Our friends Karen and Bob of A to Z Tomatoes and yes those wonderful aprons sewn with great artistry and craftsmanship, are running a Goat Retirement Center.

Bob mentioned that he had a pasture that was recently cowless and becoming a bit untidy.  Nothing like “organic lawnmowers”  i.e. goats to the rescue!  We sent over Assaba, Mocha Latte, and Azizzi to take over the task.  These girls are in their teens to mid teens which is rather long in the tooth in the goat world. 

“The Girls” as Bob and Karen call them are getting rather pampered in the retirement center.  They line up for daily grain treats and even have their own dog for entertainment (at least to their point of view–not sure what the dog thinks).  Daily massages–head scratches–are also in order.

Turns out that one of the girls was accidently with child or kid as we say on the farm.  Definitely an accident and unplanned due to her age.  Griffin was born early and very small in the middle of the night last month.  Bob and Karen saved him from certain death by milking mom (after a brief Googling of how to milk a goat) and keeping him warm with hot water bottles in Karen’s sewing room (which is her inner sanctum of creativity).  When we arrived for back up we weren’t sure he would make it since he was so small and early. He is a real survivor though.  After over a week of eyedropper feedings and then graduation to a doll bottle tiny Griffin was adopted by a doe that lost one of her triplets.  He is catching up now.

If you are at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market stop by and see Bob and Karen.  They are rare and wonderful friends with big hearts for the very young and the very old of  the goat world:)