LOCAL EDITION

I have discovered a few spots in my new neighborhood that rule.

One of these spots is where The Best Day Of My Life Happened: I Got To Feed A Baby Goat With A Baby Bottle. And it is only ten, count 'em, ten, blocks from my new house!!!! It is called Abita Springs Farm, and it is an urban goat farm AKA my dream land. I have recently realized my dream future, and it involves living on ten to thirty acres, raising goats and making cheese. There are other parts to this dream but those are the basics that don't include the 100 Jacky Scrapple clones that will be frolicking with the baby goats in the background. Something that I have been reading a lot about lately is raw milk, and that is how I found Abita Springs. Raw milk is living and wholesome and remarkably good for people to drink. I love the raw goats milk and plan on using it for my first attempt at making cheese!
Also, if you ever get the chance to feed a baby goat I highly recommend it. The little girl I was feeding was so happy- her little tail was wagging like crazy!

Another great local spot in NE Portland is Livingscape Nursery. They specialize in edible and native plants, and they have stuff for raising chickens. Right now they are trying to get rid of all of their pepper, tomatillo, and tomato plants, and they are giving them away for free! So stop by and get some plants! We got 6 pepper plants today and they all have little peppers already growing.

Not quite as close but still local, blueberries are finally in season. My friend Mariah and I drove out to Sauvie Island yesterday and picked a few pounds of giant, sweet blueberries. We went to Sauvie Island Blueberry Farms which is right off the road heading out to the beach. They have everything you need and you can even pick in a skirt. We finished our trip by stopping off at Kruger Farms and picking flowers. We picked a ten gallon bucket full and it only cost $12 dollars. My house is totally full of flowers and berries now. And zucchini. And goat dreams.