I got a note from The Girl's teacher a couple of weeks ago saying that they are planning a field trip to a goat farm nearby & wanted some parents to help out. I gladly signed up cos I wanted to see how goat cheese is made & thought, at the same time, it would be fun to see how The Girl interacts with her classmates.
What makes it more special for the children is that the farm belongs to the parents of one of their classmates, Eloise. It was a short walk from the school & at the entrance of the farm, somebody had hung up a drawing of a goat (I'm not sure if they did that just for the school or it has always been there to guide visitors to the farm.)
When we arrived, the children were beside themselves scrambling to be let into the goat pen. The goats were surprisingly gentle & calm despite being suddenly surrounded by 20 odd screaming children.
I just discovered that not only are female goats called does or nannies & male goats called bucks or billies, there is even a term for castrated males (goats of course) - they are called wethers. Why am I telling you this, well you never know when you might need this trivial piece of information - remember to thank me then.
When we arrived, the children were beside themselves scrambling to be let into the goat pen. The goats were surprisingly gentle & calm despite being suddenly surrounded by 20 odd screaming children.
I just discovered that not only are female goats called does or nannies & male goats called bucks or billies, there is even a term for castrated males (goats of course) - they are called wethers. Why am I telling you this, well you never know when you might need this trivial piece of information - remember to thank me then.
After an hour of petting the goats, everybody sat down on bales of hay to sample the cheese. Goat's milk cheese is called frommage de chevre in French & hugely popular. Over on the farm, it's all done the traditional way, by hand.
We were invited to the fromagerie - where they make the cheese but I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to actually see them make the cheese - they were already done waiting for sale later to the restaurants or specialty shops.I'm not a big fan of goat cheese but I had a taste & it's delicious. Looks like I know where we'll be buying our cheese from now on.
4 comments:
What a nice account of a visit to a goat farm.. and I will remember to thank you if I ever needed to use that piece of trivia! (Not sure if I would remember it though :P )
And oh, I have added you in my blogroll... hope you don't mind :)
hey Mei, your life everyday is just one adventure after another, i am so envious! :)
i only know about baby goats being called KID. now i know more thanks to you.
looks like the french summer is in full force!! nice picts. why is it that non of the picts hv u in it? i know u were the photographer, but, but , but....
Tsu Lin - Not at all. Thanks for adding me.
Maryann - That's life in the countryside. It has its ups & downs.
Meng - Shy lah to put pics of me. One on the blog is already enough.
Post a Comment