, especially if I’m expecting to get dairy goats. I’ll have to hold off on that venture for now.
I can’t wait to get a basket of eggs like that. And goats are on my list for next year! It’s fun to see you post and imagine where I’ll be down the road. We just got started. Doing chickens and a vegetable garden this year. Should be exciting! Thanks for the sneak peek into the future 🙂