My Kansas friend, Bets, and I dream of owning a goat farm.
We envision
jubilant baby goats, prancing around in their jammies (herded by badass Corgis
named Biff, Penelope, Giles, and Daredevil).
We have a dream, I tell you.
Someday, we’ll make that dream a reality.
While waiting for that dream to manifest, I like to visit the Meadowlark Farm (Orchard & Cidery).
Meadowlark Farm has goats. Ok, maybe not pajama-clad baby goats, but there are goats.
Rumor has it the farm has a goat named Mildred. Who can resist a goat named Mildred?
The Meadowlark Farm, by the way, is located in Rose Hill, Kansas.
Isn’t Rose Hill a gorgeous name?
Mind you, when I visited the farm, I didn’t see a hill in sight (it is Kansas, after all).
To reach the Meadowlark Farm, you must travel down a straight country road - the kind of road that lures you into rolling down your car windows, turning up your radio’s volume, and belting out your favorite tunes.
And if a song by Kansas starts playing on the radio while you’re tooling down a Kansas country road - well, that’s just perfect.
There’ll be peace when you are done.”
Now, about the time you have shredded the second verse, you'll turn onto a gravel road.
And there you are - at the entrance to the Meadowlark Farm (Orchard &
Cidery).
The goats are waiting.
Also waiting
for you (each coming to fruition in its own time) are strawberries, peaches,
apples, and pumpkins. All for the picking.
.jpg)
Granted, you’re not going to be picking strawberries, peaches, apples or pumpkins, come February.
My point
being: Mind the seasons. Show up when the time is right and when the fruit is
ripe.
But don’t feel too silly if your timing is a little off. I showed up after all the apples and pumpkins had been picked (this is a case of do as I say, not as I do).
It worked in
my favor, though. Being fashionably late got me out of the labor of picking
fruit.
Instead, I plundered the Meadowlark Farm’s country store.
I procured a loaf of homemade apple cider bread, some locally sourced Colby Jack cheese, and a bottle of spiced, mulled, sweet hard apple cider.
In the off-season, fresh fruit might be hard to come by, but apple cider, peach salsa, and such will likely be available for a nice repast.
During my visit, I indulged in a cup of hot apple cider. It tasted like sunlight. Yes, it did. When it comes to food and drink, we Taurus folks know whereof we speak.
Before I
left the Meadowlark Farm, I spent some quality time with a posse of goatlings. Every
single goat gave me the ol’ stink-eye.
I’ve been thinking about Goat ‘tude. Wouldn’t it be something if we could strut through life with the swagger of a goat? Stink-eyes for everyone!
When I left the Meadowlark
Farm, I was humming “Baahaaahaad to the Bone.” (One of the many reasons I
received stink-eyes.)
Instead of jammies, I might have to get little black leather jackets for the baby goat residents of my someday farm.
I might even name one of my baby goats Weird Al and buy it an accordion.
Live on the edge, says I.
And now for
the Happily-Ever-After to this adventure:
The homemade apple cider bread tasted delicious (especially when warmed with butter).
It took considerable willpower to share the bread with my Kansas friends.
But, as you
know, sharing with others is a noble attribute that brings joy to all. (I plan to sneak back to the farm and make off with a secret stash of cider and bread.)
The locally sourced cheese sent me into a cheese lover’s frenzy. It had more flavor than many of the brands I buy at the grocery store.
The spiced, mulled, sweet hard apple cider made me happy (and not just because of its alcohol content).
Something in the cider’s flavor and spices reminded me of evening fireside chats with gray-bearded wizards; throwing snowballs while wearing warm woolen mittens (two points if you hit a wizard); and Christmas in Vermont (not that I’ve ever been to Vermont).
I think this beverage may have been designed for Hobbits.
After I finished the cider, I noticed some writing on the side of the bottle. I will leave you with this poetic imagery:
Sturnella’s Farmhouse Reserve Ciders:
Small
batch ciders with special character
Apple
trees are a collaboration between us and God; like ancient liturgies. Their
main message is fixed; but we who enjoy them learn their lessons anew every
season. Each year, the synergy of soil, sun, rain, yeast, time and the care of
the maker create a new cider from an apple we have long known.
We do a lot of small batch experimentation, and want to share the good ones with you. These varied ciders are adventurous but bring us home. The series name honors my favorite bird, The Meadowlark, Sturnella neglecta, whose liquid call is at once exotic, neighborly and somehow golden.
Comments
Post a Comment