An Urban Goat Farm: Abita Springs Farm

7 goats on their property in the Cully neighborhood of Portland

By Rebecca Gerendasy
Cooking Up a Story
Food.Farmer.Earth.
March 27, 2013

Excerpt:

Ed Arcement and his wife Nancy love cheese. Indeed, their mutual enthusiasm for this processed food is why, in 2005, they chose to attend a national goat show in Spokane, Washington. They found themselves suddenly bidding on a particular goat, and as Ed explains during the interview, the bidding kept going up, and Nancy kept matching it. Before they knew it, they had won the bid at (about) $1100. “Variety” their first goat, was theirs!

Abita Springs Farm where the Arcement’s live, is located in the Cully neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, and is situated on a ½ acre lot, ample size to own a small herd of dairy goats. Within the city limits, the city requires herd size to be kept at a 9 goat limit, or lower.

Their current lineup of goats includes Wednesday, the offspring from their first goat (Variety), who had died suddenly in the prime of life. Oreo and Lilly are Wednesday’s offspring, Wednesday having been hooked up with a “fine buck”, and Bonnie, who as Oreo’s baby, is the youngest addition to the family. Her non-biological father (Ed Arcement) plans to have her bred this year (2013), and expects Bonnie will herself become a great milk producer like the others.

Read the complete article here.