Two of the many reasons we do this...
We feel it is important to keep children in touch with nature; to see and
appreciate the awesome beauty of this universe and the grand design that
created it. They should know where their food comes from and the sacrifices
required to produce it; whether the sweat of the farmer that grows the wheat,
or the life of the animal that provides the meat.
Another thing of importance to me, at least, is to let our children be children.
To catch lizards; climb a tree and build a tree house; make fences and pens of
sticks for their small toy animals and dolls out of oak galls and cedar twigs.
Granted, these last look a bit like Voodoo dolls, and I always wonder when I
have a run of mediocre luck. Levity aside, there is magic in childhood that gets
lost in this busy world where activities are scheduled down to the last minute of
every day. We do our best to let the magic live. It keeps us young. At Fat
Bottom Farm, kids of all ages are welcome to get dirty, milk a goat, run with the
goat kids, read a good book under the spreading branches of a huge post oak,
or seek fairies dancing amidst the dust motes illuminated by the sun's rays
filtering through the leaves.
And on to other things..
We are often asked where did we come up with our farm name. At other times,
I try not to be offended when someone doesn't ask. I'll admit to having been a
fan of the song "Fat Bottomed Girls;" by Queen; and had for years called our
barred rock hens by some derivative of that appellation. Then after trying to
stay away from goats (it can't be done, by the way) for many years, we
purchased several registered Nubian does. When signing the papers over to me
the seller asked what our farm name was, and having heard the aforemenioned
song on the radio only minutes before arriving to pick up our does; Fat Bottom
Farm was what came to mind. And that's the story we're sticking to!
As for our logo....it's a hoofprint! People also ask about, or flinch at, our
trademark slogan "Goat milk makes your butt better!" This arose from my
Dad's memory of a favorite uncle making that statement, or at least something
very like it. As this took place circa 1950, I'm sure both enjoyed the slightly
risqué connotations of the phrase. You are welcome to interpret the quote any
way you like. While we've never had a goat that applied head-butting skills to
humans, they use the talent freely upon each other; all having consumed plenty
of goat milk as bottle babies. Uncle A. must have been correct!
I purchased this beautiful piece of property in early 2007. It was essentially raw
land without fences, but with plenty of debris and work to be done. It is coming
along nicely; slowly but surely. It has taken truly Herculean effort on the part of
my husband to reach this point, and the work has only begun. I couldn't have
done it alone...too much heavy lifting!
Check back from time to time. We'll post new photos and updates as time
allows. Thanks for looking!
|
|
