GIVE ME Shelter

When Kathryn Spann started raising dairy goats in 2008, she thought wooden sheds built on skids would be the ideal housing for her herd. The shelters could be attached to a tractor and moved, ensuring the herd had a safe space to escape the elements and allowing Spann to practice pasture rotation without building individual shelters in each pasture.

BREEDING BASICS

The traditional goat breeding season in the U.S. is between late August and the early part of January, according to Angela McKenzie-Jakes, extension animal science specialist at Florida A&M University.

milking how to

Goat milk is liquid gold, but you have to get milking right to get it.

Natural FIBERS

When visitors drive up to our Northern California foothill farm, they immediately notice the fluffy, long-horned beasties dotted all over our pastures. If they have never met us before, these visitors will always tell us how they love seeing our beautiful \"sheep\" and ask what we do with their wool.

Choosing a DAIRY GOAT

A number of considerations will determine your ideal dairy goat breed.

Parasite PATROL

Keep your worm treatments effective with these three valuable tools.

Notes ON NUTRITION

Dairy and meat goats have specific feed needs, and they're not the same.

WHY KEEP Goats?

My love affair with goats began because of one simple thing: goat cheese. It was love at first bite when I first tried the creamy, tangy spread in college. For almost two decades, it was an infrequent treat because of the high  price tag of a dollar an ounce. (That was back in the 1990s!) When my family decided to move to the country to grow our own food organically in 2002, I knew I had to have a couple of goats so that goat cheese could become part of my regular diet.

HEALTHY GOAT, Happy FARMER

Goats may be hearty, but they still need their keeper's care in order to live long and be healthy.

CHOOSING A Meat Goat

Once you've mastered the basics, keeping goats for meat is pretty easy.

Spot & Treat

Parasites happen, but proper management keeps things under control.

Around the World With Herbs

Looking beyond familiar mediterranean favorites, we can find flavor in the tropics

PLANTS from PIECES

ALL ABOUT PROPAGATION BY STEM, LEAF & ROOT CUTTINGS

MODERN MMODERNlias

HYBRIDIZERS ARE EXPANDING THE LIMITS OF THESE MUCH-LOVED TREES

TOTAL TOMATO GROWING GUIDE

Niki Jabbour's advice for making the most of this grow-at-home favorite

FILMS WITH FLOWERS

Relax with an uplifting garden-themed movie

LOOKING AHEAD

A colorful, fruitful summer follows winter's well-used days

HANGDOG NO MORE

I'M A CURIOUS and impetuous guy. Good at thinking but terrible at remembering. And dammit if I'm not impatient.

JARED BARNES - Propagating gardeners

JARED BARNES is an award-winning professor of horticulture at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. He also hosts The Plantastic Podcast and publishes a weekly e-newsletter called plant ed, both of which can be found at his website, https://www.meristemhorticulture.com. At home, he gardens with wife Karen and daughter Magnolia.

RIBWORT PLANTAIN

Before you call it a weed, consider its many talents

FULL SUN FOLIAGE

IT'S A BIT MORE CHALLENGING THAN IN THE SHADE, BUT WE CAN FIND DELIGHTFUL LEAVES TO EMBELLISH SUNNY SPACES

CHANGE OF PLANS

HOW TO PLAN A GARDEN RENOVATION THAT WORKS WITH THE SITE AND ITS ECOLOGY

NEW PLANTS

Pollinator Favorites

THE SOFT SIDE OF CONIFERS

SCALE-LEAVED TYPES CONTRIBUTE A GENTLY SCULPTURAL PRESENCE TO THE GARDEN

KING OF THE HÜGEL

GARDENERS ARE FINDING NEW USES FOR THE TIME-TESTED TECHNIQUE OF HÜGELKULTUR

CHALLENGE ACCEPTER

PERENNIALS TO GROW IN DRY SHADE OR DEER COUNTRY

ANCIENT SILPHIUM (POSSIBLY)

Is an obscure fennel relative in fact the most legendary herb of Ancient Rome and Greece?

THE RIGHT START

Advice for planting the garden from transplants or direct-sown seed

A DIFFERENT LAND

Letting go of the English garden influence sets American gardeners on an easier path

TREES BETRAYED

Greg Coppa laments acts of treeson” but offers hope