The Spruiters' Goat Adventure

Finally - the after pics

2008-07-14T23:38:00.000-07:00

So it's been months since I've been able to find the time to post our final after pics. So long, that in fact, these pictures are quite out of date as the morning glory has completely covered the ground. A little depressing, but nothing that a short stint of goats in the fall can't take care of. We've been trying to get blackberry dug out - in fits and starts. We planted some red-osier dogwood, twinberry and pacific ninebark in some of the wettest spots. I checked down there over the weekend, and everything I found still seemed to be growing - it was pretty surrounded by horsetail, so I cleared some of that and tried to unwind any morning glory growing on them, that is, until I got thrashed by stinging nettles, which sent Triona and I into a speedy retreat.

Now, here are the pictures! Matched pretty closely by Dan.

The apple tree in the background actually blossomed this year (we haven't been able to see it in a few years, so don't know if it has recently). It was beautiful.

It's hard to tell, but the blackberries were up to about the tetherball height - and now it's all knocked down to the ground. You can also see the retaining wall that was previously covered with ivy.

Where once there was an impenetrable wall, you can see down into the ravine

This spot will hopefully be terraced someday so that we can make it easier to get down there.

The lighter area in the back of the after picture is where we've done some planting - I'll be wearing gloves next time!

Thanks for reading our glog - we'll try to post more when/if we make more progress. Still LOTS to do!

Trash

2008-07-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

I took a wetlands class in graduate school where we learned how to delineate wetlands - basically, what characteristics does a site need to include to be classified a wetland. In addition to wetland soils, vegetation, and hydrology, my professor and TA added: trash. Wetlands are full of trash - very sad, but it does seem to often be the case, and our little backyard riparian zone was no different. We hauled quite a collection of balls, spent fireworks, a swingset, even a lawnmower out of the ravine. Well, we know the weeds will keep growing back, but at least the trash won't!

Immediate Habitat Improvement

2008-04-06T21:42:00.001-07:00

One of our major goals for the back woods is to restore it to a more native form and provide better wildlife habitat. This morning, we looked out the window to see a male Pileated Woodpecker feeding at one of the rotting stumps that had previously been covered with ivy (and surely filled with rats). We'd seen Pileateds in the yard on a fairly regular basis, but usually up high, or flying over. We've never had one feeding right at the edge of the lawn. Before long, he was joined by a female and they spent several minutes plucking away at the bark looking for beetles and other insects. Hopefully they found some and will be back. We'll be watching all the stumps for woodpecker activity.

The Goats Go Home

2008-04-06T20:46:00.001-07:00

Noname doing who knows what.

Kalina hanging in the front yard with Spice.

After two weeks with us, the goats left on Tuesday. The job was basically done, so on their final day we brought them all onto the lawn to let them fill their bellies with grass as a thank you for a job well done (and to delay our having to lug out the mower).

Eight goats for 2 weeks has been just right for us. We needed that many goat/days to do the job. More goats for only one week would have been too hard to manage, and fewer goats for a longer time would have dragged on (the novelty was starting to wear off as we kept having to move goats who had pulled their stakes loose from the wet ground).

Spice desperately tries to reach the poisonous Rhododendron

Triona playing in the back yard with the goats

Dan bringing Spice up into the front yard - it's true what they say about goats being pack animals. They were NOT happy as soon as they were out of sight of their herdmates and they would all bleat plaintively back and forth until they could see each other again.

Together again

Kali feeds Delight an apple branch

Kali, unhappy to learn that feeding Delight an apple branch means she will actually take it away...

Bridget feeds herself an apple branch.

Dan bringing Google and Goggle up the driveway.

Spice warming up the driver's seat for Josh.

Loading the last goats up in the van.

We can't thank Jill, Josh, and their goats enough for helping us with this overwhelming job! It has been so fun to have the goats, and it's exciting to feel like we're making headway on the yard. We would absolutely recommend using goats to clear your brush, and renting them from the Goat Lady if you live in the Seattle area.

We are seriously considering getting a pair of goats permanently to help us stay on top of the brush (and to help entertain the neighborhood kids).

Final before and after pictures coming soon.....

Goats Bring Out the Neighborhood

2008-04-05T18:07:00.001-07:00

Triona comes face to face with Noname.

Almost immediately upon the goats' arrival, our next door neighbors were out on their deck checking out the strange goings on. Shortly thereafter, they were over in the yard making friends with our new guests. The Goat Lady told us this is a regular occurance for their clients - many get to know neighbors they've never met before.

We live in a neighborhood where pretty much everyone at least recognizes everyone else. It's a short dead end street, with a one block cul-de-sac, so there are about 20 houses altogether. It used to be the kind of neighborhood where the kids all knew each other and played together. While the goats were here, it was again.

One of the best parts of our goat experience has been the daily visits from the neighborhood kids (and their parents). Every day after school they would come to our yard to check on, feed, pet, help move, and untangle the goats. There was plenty of running, climbing, and getting stuck in the mud in the back woods too. It's what we envisioned when we bought the house, and Triona loved having four 10 year olds to follow around (who were all very patient).

If you are looking for a way to meet your neighbors, we highly recommend goats!

Thierry gives Obie some goat feed once the browse starts getting sparse.

Shannon (Thierry's mom) fends off Google who anxiously awaits a handful of goat feed.

Anna (our champion goat tender) says goodbye to Sugar and Delight on their last afternoon with us.

Native Plants Abound

2008-03-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

As we remove the invasive ivy and blackberry, we've realized that the area is full of native species. The wettest parts are home to lots of skunk cabbage, its bright yellow spears reaching up through the dark mud.

Extensive Indian Plum is growing throughout, its delicate flowers cascading down from sprays of oblong leaves.

With the blackberry thickets gone, we can see tiny but vibrant pink

Salmonberry flowers all over the place. Hopefully with less competition from the interlopers these little gems will thrive and attract Rufous Hummingbirds.

It will be a treat to watch what other plants pop out as spring progresses.

Yutes and Goats

2008-03-30T22:44:00.000-07:00

Three members of Seattle Audubon's teen naturalist program, BirdWatch, came out to help the goats on our yard project. The yutes were working hard to raise money for their upcoming birding trip to California (the goats were jealous, their next trip is back to Duvall).

With the extra hands we were able to clear out the last of the major blackberry stalks,

Sever all the ivy vines sneaking up the trees,

and haul out most of the trash that we've uncovered (including computer parts, croquet balls, badminton birdies, numerous golf balls, an old jungle gym and a lawn mower motor). It's strange and sad how much trash we've found in our back woods, particularly since the only access to the area is from our yard. The trash had to be dumped by people who lived here. Some of the debris was so heavy it had to be broken up with a sledgehammer before we could move it.

We were also able to clear most of the stumps of their ivy-twig-wigs (which were surely providing homes for rats- about the only animal that will live in ivy- reason enough to remove all ivy everywhere).

A huge thanks to Jonathan, Tayler and Lexi for all your hard work! Have a great time in California and see lots of birds!

Noname - No limp

2008-03-30T22:39:00.001-07:00

First thing to report today, Noname is no longer limping. Thanks to Jill and Josh for coming out to trim her hoof. She's putting weight on all 4 feet, and nibble-licking anyone who gets within range as bizarrely as ever.

Noname's limp

2008-03-30T00:56:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days, Noname has developed a limp in her front right hoof. We took a look between her toes for any obvious injuries or swelling and couldn't find anything. Since she seemed pretty unhappy on the steep slope, we moved her onto a flat grassy area, right next to the gowing brush pile - a goat version of light duty.

We contacted Jill, the Goat Lady , to ask what we should do. She told us that goats will favor a foot when they need a hoof trim, and that was most likely what was causing the limp. She wasn't too worried about it, but agreed to come out to take a look.

Today Jill and Josh came out to check on Noname, who we've alternately been calling Limpy Lu and LiLi (Limpy Licky) for the past day or so. They cleaned out some small thorns between her toes, trimmed her hoof, and gave her an antibiotic shot to fight infection. With assurances that she might keep limping, but she'd be OK, they headed out, leaving us a bag of grain- supplemental food for the goats who have done such a good job they are actually starting to run out of food here in our yard!

Google on Special Assignment

2008-03-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

With food getting scarce in the back, we decided to put Google on special assignment in a weedy patch in the front yard. While she snacked a bit, she seemed to have a hard time staying focused on the task at hand.

Between the toys and the dog (who is clearly all riled up about the goats), we decided to move Google back down with her buddies.

Goats In The Snow

2008-03-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today we learned that goats really don't like snow. Nor do they much care for sleet, hail, or driving rain, all of which they suffered through today. It's pretty funny to these former Vermonters to hear how much Seattlites whine about snow in March, but I do feel badly for the goats, who bleat plaintively at us when we approach. Also, they don't eat as much when they are unhappy. Hopefully the weather will be milder tomorrow.

Slim Pickings

2008-03-27T20:17:00.001-07:00

The pickings are getting slim out there and the goats are even starting to eat the blackberry stalks. Even the ivy is getting thin in spots and our munching friends seem to be a little unhappy about the lack of blackberry and other preferred browse. Google and Goggle are quite adept at rearing up on 2 legs to reach for low-hanging cedar boughs, but they've done such a nice job of trimming them up that there is barely any left they can reach. All the goats are thrilled when the neighborhood kids bring them bunches of grass and cedar twigs.

Obie showing off the old Steve Martin 'Arrow through the head' look

Nearing the halfway point

2008-03-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

We've had our rental goats for almost one week - enough time for them to make remarkable progress. Now that most of the blackberry leaves are gone, everyone is getting a little less selective with their choice of browse. A picture is truly worth a thousand words, so here are some 'before' pictures matched with the same views at the midway point.

Google the Ivy King!

2008-03-23T00:00:00.001-07:00

Actually Google, Goggle and Noname are all champions of the ivy. Interestingly, they all much prefer to eat the ivy growing upright - on a wall or tree trunk, than ivy growing on the ground, even if the ground is a steep hill.

Here are some before...

...and after pictures representing one day of ivy chomping.

The other goats definitely don't attack the ivy the way these three do (although with blackberry in short supply, everyone is starting to eat more ivy), so we'll be moving them around the space to make sure we get all the trees stripped.

Noname likes to strip bark (notice the bright vines on the tree trunk). It was a bit of a problem on one of the apple trees, but it should help kill some of the larger ivy vines growing up the cedar trees. He's the only goat that seems to do this - they all have their idiosynchrosies, but Noname seems to have more than his share...

The strange stick huts you can see here are actually tree stumps that were overgrown with ivy and then stripped of their leaves. These stumps surround the retaining wall that was built when the lot was subdivided about 20 years ago.

Our house was the original and 3 others were built around it. A number of trees were cut in the process, and it appears that ivy was planted along the retaining wall at that time.
If only we knew then what we know now about ivy... makes me wonder what we're doing now that seems like a good idea that will turn out to be a disaster in the future - hopefully not using goats for invasive weed removal...

Blackberries in Retreat

2008-03-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

As I sit here nursing some nasty wounds inflicted by blackberries (many through multiple layers of thick clothing), I'm reminded of the impressive defenses this invasive weed has. It's no wonder it has become so prevalent here in the Pacific Northwest.

So when I watch a goat climb into the middle of a blackberry hedge, thorns attacking from all sides, I am awed by these nimble, resilient creatures. They nibble the leaves off with ease, and even eat some of the smaller stalks.

Blackberry is clearly their most preferred browse choice available in our yard, although the goats also prefer cedar (I am SO glad I don't have to do twig counts to measure this).

The bare stalks take some work on our part to remove, and we've gotten a good start on that over the last two days (hence the aforementioned wounds). Mostly we've been clearing lanes into the thickets to give the goats access to more leaves.

In another day or two there won't be any blackberry left...

Progress...

2008-03-20T21:45:00.000-07:00

Our goats continue to entertain as well as eat. Noname likes to give raspberries, and nibble/lick you as you walk by. It's a little disconcerting and reminds me of the time Dan was bitten by a pelican, but that's another story...

Goggle (Google?) is stretching himself to be sure all the ivy is stripped from the cedar.

Sugar and Spice have attacked the blackberry leaves with such vigor that we started cutting back the bare stalks to give them access to the next layer.

Sugar has also done a nice job with her small ivy patch, pretty much wiping it out in a single day.

Take a look at the impact the goats have made in just two days!

Meet the Goats

2008-03-19T21:21:00.000-07:00

The goats are doing a fantastic job with the brush! Tomorrow we'll post some shots of their progress, but for tonight, we thought we'd introduce everyone.

First two of the pygmies:

Sugar on top and Spice below.

They are very friendly and are the flashiest of the crew.

They are similar looking but can be distinguished by ear color (Spice's are brown and Sugar's are almost white) and the fact that Spice has horns (hard to see in the picture, but they are there).

Sugar about to start on a new patch of ivy.

This is Delight, a very sweet, larger goat. Delight has been tethered nearest the house and likes to look into Trio and Kali's bedrooms.

Delight working on some of the ivy outside Kalina's window.

Bridget is another one of the pygmies. She is a beautiful fawn color and likes to jump on top of the canoe.

You can see she is doing a nice job on the ivy (there was no ground visible before today).

Here's Obie, one of the bigger goats, working hard as usual.

Another of the larger goats, the goat with no name - or Noname. Noname is kind of a bully and sometimes shoves the other goats and occasionally people. But he makes up for it with a great smile!

Like Sugar and Spice, Google and Goggle are siblings. We don't know which is which (not even the Goat Lady can tell them apart. One has a black front leg - I'm going to say that one is Goggle for now...

Goggle (or is it Google?)

Google (or is it Goggle?)

Google (Goggle?) shows off some fine work on a tree trunk.

So that's the cast of characters - thanks for reading. Check back tomorrow for a report on their progress and more pictures.

They're Here!

2008-03-18T22:18:00.000-07:00

Right on schedule, a van full of goats pulled into our driveway this evening.

Without wasting any time, Jill (www.thegoatlady.org) and her partner set the tether stakes and unloaded the goats two by two.

Within seconds of placing the first two goats, Sugar and Spice started stripping leaves from the nearest blackberry bush.

Bridget and No-Name quickly reared up to start ripping ivy off tree trunks (and Bridget enjoyed jumping on top of the canoe).

Obie and Delight were put next to the house, where when she takes a break from eating, Delight alternates between checking out the tetherball and looking right in Trio's window (to her delight).

Google and Gaggle also settled right in pulling ivy leaves and rearing up to trim low-handing cedar boughs.

Triona and the next door neighbors got friendly with the goats by feeding them grass bunches, which they were more than happy to eat in between mouthfuls of blackberry, ivy and dandelions.

Check back tomorrow for more pictures of their progress...

The goats are coming...

2008-03-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

Since moving into our house seven years ago, we've watched the ivy well up from the ravine, start to creep across the lawn, climb up the house and even penetrate into our closet.

Not to be outdone, the blackberry has woven into a solid canopy, 20 feet high in some places with stalks as thick as a small child's arm. In the summer, nightshade and morning glory vines tie it all together into an impenetrable mass.

Our paltry attempts to keep it all in check have failed (even with the great help of some very hard working teenagers), and we'd really like to do more than just keep it in check. We want our daughters to be able to play in the back woods without being afraid of being swallowed whole by the weeds.
We've been talking about enlisting the help of some goats to do the heavy lifting for us for a few years, but for one reason or another, haven't managed to get it together.

Enter, the Goat Lady (www.thegoatlady.org), offering reasonably-priced, tether-trained rental goats to people like us! She'll be bringing eight goats here this evening for about two weeks.

They've got a lot of work to do...

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