Goat soap and cheese questions...

[freemotion]

I am definitely going to seriously consider doing it during kid time! How long is the class?

 

[freemotion]

Waddaya think of offering the price of the class as credit towards a goat if they choose to buy one? Or half the price of the class? Or what?

 

[farmerlor]

I am definitely going to seriously consider doing it during kid time! How long is the class?

I'll have to let you know how long the class is after I get back from the class. That's the ONE question I didn't ask her and we were on the phone for a long time. Since it starts at noon I'm assuming that it's going to go for the better part of the afternoon.

 

[farmerlor]

Waddaya think of offering the price of the class as credit towards a goat if they choose to buy one? Or half the price of the class? Or what?

I think offering the class price as credit towards the price of a goat is sheer genius.

 

[freemotion]

Farmerlor, can you give me some details on the class?

How long was it?

How many people showed up?

What did you learn? Did you watch or get in there and try it?

What kind of cheese did you make?

Did you bring stuff home or just try it there?

How was it set up?

Where there handouts?

Anything else you can tell me would be VERY much appreciated. Since you are so enthusiastic about getting your goats, she must've done it right!

 

[farmerlor]

Farmerlor, can you give me some details on the class?

How long was it?

How many people showed up?

What did you learn? Did you watch or get in there and try it?

What kind of cheese did you make?

Did you bring stuff home or just try it there?

How was it set up?

Where there handouts?

Anything else you can tell me would be VERY much appreciated. Since you are so enthusiastic about getting your goats, she must've done it right!

The class itself started about noon and was more or less over about 4:30 but I went early in the morning and helped with chores. This is a 60 year old woman farming 100 goats and various cows, pigs, chickens, horses, donkeys, etc and I wanted to learn goat care so I went to "help." I know it actually took her more time to show me how to do everything than it would have to just do it herself but I really appreciated all the hands on.
There were four of us at the class, and she had four last week and she's planning on five next week and so far has two for the following week.
When we got done with chores we went into the house and got stuff started. Basically just putting the milk into pans, getting out cultures, fixing lunch, getting out molds and measuring things, etc... When the rest of the class got there she was explaining stuff constantly but we had our hands in the cheese separating curds and pounding the whey out when we put the cheeses into molds.
For lunch we'd made a lasagna made with goat meat and sausage, goat ricotta, and goat mozzarella. We made the chevre into various cracker spreads and ate it with some farm cheese that we sliced and some sweet cheese that was super. I'm all about sweet cheese!!!! Drank it all down with some healthy glasses of goat milk.
We made the chevre, mozzarella, ricotta, farm cheese, and cheese curds. We took a little of everything home that we'd made and I grabbed some of that sweet cheese and lasagna too.
She had contacted the companies that send out various goat supply catalogs and gotten a case from each so we took home four goat and cheese making supply catalogs. We looked at various goat cheese cookbooks and wrote down the names of the ones she thought were the best ones. She gave us copies of some of her cheese recipes and lists of various cultures that we'll need to buy as well as the most necessary supplies.
The whole thing was done in her home and that was a good thing because it reinforced how easily these things could be done with things we already have and that it's not some strange process done in laboratories with scary equipment and chemicals.
I had a blast and was thrilled with how easy it all was to do. If you'd told me that we were going to multi-task five different kinds of cheese at the same time I'd have stayed home but it was simple and fun and I left feeling confident that I could do it by myself next time.
When I came home my family was very pleased with the things I'd made and everyone declared the goat milk experiment a success.

 

[freemotion]

Thanks!

So tell me, what would you think of this:

Demo of making chevre and feta, with sample of feta that is already aged to take home, and the chevre made that day to eat and take home.

Kefir and yogurt making with tastes of each, and a dip made with the kefir to eat.

Chowder made with goat's milk and feta for a snack.

Milking demo including set up, milking, filtering.

Hoof trimming demo.

Barn tour and explanation of basic daily care.

Play time with goat kids.

Goat's milk soap samples.

Making soap as another class.

 

[farmerlor]

Thanks!

So tell me, what would you think of this:

Demo of making chevre and feta, with sample of feta that is already aged to take home, and the chevre made that day to eat and take home.

Kefir and yogurt making with tastes of each, and a dip made with the kefir to eat.

Chowder made with goat's milk and feta for a snack.

Milking demo including set up, milking, filtering.

Hoof trimming demo.

Barn tour and explanation of basic daily care.

Play time with goat kids.

Goat's milk soap samples.

Making soap as another class.

I think those are all wonderful ideas for a great class though it sounds like it would take the better part of a day to do. But that's okay too since I see me going down to my teacher's house several more times before I really feel like I'm ready to bring the goaties home. Did you know there's actually a lady down here who charges people to come milk her goats? They get to keep the milk but they pay 25 bucks for the privilege of milking a goat. LOL!
I went to soap milking class yesterday and ended up helping with the kidding. We had a doe deliver triplets while I was there helping with the chores. And I did the milking too. Great day. Can't wait to get my goats.

 

[freemotion]

Yeah, as I was typing it, I was thinking it would end up being a two part class!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

Waddaya think of offering the price of the class as credit towards a goat if they choose to buy one? Or half the price of the class? Or what?

I think offering the class price as credit towards the price of a goat is sheer genius.

HA! i shoulda known that Free and i had the same thought about... "so.. what in the class??"

HA!

and really this class sounds like its worth its weight in gold. what a great idea!

and just to throw in.. our goats paid for themselves very quickly. some folks just asked me about this and what we use all our milk for so that it makes sense and cents.. i just put the link in my journal or its here on my blog:

http://adventuresinthegoodland.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-do-we-do-with-all-milk.html

even with the bagged feed and ha for our goats we still come out ahead. the trick is to "stack" your barnyard so the ducks and clucks eat any 'wasted' hay and also to use whatcha got. so we drink and use a lot of milk. and then there's the cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, whey etc.

glad you decided to go for the class!

ps i'm so gonna charge people to milk my goats! ha!
;-)