Nigel and I spent last Saturday visiting two places --
Mountain Lodge Farm, a goat farm in Eatonville, WA that produces delicious goat cheese for sale at nearby farmer's markets, and
Old Goat Farm, a small but wonderful nursery in Graham, WA.
Mountain Lodge Farm
Once a month Mountain Lodge Farm holds an Open House, offering tours of the barn, a cheese tasting in the creamery, and sale of its cheeses on the front porch of the farmhouse.
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| The barn at Mountain Lodge Farm |
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| The creamery, where we tasted a handful of different cheeses produced from goat's milk on the farm |
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| A little glimpse into the immaculate cheese-making operations |
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| The elegant farmhouse, where we stood in line to buy one of the last of its packages of delicious Chevre |
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| A pair of young goats at Mountain Lodge Farm |
When we first arrived, we took a quick look around on our own, and then lucked into a little tour, being led by Brian Weir.
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| With two resident llamas, who are used to guard the sheep |
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| Brian holds Blossom (isn't she the cutest thing on four legs?) |
While standing just outside the pens full of young goats, I felt a tug on my sweater, and looked down to see a goat chewing on it! They really will eat anything.
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| Being mobbed by babies |
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| The farm is beautifully landscaped |
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| There's a lovely water feature near the entrance |
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| A rain chain hanging off the farmhouse |
You can read more about the farm at
this link to an article in the Seattle Times.
We had some of the Chevre for a light supper on Sunday night.
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| Yum! |
Old Goat Farm
I visited
Old Goat Farm last year at about this time, you can read about that visit
here. Peter of The Outlaw Gardener also wrote a great post about his visit last July, which you can read
here. Old Goat Farm is a garden and nursery that you can go back to again and again, because there is so much to see, there is always something you missed the first time around, or just have to see again.
Old Goat Farm is a century-old farmhouse, garden and nursery run by partners Greg Graves and Gary Waller, purchased by them in 2005. They moved from Capitol Hill in Seattle and set about renovating the garden with truckloads of plants they brought with them. Living on the farm is a menagerie of animals that includes dogs, cats, chickens, turkeys, peacocks and two goats named Ozzie and Harriet.
My favorite part of the garden is the shade garden. It is a masterful collection of foliage plants, wonderfully combined. And it has a mischievous sense of fun.
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| The garden is playful and fun |
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| They sell these gabions, unfilled of course, in the shop |
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| The shade garden's forte is foliage combos |
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| Chartreuse-leaved Hosta and Persicaria 'Lance Corporal' |
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| A lesson in what to do with a ground orchid |
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| Masterful collection of foliage |
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| Feathery fern |
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| I'm not sure what they feed their Podophyllums there, but this leaf was so huge I literally could have picked it and used it as an umbrella! |
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| Enormous Jack in the Pulpit |
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| Syneilesis aconitifolia |
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| A white peacock -- we could hear it calling throughout -- had the run of the garden |
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| Primula 'Sunset Shades'-- I want this one so much! |
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| Semi-Double Peony -- not sure, but I think it's an Itoh peony, possibly Cora Louise? |
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| Inside looks like an exotic confection -- good enough to eat |
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| This goat statue presides over the sunny garden at Old Goat Farm |
I didn't buy much. I know it's hard to believe, but I really think I'm starting to get a touch of new plant fatigue. And I need to get what I have recently bought, and all my little seedlings as well, in the ground ASAP. Peter and I are going to
the Heronswood sale on May 18, and planning a trip that same day to
Far Reaches Farm in Port Townsend. I hope I get my mojo back before then.
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| I bought two pots of this Oxalis adenophylla -- such cute gray pleated leaves! |
Did you do anything special on Mother's Day weekend?
