Goats R Us 4H Club

Feb 13th meeting, Sheep Shearing

2012-02-05T17:29:00.000-05:00

Our February meeting is at the Albee's Ranch at
2098 Stewart Road, Walnut Cove, NC 27052

If you need more directions you can call the Albees at 336-591-4471

I, Papa John, will try to park my truck in from with the flashers on to let you know when to stop.

We are going to be shearing a sheep and maybe working with wool.
If you still have the drop spindles we made at the meeting last year, please bring them to the meeting.

We are also going to have a valentines game!!!

Our Plan for 2012

2012-01-23T00:32:00.000-05:00

Month    Planned Activity& Refreshments
February 13, 6:00pm at the Albee Farm   "Shearing Sheep"
                      with a Animal Heart Valentines Day Party
                      Drinks- Albees, Food- Hubbards
March 12,     6:00 pm "Watching Chicks Hatch"
                     Food & Drinks- Koments
April ??    "Playing with Baby Boer Goats"
                     Drinks- Mabes (Picnic?)
April 22-       Earth Day (Sunday) Plant a Tree at the YMCA
May 14,       6:00pm "Planting flowers at the Walnut Cove Senior Center"
                     Drinks- Mabes, Food- Albees
August 13    Plan for the Stokes County Fair Booth
                    Food & Drinks- Papa John
September ?? (At Stokes Fair) Look at the other booths and hold meeting
                    Drinks- Sabrina
October ?? Volunteer at Stokes County Animal Shelter
                    Drinks- Byers, Food- Sabrina
November 12 Plan the Float for the Rural Hall Christmas Parade
                  Food- Byers
December 2?    Rural Hall Christmas Parade

Flowers at the Rest Home

2011-10-13T08:08:00.000-04:00

Our October 10th meeting was held at the nursing home in Walnut Cove. Our club weeded the flower beds and planted new panseys and mums. The gardens really looked nice when they were done.

At this meeting we also held our yearly election of officers. Our new club president is Elizabeth B. and her vice president is Shelby H.. The new club secretary is Sabrina P., who is also our newest club member.

During the meeting it was decided that we need to hold a special meeting on November 28 to make the club float for the Christmas Parade.

We will still be holding our regular December 12th meeting and we will be making Christmas Cards for shut-ins.

Oct. 10th meeting with Elections!

2011-10-04T14:45:00.000-04:00

Our October 10th meeting will be held at the Nursing Home located at 511 Windmill Street in Walnut Cove at 6:00 PM. Mrs. Susan Hubard has arranged this as a community service project for our club. We have previously refurbished some of their planters and put flowers in them. It is time to do it again so the residents can enjoy them in this beautiful weather. The Panseys and Mums will be supplied so all you need to bring are some gardening tools.

It is also time for club elections and we will be doing them at this meeting. We have three offices that we need to fill. They are the club president, vice-presedent, and secretary. If you are interested in one of these offices, please come to the meeting or at least let us know.

June 13 Meeting Results

2011-06-21T18:17:00.000-04:00

The meeting on Monday June 13th turned into a planning meeting for the parents. The kids were busy with the animals.

The first decision was to not have any meetings in July and August. So our next meeting will be the second Monday of September.

The September 12th meeting will be devoted to making our display for the Stokes County Fair. We do not know what the theme for 4H will be yet, but we will all watch out for it and when we discover what it is we will make a plan ahead of the meeting so that we are prepared. We do need a family to be in charge of this. (Volunteers Please) (Last year we won at the Stokes County Fair and went on to the Dixie Classic, where we got more prize money.)

The October 10th meeting is going to be held at the retirement home in Walnut Cove. We will be planting flowers in their court yard planters. The Hubard Family volunteered to coordinate this with the retirement home for us.

The November 14th meeting is going to be a field trip to a Dairy Farm to learn how they milk cows. The farm is the Keiger Farm which is over 200 years old. Papa John is setting up this trip.

The December 12th Meeting will be devoted to making our float for the Christmas parade. Each year we are in the Rural Hall parade and the kids and animals ride on the float. We need a family to be in charge of this so that we have some co-ordination. (Volunteers Please)

Next Meeting Monday June 13th

2011-06-05T12:12:00.002-04:00

Our next 4H club meeting is on Monday June 13th at 6:30 here at Papa Johns Farm.

The agenda for the meeting will probably be as follows:

First we will be looking at the plants that we planted at the last meeting. Be sure to to bring yours if you were here or bring a few seeds to plant at this meeting. I still have some pet-moss cups to plant in, but you may need to bring some potting soil.

Next, Papa John will give a briefing on the 6 day camps we will be having here at the farm this summer. The first three one day camps will be "A Day on the Farm" and the next three are two-days each of "Goat Camp".

Then we will have 10 minutes of suggestions for meetings this next year. Think of what you would like to have the club do and bring the ideas to the meeting.

I also have two new baby Nigerian kids to show. Zoe finally had hers. There is a little boy and a very little girl.

That's it so far from Papa Johns Farm.

May Meeting

2011-06-02T07:09:00.000-04:00

We had a nice meeting on May 10th. Our Supreme Leader Terri Boost stopped in to help us fill out new health forms to keep us current in 4H. If you have not filled out a new one for this year, you need to get on it. The timing of Terri's visit was very appropriate as we had two new families at the meeting and they signed up too.

Terri also explained to us the process for doing project books and how easy it is to earn money doing them. She even passed out folders for us to keep the books in.

We cut the goats milk soap that we made the previous meeting and all took samples home. It came out of the mold very well.

Next we planted the seeds that we brought to start the process of growing our own food. This would make an excellent project to document in a project book for 4H (hint,hint). Each plant is going to be brought back to the next meeting so we can re-pot them and check their progress.

Spring Babies

2011-04-23T08:13:00.000-04:00

Rosie finally had her babies

She is a very protective mother.

This little girl is Penny. She is the color of a penny and very pretty.

Her brother Nick has pretty black and white socks
on each leg.

2011-04-20T15:32:00.000-04:00

This next meeting we are going to focus on planting and growing vegetables. The Albees will be leading us in this meeting and showing us how to plant our seeds and little petemoss cups so that they can get a good start and grow up. At the end of the meeting you will be taking your plant home with you to nurture for the next month until our next meeting.

Each club member needs to bring their own seeds for whatever kind of plant they want to grow. Each child will have a chance to tell the rest of the group what they know about the plant they are growing. They should have some knowledge of the plant and be ready to tell the following;

how big the plant is going to get.
what the plant is going to produce
how long should it take to produce
how much sun does the plant like
what are they going to do with the harvest
why they picked this plant to grow

We also will be looking at the soap that we've made at this last meeting. It will have had a whole month to cure I will be ready to cut it up and pass out samples.

It is also time for us to fill out new health forms for the 4H. Our Supreme Leader Terri Boost will be attending the meeting to help us fill out these forms.

See you at Papa John's farm again on Tuesday, May 10 at 6:30 PM. Come in your farming clothes and be prepared to start raising a crop.

April 2011 Meeting Report

2011-04-12T21:26:00.001-04:00

On April 12, 2011, the Goats R Us 4-H club met at Papa Johns Farm. Mrs. Elizabeth Sanders from Horse-O-Peace Ranch demonstrated how to make goat milk soap. The main ingredients are Fat or oil, lye and milk. Heat the fat or oil until it gets to 80 degrees. Mix the lye in with the milk and heat to 80 degrees also. Pour them together and put the fragrance in. Then pour into mold. What surprised me was that less than half a gallon of milk can make 40 bars of soap!! At the end of the demonstration she generously gave each person a bar of soap. All 14 of her soaps smelled delicious. Her website is www.horseopeaceranch.com

By Lily Knepp

March 2011 Meeting Report

2011-04-07T08:27:00.004-04:00

On March 18^th , the Goats R Us 4-H club met at Ms. Albee’s house and learned how to make goat treats. While she showed us how to make the cookies she also demonstrated how to do a 4-H presentation. She made it look so easy! Your goats will love this easy to make recipe.

By Lily Knepp

Goat treat recipe:

1 cup Oats

2 cups Raisin Bran (crushed)

1 cup raw Wheat Germ

4 Large shredded Carrots

1 cup Molasses

½ cup Applesauce

Whole Wheat flour (to thicken as needed)

Combine wet ingredients in one bowl. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl. Mix both bowls together. Add flour as needed. Shape like cookies. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for approximately 30 minutes until dry.

Soap Making Tueday April 12th

2011-03-23T20:27:00.000-04:00

This next Goats R Us 4h meeting we are going to have a soap making demonstration by Mrs. Elizabeth Sander of Horse O Peace Ranch.
All of her soaps are made with goats milk from Papa Johns Farm and the demonstration will be here at Papa Johns Farm in our barn.
You can checkout some of the soaps that she makes by looking at her web sight at HorseOPeaceRanch.com

February 2011 Meeting Report

2011-02-25T08:25:00.000-05:00

On February 14, 2010, the Goats R Us 4-H club held a small meeting at the King library. The purpose of the meeting was to have a goat quiz bowl. A quiz bowl is a game where contestants test their knowledge of goat information. All participants did a great job and hopefully learned a thing or two.

There was a discussion about changing our club’s focus from just goats to general farming, but due to the small number of members in attendance it was decided to postpone the vote until the next meeting.

Written by Jacob Kline

Sharing our Knowledge and Livestock

2011-02-07T16:39:00.000-05:00

February 7, 2011
Dear Goats-Are-Us Crew:
I think you might, if you haven’t seen it already, like to explore Heifer International’s Web site (The site is Googleable, or you can find it via www.heifer.org.
Here’s why we might want to Google and ogle :
This is a viable non-profit organization that applies the knowledge we are gleaning from 4H and the respect we share for animals and people to the lives of people who need farm animals for survival – people in third-world countries who barely fathom the animal-related blessings we experience daily. As a service project, we might want to contribute some goats or other livestock to people in Haiti or various countries in South America, Asia or Africa.
Check out the gift catalog, the history of the organization and their successes and other info on the Web site!
Goat facts that might inspire our desire to share:

Many people prefer goat meat to mutton, beef, or pork; it is the principal source of animal protein in many North African and West Asian nations. It is also important in the Caribbean area and in Southeast Asia, and relatively more so in developing tropical countries than in the temperate regions. The world production of edible meat from cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, swine, and horses is estimated at 17.9 million tons, 5.7% of which comes from goats.
More people consume dairy products from goats than from any other animal. Goat's milk greatly improves the diet of many rural families. It is traditionally valued for the elderly, the sick, babies, children who are allergic to cow's milk, and patients with ulcers. It is even preferred for raising orphan foals and other young domestic animals. Goat milk is richer than cow's milk in some important nutrients: vitamin A, niacin, choline, and inositol…

Source: www.goatworld.com

Submitted by Mrs. Mary Lee

February 2011 Meeting

2011-02-01T14:39:00.002-05:00

We are planning a goat quiz bowl for our February meeting. Have some fun while testing your knowledge of goats. Hope to see everyone there.

Monday, February 14th @ 6:30 at the King Library Meeting Room

January Meeting

2010-12-29T10:45:00.002-05:00

Think you know a lot about goats? Come on out to our January meeting and test your knowledge with a fun game of quiz bowl.

Monday, January 10th @ 6:30 at the King Library Meeting Room

Feb.meeting

2010-12-13T21:14:00.002-05:00

I'm looking forward to teaching how to make some treats for our goats. See you at the King library on January 10 , 2010 at 6:30pm. Kathleen Albee

Christmas Parade

2010-12-13T09:46:00.001-05:00

Club Fall Party

2010-12-13T09:24:00.005-05:00

Christmas Parade

2010-11-14T18:28:00.000-05:00

Again this year we are going to be in the Rural Hall Christmas Parade on Sunday December 5, 2010 at 2:30pm. We are all signed up and on Saturday Dec. 4th at 3:00pm we will meet at Papa Johns Barn and get our float ready.

There is no entry fee for the parade but they will be collecting canned foods for Second Harvest Food Bank. We can drop the canned goods off before hand so I am asking that everyone bring a donation to the club picnic and I will drop them off at the town hall ahead of time.

We are allowed to toss out candy so each person that wants to throw some needs to bring some.

Club Fall Party

2010-11-12T20:55:00.000-05:00

We are going to have a club party on Saturday November 20th at 3:00 pm.
It is going to be here at Papa Johns Farm.

For food we are going to have hot dogs, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and a cake. We were going to divide up the expenses by having each person bring part of the meal, but plans have changed! Due to the prize money the club won at the Stokes and Dixie Classic fairs, I(Papa John) am going to just buy the food and voucher it in to Supreme Leader Terri Bost. All that I am asking you to bring is your favorite drinks.

For snacks we will be making real kettle corn, and smores.

For fun we are going to have games, pony rides, hay rides and a bonfire.

I do ask that you RSVP so I can get a head count and have enough food.

Come in play clothes and have some fun. The party will end when it is over.

Future Activities

2010-11-12T20:28:00.000-05:00

The votes are in! The 5 activities that our Goats 4H group will be doing next are:

Goat quiz bowl. – Knepp/Byers (January Meeting @ Library)

Training your goat to be a pack animal.

Making goat soap.

Making goat cheese.

Making goat treats.

We now need volunteers to plan activities. Please e-mail which activity(s) you would like to lead.

2010-11-08T09:59:00.001-05:00

November 8, 2010 Meeting Report

Jacob Kline

The Goats R Us 4-H club met at Papa John’s place to vote on our future activities and the “Dress your pet up” contest. We decided that we will participate in the Rural Hall Parade which takes place on December 5th. We will work on the float on December 4th. The parade is our December meeting and everyone is responsible for their own candy. November 20th seemed to work best for the bonfire. The mothers voted and the menu is hotdogs, macaroni, beans, chips, smores, and cookies. The results for the meeting subjects and the “Dress your pet up” contest voting went as follows.

Meeting Subjects

Training goats to be pack animals

Goat treats

Goat cheese

Goat soap

Goat Quiz Bowl

Extra Activities

Raise money to buy a goat for the needy in another country.

“Dress your pet up contest”

1^st Place Helena George

2^nd Place Jacob Kline

3^rd Place Maria George

Club Fall Party Planning

2010-10-16T08:23:00.000-04:00

We are starting planning for a Fall Party for our club here at the farm. We need your help planning and pulling off this party.

First objective is to plan a date. We have a choice of four dates and we need to know which ones will work for you.

Friday Nov 12th at 5 pm
Saturday Nov 13th at 3 pm
Friday Nov 19th at 5pm
Saturday Nov 20th at 3pm

Please send an email with which ones would work for you so I can pick the most popular date.

We are going to have a pot luck meal so please plan to bring a covered dish. Since it may be cold, you can bring a crook pot to keep it warm. (I will set up plenty of outlets for the crock pots.) I will also have a gas grill ready for your use.

To cut down on the amount of trash we are sending to the dump I am asking the each person bring their own plate, cup, and silverware. I would suggest that you pick up something cheap at a garage sale and put your name on it. By doing this you will be able to spot your own food and drink. The sink in the barn will be set up for dishwashing.

We are also going to have some kind of games for kids of all ages. Please send your game suggestions and we will vote on them at the November 8th meeting.

October 11th meeting results

2010-10-14T08:10:00.000-04:00

We had a small but productive meeting this last Monday night. We decided that at the November meeting we will have a contest to see who can dress up a goat (or other pet) the best. Just bring a photo (or send it ahead) and we will have voting at the meeting. We are going to try to have some sort of prize for the winners.

We are also going to have a bond fire for fun. I have a pile of wood started out on my power line pasture that we can make as big as we want. If you want to make it bigger, just stop over to the farm and I will show you where there is a lot of downed wood and limbs close by to make it a big pile.

More emails will be coming out as we refine future plans. They will be asking for you opinions and input.

October 11th meeting Ideas

2010-10-10T08:01:00.000-04:00

This October meeting is going to be an idea and planning meeting. We are going to figure out what we want to do for the next 6 months or so. Please bring your ideas and we will start working on them. This is your club and we want to do what you want.

Some things to discuss are:

Pony rides at Music For Muts on Saturday October 16th
Winterizing for your farm animals.
Training a goat to be a pack animal
Community service at the Science Center
Cooking with farm food
Need more ideas and choices!!

Comunity Service Event for Fun.

2010-10-07T13:20:00.000-04:00

Oct.13th the Germanton Clover club will be planting flowers @ Walnut cove health and rehab. If any one from the Goats R Us club would like to come out and help that would be great. The nursing home will be providing the plants. We plan on starting @ 5pm will meet in the lobby. Also everyone who helped with the last planting are invited to come to the Fall festival Oct.21stfrom 5-7;30 for a meal of chicken stew or pizza. This is also at the nursing home in the courtyard. We were also asked to bring 3 goats to this event for the residents to pet and love on. Stacie Hubbard wants to bring Buffy, so if we have anyone who doesen't have a goat but,wants to help let John know I'm sure he has someone in mind. We always love the fellowship. Please r.s.v.p so I can let the director know how many people our groups have coming for the food,

Susan Hubbard
chancex2@peoplepc.com

Dixie Classic Display

2010-09-30T09:56:00.000-04:00

Since we won Grand Prize for our booth at the Stokes Fair, we went on to the Dixie Classic Fair. We had to set up during the day so some of our home school kids did the job for us.

If you go to the Dixie Classic, stop in and see our display in the Education Building!

Stokes Fair

2010-09-20T06:58:00.000-04:00

The club and its members did pretty well at the fair this year. Our booth won the Grand Prize and may be going on to the Dixie Classic Fair.

(I will put a picture here if someone will send me one.)

Jacob Kline's goat Molly won won Grand Champion.

(I will put a picture here if someone will send me one.)

Elizabeth Byer helped her goat Tinkerbelle to a Second Place ribbon.

(I will put a picture here if someone will send me one.)

There is probably more that I do not know about and if you will just send me the information and pictures I will add it to this post.

Election Results

2010-09-20T06:45:00.000-04:00

Our Club Elections were held as scheduled on Sunday October 12th and here are the results:

Lorena Albee is going to continue as our club president for another year.

Gabriella Orner is our new vice president

Elizebeth Byer will be our Secretary Treasure for another year.

Jacob Kline will continue as club reporter with May Kye as his assistant.

Stacy Hubbard is our new pledge leader.

Congradulations on our new club leaders!!

Election Campaigning

2010-09-08T10:04:00.000-04:00

Due to a conflict with Soccer practice, Tyler will not be able to step up to the position of president, but Lorena has volunteered to to continue as our president for another year.

So far we have two club members interested in running for office.

Gabriella Orner said she'd like to be considered as a candidate for the vice president position. Even though she doesn't know what is entailed she is willing to learn and be more involved. She would also like to be in this position because Lorena is president and she enjoys helping her with activities.

Ekuzabeth Byers sent the following campaign letter:

Goats R Us club members,

As you all know I am the secretary/treasurer at the moment. I am going to run again for reelection. If you think that I did not do a very good job last year as secretary,

then let me know, and I will try to improve. Or, you can vote for someone else. I would also like to mention how we always had to ask for a volunteer for the someone to lead

the pledges. I think that we need to make pledge leader an “office”. I would also like to nominate Stacie Hubbard for that job. In my opinion, we need to expand the array of

positions so more people can gain confidence in public speaking.

Secretary/treasurer Elizabeth Byers

These are two great candidates, but we also need someone to be our club reporter.

The electoins will be held this coming Sunday at the Stokes County Fair Grounds at the VFW in King. We will be holding them at 2:00. We will also be setting up our club display for the Fair.

Elections are Coming

2010-09-01T15:07:00.000-04:00

It is again time to elect new officers for our club. We are going to hold the election at this next meeting on Sunday 9/12 at the Stokes County Fair Grounds at 2:00 pm. We need to elect three officers to keep the club in operation. These officers are Vice President, Secretary, and Club Reporter.

Please think about running for one of these offices, and if you are interested send me ( John@PapaJohnsFarm.com ) an email telling me why you are interested. I will add it to this Blog and send it out to the club so they will be aware of your interest and can support you.

Club Meeting on Monday August 30

2010-08-29T04:56:00.000-04:00

We are going to have a second meeting on Monday August 30 at the Albees farm to contine working on the display for the Stokes Fair.

The meeting will be at 6:30 PM as usual.

During the Stokes Fair, Teri Bost will have a 4H booth where t-shirts and other things will be for sale and information will be given out. We need to help her man this booth. We will talk about that.

We also need to start thinking about electing new officer. The elections will be held during the October meeting.

Next Meeting is Monday August 2nd

2010-07-23T22:18:00.000-04:00

Due to vacations this summer, the August meeting is being moved to the first Monday of the month which is August 2nd. As usual it will be held at Papa Johns Farm at 6:30 PM.

The Albees are going to help us get started doing Project Books. This is an excellent way to start getting some credit and recognition in 4H.

The Hubbards are going to lead in the planning of a club booth for the Stokes County Fair and the Dixie Classic. There is a good chance we could earn some prize money.

Our President, Lorena, has also offered to work with people and goats to perfect their showing abilities for the county fair.

July 12, 2010 Meeting

2010-07-21T17:22:00.000-04:00

July 12, 2010 Meeting

Jacob Kline

The Goats R Us 4-H club met at Papa Johns farm for their July meeting. Lorena Albee showcased several different varieties of plants and we tried to identify them and determine if they were poisonous to goats.

For the next meeting we are going to work on project record books.

July Club Meeting Announcement

2010-07-02T04:23:00.000-04:00

Due to a change in vacation plans, we have decided to have a July Goats R Us Club meeting on the second Monday of the month as we normally do. As usual, it will be here on Papa Johns Farm at 6:30pm. The Albees are going to help us do some project books. We will also talk about showing goats at the Stokes County Fair this fall.

I hope to see you here,

2010 Goat Camp

2010-07-02T04:17:00.000-04:00

June 21 and 22 we had our second annual 4H Goat Camp here at Papa Johns Farm. We had 18 kids and 6 adults for this event. Each day went from 9:00 am till 1:00pm. The first day each camper picked out a goat to be their buddy. They started working on leading them around and becoming friends with them. (Mostly the campers led the goats.) They also learned what the goats like to eat and how to take care of them. By the end of the day we had some new friendships starting. For lunch we had corn dogs and farm fresh egg sandwiches.

The second day started off with a milking demonstration. A few of the campers were brave enough to try milking by hand. We then moved on to working with the goats and training them to show in the ring. We ended the day with a mock show. Dominos then delivered pizza for all and we ended with full tummies.

I would like to give a special thanks to to our club president Lorena and her mom for all the support they provided (again).

2010 4H Day on the Farm

2010-06-27T08:28:00.000-04:00

On Friday June 11th we held our second annual 4H Day on the Farm. We had 31 kids and 11 adults either attending or helping out. From the comments I heard, everyone had a great time.

The kids prepared some corn for the animals by running it thru the hand crank corn cracker. We needed a pound or two to feed all of the animals. They got a little more industrious and ended up cracking 30 to 40 pounds.

We all had fun playing with all of the animals and had another great day.

No June and July Club meeting

2010-06-08T11:02:00.002-04:00

This coming Monday Night (June 14) would be our regular meeting except this is summer and I am running two 4H Farm camps here at the farm this month. ( Signup for the camps is thru Terri Bost at the 4H Headquarters.) So we are not going to have a Goats R Us club meeting this month or in July. You are still welcome to visit the farm and play with the animals. You could also do little chores to help keep the farm up and feel a part of it.

Mini Farm Help Needed

2010-05-18T19:40:00.000-04:00

I have a few projects on the farm that I could use some help with. Each of the jobs require a crew of about two or three kids and will take about half a day or so to accomplish. If you are interested in one of the jobs, put your little crew together and get with me ( Papa John ) to set up a time. I don't pay, but I will have pizza and drinks for my workers.

To sign up for one of these jobs, send me an email ( John@PapaJohnsFarm.com ) telling me:
1. What project you want to work on.
2. Who is on your crew.
3. When would you like to work on the project.

I need kids to pick up rocks and sticks in the pasture so I can sow more seed. You will be using the small John Deere yard tractor to pull the wagon, which you will fill with rocks or sticks. The sticks will be put on the burn pile in the middle pasture and the rocks will be used for landscaping projects.

I need two or three strong kids to dig about three feet into the ground at the base of the water faucet down at the buck pen. The faucet is cracked and I need to replace it. The connection is at the base of the pipe, three feet under. I have the replacement faucet ready to go in the ground.

I need one helper to clean out the leaves from between the big barn and the goat barn. Then we will resetup the collecting gutter to keep the water out of the goat barn. This is only about a hour long job.

I need two or three kids to use the John Deere and wagon to move the old Christmas trees out of the back yard and down to the Tuttle Rd fence line.

I need one or two kids to use pitch forks and shovels to clean out the goat barn. We will put what you clear out into the horse coral or use the manure spreader to put it out on the pasture.

Papa Johns Farm News

2010-05-17T10:51:00.000-04:00

A lot has happened on the farm lately.

Just yesterday we set up the Bee Hive and stocked it with a queen and about a thousand workers. It will be interesting to watch this grow.

We have also added two new goats. One is a little boy named Sonny. He is a tri-colored blue eyed buck and is going to be the next herd sire.

The other new goat is Angel. She is a black and white Nubean Goat. She is pregnant and will be providing us with sweet, fresh milk this fall.

We also had two new baby chicks show up yesterday morning. They are about a day old and were following thier mother.

I have completed my garden. It is a hanging garden in the back yard. I want to see how well this method will work. I am growin tomatoes, cucumbers, zuchini, squash, pepers, luffas, and bird house gords so far.

The flowers the club planted are growing and will need to be transplanted soon.

April 12, 2010 Meeting Report

2010-05-03T07:21:00.000-04:00

April 12, 2010 Meeting

By Jacob Kline (Club Reporter)

On April 12, 2010 the Goats R Us 4-H club met for their April meeting. The main activity was making goat milk cheese. Here is the process: First we heated the milk to 200 degrees. We then added vinegar. After that we drained it through a cheese cloth and we were left with goat milk cheese!

For our next meeting we are going to plant flowers at the nursing home. We started them this meeting.

Milking Hollyhock

2010-04-29T12:31:00.000-04:00

Between making cheese and making soap, Hollyhock is being kept very busy making milk. We are milking morning and evening to keep up with demand. She produces a gallon of milk each day. Her son Oreo is not too happy with this because now he is bottle feed on formula and is not allowed to be with his mother. He and our new buck Sunny are in the family yard. If Oreo gets to his mother I lose most of a milking.

Liz has developed a very good flavored cheese spread that uses a gallon of milk for each batch. We are not sure what the shelf life of a batch of our cheese spread might be, because it is consumed in just a few days.

The rest of the milk is being frozen and is destined for making soap in most cases. We do not make the soap ourselves, but instead trade the milk for Handmade Raw Goat Milk Soap made by Elizabeth Sanders of Horse 'O Peace Ranch. She is going to come to one of our meetings and teach us to make it too.

May Club Meeting Announcement

2010-04-24T11:26:00.003-04:00

Our next meeting is going to be a service project meeting at the Walnut Cove Health and Rehab Center. It will NOT be on our usual Monday night, but instead on Saturday Morning May 8th at 8:30 AM. We will be rebuilding one of the planters in the court yard. To do this we will have to move the dirt out and rebuild the planter so that it is stronger and will last longer. Please bring shovels and gloves and be prepared to get a little dirty. (This is 4H!!)

This project was started by the Germanton Clover Club and we are invited to work with them on it. Most of the members of their club are also members of our club. If you have any questions you can contact Susan Hubbard at 336-707-2214 or email her at chancex2@peoplepc.com

Directions to this meeting will be announced here on the club blog shortly.

The Littlest Baby

2010-04-14T11:48:00.000-04:00

Last night Clover had a son. He is only about a pound, but he is doing fine. I think he is the smallest baby we have had born on the farm so far.

March 8, 2010 Meeting Club Report

2010-03-24T07:33:00.000-04:00

March 8, 2010 Meeting

by Jacob Kline (Club Reporter)

On March 8, 2010 the Goats R Us 4 –H met at Papa John’s Farm. We all brought back our wool from the last meeting and carded it. We were able to do the important process by machine or hand. Then every family made a drop spin needle so we were able to spin our carded wool into yarn.

For the next meeting we voted and decided to make goats milk cheese.

New Big Boy

2010-03-16T07:14:00.000-04:00

Hollyhock finally had her baby. He is a very healthy and beautiful black and white boy with great markings. He arrived Sunday evening. Mother and son are doing fine. In about a week I will be able to start milking Hollyhock so we should have plenty of milk for making cheese.

Upcoming Monday March 8th Meeting.

2010-03-03T17:50:00.000-05:00

We are less than a week away from our next club meeting. Have you washed your wool? If so, speak up in the comment field of this entry or drop me an email. I have done mine!

I am getting together the parts to make the drop spindles, but I think we are going to have to do some wool carding before we can start spinning. We will need the wool clean and dry.

Right now we have the five baby kids playing in the barn and climbing on their mothers. Still waiting on Tulip and Hollyhock to give birth.

Caramel's New Kids

2010-02-26T21:09:00.000-05:00

Caramel gave birth a few days early. First she presented me with a little boy,

and a few minutes later the little sister came out to be with her brother.

Mother and babies are doing fine. They are ready to be cuddled and the other three babies have been tryong to get them to play with them.

The next mother to give birth should be Tulip or maybe Hollyhock.

2/8 Meeting Report by Jacob Kline

2010-02-17T06:39:00.000-05:00

FEBRUARY 8, 2010 MEETING

On February 8, 2010, the Goats R Us 4 –H Club met at Papa John’s farm. We learned how to make goat milk lotion. The process was demonstrated by Mrs. Gaddy and her daughter Ashley. The recipe used called for goat’s milk, white vinegar, and olive oil . After we successfully made the lotion we tried adding melted beeswax. This addition was a failure, because the beeswax clumped together.

Every family took home a bag of wool to clean and then bring back to the next meeting. We plan to card it and use drop spin needles to spin the wool.

The highlight of the meeting for many was being able to view Cheyenne’s babies. They were triplets. The adorable babies were born only hours earlier.

New Kids in the Barn

2010-02-11T11:12:00.002-05:00

Monday we had another meeting of the club, but about 5 hours before that Chyene had three little kids. There were two boys and a girl. Mom and babies were doing fine. I am very sorry to report that the smallest of the little boys past away the next day. The other two are doing fine.

the above little boy is Chyene's biggest son this birthing. He has blue eyes.

This is Chyene's daughter. She has blue eyes too and looks like her brother only she is smaller.

We are also proud to announce the birth of a big blue eyed boy from Patunia. He is large and very active . He has the similar black and white coloring of his mother with a little brown tint on the back from his father.

None of these babies have been named yet, so send me your suggestions.

All of these babies are now a the age where they need to be held and played with a lot so that they know they are loved by more than just their mothers, so give me a call any time and come over to the farm.

Secretay Report for Feb. 8th meeting

2010-02-11T10:09:00.000-05:00

March 8, 2010

Goats R Us 4-H club met on February 8, 2010. It was called to order by vice president Tyler Basto, and Elizabeth Byers made the roll call. No treasurer’s report made, for we still do not have money. The old business was talking about how we made the goat lotion and if anyone had ideas for the next meeting. Cheyanne had her babies, triplets. Edward Byers made a motion to go to the new business and was seconded by myself. The new business was getting a bag of wool and taking it home to wash it and then bring it back to the next meeting to have it carded. We are going to be using drop spin needles to spin the wool next meeting. The motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Shelby Hubbard and Jacob Kline seconded it.

Respectfully submitted,

Elizabeth Byers
Goats R Us Secretary

Maternity Room Upgrade

2010-02-03T10:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we decided to make one more upgrade to our maternity area.To do this we had to move the herd out to the waiting area. They did not want to go outside because it was raining. Instead they stayed in the waiting area and watched the workers doing the upgrade to their barn. Some spent their time eating and Daisy kept a watchful eye on everything.

My work crew was Mariah and Tyler.

They added a layer of horse fence to the cattle panel that we use to separate the expectant mothers from the mothers with babies, when we have some. This process required a lot of wire cutting and wrapping. These kids proved they were up to the task and did an excellent job.

When finished we put the panels back up and turned on the warming lights. The mothers will be moved into this area with their babies when they have them.

We have four mothers waiting in the maturnity area at this time. Right now it appears that Patunia is the closes to having her baby(s). You can watch the baby(s) moving around in her stomach, but she will not let you touch her. She has always been very sensitive when she is pregnant.

I have a small list of people to call when there is any action, so if you want to bee added to the list, just let me know.

Baby Watch and Next Meeting

2010-01-30T11:06:00.001-05:00

No Babies Yet.... All the goats are in the barn having a cozy day. Some of them like to play in the snow, but none of them will come out as the snow is falling. I think they think it is rain. Petunia and Cheyenne look like they could be soon, but probably at least a few more days. If you want to be notified as soon as a mother goes into labor or as soon as there is a birth, Just drop me ( John@PapaJohnsFarm.com ) an Email with your name and number and I will call you.

This next club meeting we are going to make Goats Milk Lotion. Mrs. Jamie Gaddy and Ashley are going to teach us. If you notice the "Club Events Schedule" to the right of these entries you will see that it is on Monday February 8th at 6:30 PM.

Baby Watch #1

2010-01-29T09:29:00.000-05:00

No Babies yet! We shovelled out the barn and set up another baby pen, but none of the mothers seem to be willing to do their part of the precess yet. Tyler is coming over daily to help and check on the mothers, so I have some help.

4H Awards Dinner by Jacob Kline

2010-01-27T20:59:00.000-05:00

On January 22, 2010 many of the Goats R Us 4 -H Club members attended the Stokes County 4 – H Achievement Night. We were served a dinner of yummy spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread with a dessert of ice cream. There Papa John received our charter and a cool 4H sign. Club president Lorena Albee received a Teen Leadership Certificate and a Special Youth Volunteer Award for all her hard work helping the Goats R Us 4 -H Club get started.

Contact List

2010-01-25T07:26:00.001-05:00

The Adult Leaders of this club are John Leap and Kathleen Albee.

Club Facilitator:
John Leap "Papa John"
Cell: 336-624-4500
Email: John@PapaJohnsFarm.com

Club Administrator:
Kathleen Albee
cell: 336-769-6322
home: 336-591-4471
Email: AlbeeRockNRanch@earthlink.net

Club President:
Lorena Albee
cell: 336-705-9882
home: 336-591-4471
Email: lorenaalbee@myspace.com

Club Vice President:
Tyler Basto

Club Secretary:
Elizabeth Byers

Club Reporter:
Jacob Kline

Note: Anyone that wants to be added to list can just leave the information in a comment and Papa John will update the list.

Yesterday's Meeting

2010-01-17T13:29:00.001-05:00

We had a great meeting yesterday. There were a lot of kids in attendance and everyone was very busy cleaning the wool. I was kept busy setting up the wash facilities, finishing up the voting and talking to everyone. Now my only problem is that I did not see the whole process of preparing the wool. Can I get a little help from the kids in the club by having them write up the process and sending it to me so I can put it in this blog? Pictures would be great!

Speaking of the vote, we finished it as planned and we announced the officers as follows:

President :: Lorena Albee
Vice President :: Tyler Basto
Secretary :: Elizabeth Byers
Reporter :: Jacob Kline

Congratulations to all the candidates. This is a great start to our club and now we are ready to become 4H official at the Jan 22 4H awards dinner to be held in King. (Note: Check previous BLOG entry about this meeting for full information and get your RSVP in right now.) We are looking forward to seeing the whole club there so we can take our first official club picture with our club charter.

At the business meeting we broke into two groups, adults and Kids, to plan our next meeting. The adults decided to start having the regular meetings on the Second Monday of each month at 7:00 PM. Since I was in the adult planning meeting (Yes they consider me an adult!) I do not know what the Kids have planned. Can our new president Lorena please send me a report so that I can announce it. (You could just put it in as a comment.)

After the meeting, Lucky and Sadie came out of their corral and got treats and grooming fom the kids.

Also, a very special guest (at least to me) made an appearance at the meeting. Of course I mean my Grand-Daughter Holly Anne.

I realize now that I missed getting any pictures from the meeting as I was having too much fun, so if you could send me some I will add them.

Achievement Night January 22

2010-01-13T11:35:00.003-05:00

6:00pm at King First Christian, Dinner provided. Awards Ceremony. Clubs will be recognized as well as officers from each club! Come celebrate all of our 4-H Achievements! Spaghetti, salad, bread and an ice cream bar! Foothills coffee for the adults! Cocoa and cider as well!

Come dressed to represent your idea career (either what you wanted to be when you grew up, or what you want to be when you grow up!) It should be a fun night!!!!

Please RSVP by this Friday January 15, or over the weekend…no later than January 18 at 8:00am!

Terri M. Bost, Extension Agent

Terri Bost

(o)336-593-8179

(f)336-593-8790

Adgenda For Satuday Jan 16th meeting

2010-01-12T17:42:00.001-05:00

At this next meeting of the Goats R Us club we are Planning the following:

1. Announce the results of the election. (Check next Blog entry for how to vote)

2. Start working on the processing of the wool and planning what we are going to do with the yarn we make.

3. Talk about making Goats Milk Lotion.

4. Check out the pregnant does and see who is due soon.

This may be enough for a nice full meeting and if you have any comments or suggestions just click on the comment link and send them. I want the blog page to be a very interactive blog for the club. This meens that I want your comments and suggestions.

Please check this Blog often because it may be updated and changing often!!!!

Club Election

2010-01-12T16:45:00.001-05:00

It is time for us to elect the officers for our club. We are going to hold an on-line election. To do this, each club member has between now and Jan 16th at 9:00am to send me his/her ballot with the choices for officers. Since we only have three offices and one person campaigning for each office, this should be easy.

Just send your email to: John@PapaJohnsFarm.com

Include the following:

Vice-President = Taylor Basto or _____________________

Secretary = Elizabeth Byer or _______________________

Reporter = Jacob Kline or_______________________

Your name = _________________________________

Send your email to me ASAP and I will count the votes. The votes will be secret and I will be announcing the winners at the the Saturday Jan 16th meeting at 3:00 PM.

Preview of Jan 16th Club Meeting

2010-01-10T09:18:00.001-05:00

Our next meeting is on Saturday Jan 16th at 3:00 PM here at Papa John's Farm.

We will be taking any finial votes and announcing the results of the election at the meeting. You must have turned in your paperwork to be a member of the club to vote, but if you just want to see what we are up to we would love to have you there too.

In the next few days we will be letting you know more about what we are going to be doing at the meeting.

2010-01-09T21:27:00.001-05:00

The Club is up and running and now we have our own BLOG page so we can keep in touch and informed about all of the club activities.

The first item on our agenda is to elect officers for the club. Lorena Albee is our first president.

We now have three people campaigning for our upcoming election. One for each office. Do we have any competition out there for this election?

================================================

For Vice President:

Hi,
My name is Tyler Basto. I would like to be vice president. I know that I can be an asset to the club. I was in another 4H goats club several years back. I would like to help make this club the best 4H goats club ever. Thank you,

Tyler Basto

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For Secretary\Treasurer:

Hi, this is Elizabeth, and I would like to run for the position of the secretary\treasurer. I have had experience in secretary and I think I could do well with treasurer since I am good at math. Please vote for me for secretary\treasure. Thank you.

Elizabeth Byers
==============================================

For Reporter:

Hi,

My name is Jacob. I am interested in the position of reporter in the Goats R Us 4-H club. I love to take pictures and I am a pretty good writer. I would be thrilled if you would vote for me. Thank you for your time to look at my e-mail.

Jacob Kline

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