Greetings and Welcome to our inaugural newsletter!

First and foremost we would like to begin with a sincere and heartfelt "Thank You!" for all of the amazing enthusiasm and support in these early years. We would not be here without you! There is so much we could discuss in this initial newsletter; the new kids, new construction, recent awards, an upcoming summer Kids Camp, and all sorts of other news.. But rather than diving into the news, we felt it approprate to leave those details to a future issue and kick things off with our very own 'Kid' Mackenzie's wonderful first speech: "Did you know that goats milk is the most consumed milk in the world? I would like to share with you about our farm. My family owns and operates Cross Wind Farm. Our farm is a goat dairy farm just outside of Keene. We not only milk the goats but we also process the milk into bottled milk to drink. We make cheeses and yogurt that is sold to stores and restaurants. People who are lactose intolerant cannot have milk from cows but they can have milk from goats. Goats milk has 13% less lactose, it is higher in protein and calcium in compared to human milk, and it is easier to digest. Now let's look at how much milk a goat produces in a day. Any idea? Well a goat on average produces 3L of milk a day while a cow produces on average produces 30Ls of milk per day. That is a big difference. On our farm we have about 350 dairy goats and 40 meat goats. We have all the breeds that come from the different regions of the world right on our far: Saanens, Nubians, Alpines, La Manchas and Toggenburgs.

Now a few fun facts about goats

• When a baby goat is born it is called a "kid"... A baby girl is called a doe kid and a baby boy is called a buck kid...as they grow then they become yearlings... when a yearling doe has a kid we then refer to her as a nanny goat as she is then producing milk for us.
• Do you know what shape a goat pupil is? Goats have rectangular pupils.
• Goats have multiple births - meaning they generally have more than 1 baby at a time - twins and triplets are most common. We have had quintuplets which is 5 babies and we have had quadruplets which is four babies.
• Kids are fed 3 times per day with milk and we use bottles with nipples on the end to feed them.
• Goats are ruminant animals which means they have 4 stomachs just like cows do.
• We milk goats twice a day - 4:30 in the morning and 4:30 in the afternoon.
• Goats eat hay, grain, salt, mineral and they like lots of water.
• Goats are very social animals and enjoy a lot of attention.
• Goats are very curious and intelligent animals. On that note, one day a baby buck, Dilly got out of his pen and came down to my mom's garden and started eating all the flower tops of my mom's lilies. She was very cross and tried to shoo him away but he just wanted to play with her!

There is so much more that I could tell you about goats but there is also so much more for me to learn as well. Well I love living on our farm and am very proud that our farm is the first of its kind in Eastern Ontario to have an on farm production facility to create products for people to enjoy - and even better than that is that each day I get to play with these awesome animals!" - Mackenzie Hope, Feb 2013

Lemon, Herb and Goat Cheese Roast Chicken Breasts

Ontario goat feta, herbs, lemon and shallots are mixed together and gently stuffed beneath the skin of the chicken to create a moist,flavour infused chicken breast. Ingredients (makes 4 servings): 4 skin-on boneless chicken breasts 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil 1/2 cup (125 mL) minced shallots 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh chopped oregano 2 tsp (10 mL) grated lemon zest 1/2 tsp (2 mL) each, salt and pepper 1/2 cup (125 mL) Ontario goat feta cheese 4 thin slices lemon Instructions: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Gently slide your fingers in between the skin and the breast meat of each chicken breast to make a space but not detaching from one side of the breast (it will open like a flap). Set aside. In skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Cook shallots until tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Sprinkle with oregano, lemon zest and half each of the salt and pepper as you need to add the remaining at the end before you put it in the oven. Let cool completely. Stir in feta. Divide the feta mixture over each chicken breast, under the skin, pulling skin over the filling, pressing gently to even out filling and secure skin. Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Top each with a slice of lemon. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside. Rest for 5 minutes before serving.

 

-Mackenzie and the New Kids on the Block!