New Year's Eve 2011

     An amazing 2011 comes to a close, and a promising new year opens.  The sunny, mild weather here is wonderful, even if it isn't of the season.  It's been a wet December, thank goodness, but just now it's almost shirtsleeve weather in the sunshine, even if the breeze is cool.  We were out in the garden this afternoon, lifting a volunteer turnip out of the rich black soil.  This old fellow carried a whole bush of beautiful greens, that will go with a pot of black-eved peas for our New Year's dinner.  Stress relief, food with no question marks, and volunteer turnips--you find all kinds of things in your own garden.
     An amazing year.  Starting with just a dream 15 years ago, Mary built up a great Saanen herd and then steered through the maze of regulations to get the dairy plant up an running.  Finally she got the kinks worked out and all the paperwork filed, and Decimal Place Farm joined the ranks of Georgia's certified commercial goat dairies.  We agree with Josh Levs: "determined people who chase the 'impossible' can prove the naysayers wrong and bring change beyond what nearly everyone imagined."  We had quite a celebration when Mary's dill cheddar earned a first place in its class in the commercial division of a national cheese competition.
     The response has just been terrific.  People know great cheese when they taste it.  It's been fun sharing those "oo-oo-ooh" moments with folks at farmer's markets in Buckhead, East Atlanta and Grant Park.  (Remember, when it's not farmer's market season, you can still find Decimal Place Farm cheese at Rainbow Natural Foods at Clairmont and North Decatur.)  We've also been gratified with the response from our friends in the restaurant community--Miller Union, Farmburger, Murphy's, and other spots . . . we're proud that our product is part of the exceptional experiences that they deliver.
     Now we are looking forward to the new year.  Kidding season approaches.  Does are "smuggling watermelons," but they aren't grunting yet.  When you hear that "unh unh unh" as they relax in the barn, then you know it's time to spruce up the birthing stalls and check the supplies.  Kidding season can bring some tense moments, for sure, but it also brings you in touch with the magic of our natural world.  And then there are the new kids--slipping between the fence panels, and dancing and twirling for the fun of it.
     We're hoping for a new cycle outside the barn, too.  Many of our visitors this spring saw (or at least heard) the owl mother and fledgling that took up residence in a hollow high up in a tree just beside the barn.  Well, there's someone out in the night who is making "owl noises" but who doesn't quite have the tune down.  Maybe we will be favored again this year.  We and the goats will look forward to spring in the pastures.  We'll keep an eye out together for new shoots of privet and kudzu (yummy!) and for new green grass.
     May you all be blessed in 2012.  May you find yourself out in the garden, or out in the woods, more often than you expected.  We will look for you in the spring, when farmer's market season opens once again.