Monkey Hill Farm

05/29/2026

CHEESE!
I’m always being asked what I do with all that milk. Most of it goes to making cheese!

05/28/2026

Juju awards for 2025 came out and I’m pleased to share that Trixie, Fern, Gala, and Pinkie all earned awards ❤️ we only freshened 5 goats last year so most of the herd wasn’t even eligible but they should get awards next year. Proud of my working girls.

05/28/2026

I love my goat farming friends ❤️ huge thanks to Boyd Farms for helping me get little Friday tattooed and microchipped tonight - bonus that she got to see her mama, Boyd farms Kara Zor’el (yes, I should have gotten a better picture) and I got a little lesson in setting up, which apparently I am horrible at 😂 looks like Friday may be making her show debut in a couple weeks! Eeeek!!

05/25/2026

With linear appraisal being pushed from June to (hopefully) August, my inspiration to milk twice a day was gone. It’s been a week now and I’m already feeling my sanity and love for dairying return. We lose about 30% of their production once we move to once a day, but most of my girls do really well with it and will maintain volumes that make it worth doing. We generally move to OAD pretty early in lactation because I really hate that evening milking! Anyway, sometimes you need to make dairy farming work for you.

05/25/2026

We ran out of hay early this year so needed to get some brought in earlier than usual. We’ve had a really dry year so far, and the predictions for a bad fire season are pretty scary so securing hay might become difficult later in the summer - that and costs will rise this year due to diesel prices - so I went ahead and got a years worth (about 7 tons). 4 tons alfalfa and 3 of orch/alf blend. And look at the new fun toy KC&M got! They could only get 1 stack in with it so the other stack was brought in, then hand stacked but it made it go much faster. I’m always so thankful they are willing to deliver all the way up here - I know it’s a haul but it’s such an amazing feeling knowing the girl’s main food source is secured for the year.

05/20/2026

My, what green ears you have 💚

05/15/2026

Baby goat girl gang 💪

05/10/2026

05/09/2026

May milk test complete. What a long day! The girls are all 7-13 weeks fresh so a bit past peak for most of them but they all did really well.

Can I just say little Saw-Whet is killing it?

Sika 4.9 #
Saw-Whet (FF) 4.5 #
Muddy 4.1 #
Tie 4.1 #
Stella (FF) 4.0 #
Twyla 3.9 #
Bridie 3.9 #
Poppet (FF) 3.7 #
Vesper (FF) 3.6 #
Trixie (15 months fresh) 2.9 #
Fern (12 months fresh) 2.9 #
Noemi (13 months fresh) 1.7 #

*pic of Stella and Bridie (daughter and mother)

05/04/2026

Tragedy struck today as I woke to a dead cheese cave 😭 it was 68 degrees in there and it was definitely working yesterday so I think the hard cheeses I’ve made in the last 2 months will be fine (they all got vacuum sealed and put in the regular refrigerator in hopes they’ll be ok) but my little Camemberts are probably dog food at this point. But! I was planning to cut into this cheese today anyway so I did. Guys, it’s amazing. Only 8 weeks old so will continue to improve with age, but it’s mild and creamy, and has the best texture.
It’s a recipe I make pretty often and is, in fact, the cheese I won Best in Show with at the ADGA amateur cheese making competition a few years ago. It’s a little different each time - and this time is one of the best!
This cheese making journey has been humbling and rewarding. I learn new things with every wheel.
Now to order a new cheese cave 😭😭😭