You might think that Chuckling Goat is just a business…but we are actually a real working farm, and a family farm at that!
Hay time is our busiest time of year. The goats eat a lot of hay during the long winter, and it all needs to be cut, turned, rowed and baled in summer, while the sun shines. Co-Director Rich loves his vintage Fordson tractors, which make small “human-size” bales, that can be lifted by one person – if he or she has been drinking their kefir, that is! Long, happy days, while everyone works together to bring in the hay…
Hay season always makes me think of the Welsh word ‘perthyn’ (pronounced pear-thin). There really isn’t a perfect translation, but think home, belonging, family (those who are always there, regardless of blood-relation), connection. Using traditional farming methods, passed through generations, the same ways old friends, grandparents and other farmers in the community have always farmed; that’s ‘perthyn’. Working together to bring the year’s hay in, everyone playing their own integral role, little ones included; that’s ‘perthyn’. Drinking cider and sharing food at the end of a long, hot day; that’s ‘perthyn’.
We hope you, too, find moments of ‘perthyn’ this Summer 💛
