Sounds like a nice place you have, Johnny.

I have nothing to tell you about goats, I'm afraid. Are you trying to generate cash out of the place, or simply sustainance?

Well, the goats could help clear the land, so thats a great place to start. Let 'em go after your forest of weeds.

After the goats, and after you clear the trees, I'd call in some pigs too. They can help loosen the soil before you plant. Otherwise, all I know is that goats are kinda cute :)

The goats are mostly coming here to do some clearing for us, as well as to be cute and eventually provide some milk (and more goats). Goats LOVE poison ivy and multiflora rose, and I hate poison ivy and multiflora rose. Seems an ideal match. They'll also be "working" elsewhere...I run an organic horticulture service, and hope to use goat power to take care of woodland areas in other people's gardens. Sounds crazy, but I actually already have folks on the waiting list :).

I'm starting to have some overly creative ideas for the lumber from my trees...some will be used to replace damaged beams in the barn, but I'm thinking the rest might be handy for making my own covered bridge across the creek. One of those whimsical thoughts that failed to be shot down by the "why not?" test.

That sounds like a great place. A covered bridge is something you want to do, so go for it.
There is a big market for goat meat. Check out Boer goats. They are making good money with those around here. The reason I never raised goats was problem with keeping them penned in. They really get out easy and I don't want those calls at all hours of the day, "Your goats are out".
As far as the trees, it is good to clear out some, but don't forget to replant some so you will have wood to heat your house. I am planting some Hawk Mountain Ash, it doesn't get too big, but it makes great firewood. Some Black Locust is great too, if you want to work around the thorns. It makes tremendous untreated fence posts and grows fast.
Have a great time on your place, enjoy yourself. Your imagination is the only limit.
G

Well, DW has vetoed any meat mammals (she doesn't mind chickens, for whatever reason...she only eats fish, milk, eggs, and veggies). Our goats are nubians, which we will be milking.

Don't really need to plant any more trees...I prune and remove them for a living. Before moving to the farm, I actually had to pay to get rid of the wood, or else run all over the place looking for someone to accept it.

We are planting bald cypress in some of the wetter spots for future fence posts. Almost as good as locust, but lighter and without thorns :).

I really enjoyed your posting. We are in similar situations. Bought an "old" 1730 homestead and trying to bring it back to glory. Our's had been abandoned 35 years or so. I was raised a dairy farmer but DH was a "townie". Dairying is out of the question, too much needed, but we're looking into other areas. My son was thinking sheep. I 'm not sure but game. I never thought about cypress for posts. Letting a locust grove come up but agree not crazy about the thorns. We had to gut the house and start from scratch. Have aprox 48 acres, 20 cleared for hay, the rest is hillsides-pasture-wooded( valley farm hills on both sides) fenced for livestock. Hope you continue to post. Would love to hear your ideas and how it's coming. It's nice to know we're not the only crazy ones out there! :)

Oof...feel for ya with the house gutting...we didn't have to do that, but have quite a few projects with the outbuildings.

My current pile of fence posts is growing by the day, as I've spent the last couple weeks clearing out the young trees from areas I'm hoping to be calling "fields" by summer. Soil's black and beautiful, but rocky. It's actually a lot of fun pushing over trees with the tractor :). I'm also going to try out some hedge fencing too, since there's a lot of willow here that also has to come down, and if next year's moist enough they should root themselves in when we "plant" them as posts. I might try something similar with the cypress as well.

The goats are doing an amazing job clearing up the vines and roses... it's truly amazing how much they get done each day. We're using a portable electric-mesh fence to block out the worst spots for them (places you can't even see across, much less walk through), then move them 3 or 4 days later to tractor out whatever's left.

I'm going to try to post up some photos over the weekend.

Can't wait to see pics. Our fields were so bad, evil multiflora, that we actually "found" a 17X17 foot chicken coop when we were clearing. We had no idea was there! Glad the goats are working well. Had to replace several a tractor tire trying to bushhog it all. DH just lost his job so now we are at a stand-still with the sheep. But at least he has lots of time to change/replace fence!

There is a great site for homesteading and the addy is www.homesteadingtoday.com. They have a specific forum for goats and all things about homesteading. Theresa.

Hi organic-johnny--- I remember you-- we've had a few discussions on the organic forum a year or so back. You should also check out the farm forum which is filled with people who have answers on chickens, goats, sheep, rabbits, ducks, weeds, etc etc. I am getting 2 goats in the summer -- quite excited!

Kristen in NM (where weeds never, ever hide henhouses)