Keep Calm & Love Goats

Mo, Larry & Curly… have joined the staff of Reeves-Reed Arboretum!

That’s right – we’ve added a dozen+ goats to our staff this month, including the above mentioned adorable (Nubian) triplets!  Our grazing friends from Green-Goats in Rhinebeck, NY will help us clear away a year's worth of wildflower growth, invasive vines and weeds. This environmentally friendly vegetation removal process will allow for the annual restoration and replanting of the Daffodil Bowl with bulbs for a spectacular spring.

We are in our third year of this annual "Green Goat" initiative and are proud to again be working with our friends Ann and Larry Cihaneck, the owners of Green Goats Farm.  The Cihanecks have been in the goat business for ten years now, raising, bottle feeding and caring for nature’s “lawn mowers” who are rented out to local and national parks, cemeteries, historic sites and more. (green-goats.com)

From the moment the goats jump out of the trailer, they get straight to work. And although they have an amazing worth ethic – chomping away day and night – they still leave time for fun and antics!  I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time with the goats photographing them and reporting on their progress each year, and I can tell you these animals are endearing. Observing their individual personalities, relationships, quarrels, love affairs and comical high jinx has been a privilege.

Having grown up a “city girl,” I never would have guessed I’d become infatuated with goats! Just pass by my desk these days and you will notice my ever increasing goat collection of stuffed animals, cards, photos, etc.  Ask anyone on the staff where I am during the month of October and they will surely say, “She’s out with the goats.” 

So, please stop by this month and witness nature at its best.  Take a seat on the bench alongside the daffodil bowl and watch the goats do what they do. Before long you will be trying to get that goat selfie for Instagram or posting “Keep Calm & Love Goats” on your Facebook page! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Click here to see the goats at work!

If you would like to sponsor a goat, please visit our website page.

https://www.reeves-reedarboretum.org/discover/horticulture/?Goats-Are-Coming-6.

The goats will also be our "Featured Guests" at Celebrate Fall on Sunday, October 23 from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. Click here for details.

https://www.reeves-reedarboretum.org/calendar/detail.php?t=annual_events&Celebrate%20Fall%202016-15

The goats and I hope to see you there!