Sunflower Farm Creamery

Nigerian Dwarf Dairy

[Open to the Public for free visiting Saturdays 11-5 from May 25th-October 31st 2024.]

Welcome to Sunflower Farm - where all the romance of farm life is still very much a reality. Looking for delicious local cheese made in small daily batches? You have come to the right place. May-October, our feta, chevre, yogurt, caramels, fudge, truffles and cajeta are available in our self serve farm shop. Come check out what is available, then relax a bit and watch the goats grazing in the field.

We smile when folks visiting ask us if all the goats have names. Not only do they all have names, they all have distinct calls we know even from the kitchen, they each have preferences for their favorite treats, and places they most love to be scratched. In the milkroom, each mama has their own approach to our time together: Plum likes to be milked without her head closed in to the head gate. Belle insists that she be milked one side at a time. After Rhubarb is milked, she waits on the milk stand for a few minutes of love before she is ready to hop down and go about her day. And Sweet Pea looks right at our kitchen window and calls us to the barn each morning while we are getting our coffee brewed.

There are lots of hot words in the sustainable food movement. Some mean very different things depending on who is using them and for what purpose, but for us, “local” dairy products are unique because each bite is intimately connected to the way the animals at our farm live. Even a town over, the goats are eating different grass, enjoying a different breeze, their milk is not from Claire and Radish and Cinnamon. We find great joy in sharing our lovely goats with visitors so that when they eat our chèvre or feta or yogurt or caramels, they taste even better because they are remembering a sunny summer day in the field with our herd. Hopefully you can taste the love.

 

Rosasharn SP Lilith (lovely dairy goat)

We leased Lily through the fall and winter of 2012 and felt so lucky when we had the opportunity to buy her. She is a gem. Perfect personality, amazing udder and lines and so easy to milk. Then there is the much desired Rosasharn name. We know her kids will be in high demand this spring and are so excited she is ours to keep. The perfect dairy goat. We kept her two doelings (Poppy & Fern) in 2013 and sold their brother as a wether (he would have made a great buck with those genes so I'm kicking myself still.)  She has a pretty golden coat and white speckled ears. Lily is super easy going and sweet. She has the quietest baah I have ever heard, almost like a whisper. 

 

July 3013 - 8 weeks fresh.

July 3013 - 8 weeks fresh.

Lily Spring 2013.

Lily Spring 2013.

Born:  June 23, 2009.

She was one of three (2 does, 1 buck)

Lily was bred by Margiana Peterson-Rockney.  

One of our top milkers. Huge producer, fairly easy to milk.

 

2012- 2 bucklings and a doe

2013-  2 does (Poppy & Fern) and a buckling

2014- 2 does, 2 bucks

2015-2 does

 

Notes on Reading AGS Abbreviations: *D is a doe that has a milk star, could be one-day or 305-day 2*D, 3*D, etc indicates the number of generations of milk stars. A 2*D means a doe and her dam both have their milk stars. There are some 9*D or 10*D g…

Notes on Reading AGS Abbreviations:
*D is a doe that has a milk star, could be one-day or 305-day
2*D, 3*D, etc indicates the number of generations of milk stars. A 2*D means a doe and her dam both have their milk stars. There are some 9*D or 10*D goats out there, but they're rare, but that means nine or ten generations of does with milk stars.
*S (star sire) has a *D dam and has a +S sire or sire with a *D dam.
+S means a buck has three daughters with milk stars
E, VG, G+, G are all classification scores. E is excellent and means a goat scored 90+, VG is 85 to 89.9, G+ is 80 to 84.9, etc.

Some people (like us) don't do the milk tests or showing that can earn stars, so a goat without the stars...can still be a star!