Mother's Day this year was a bit atypical. My interest in urban farming had peaked with the possibility of raising goats in my Oakland backyard and I needed a dose of reality. So, instead of brunching with Mom I spent the morning learning about goat husbandry in an Urban Goats 101 class at the BioFuel Oasis.

The BioFuel Oasis is a worker-owned cooperative in Berkeley specializing in ASTM quality biodiesel made from recycled vegetable oil. In addition to supplying BioFuel, they offer urban farming classes in Beekeeping, Raising Chickens & Ducks, Basic Vegetable Fermenting, Raising Milking Goats and other DIY pursuits.

Novella Carpenter, an Oakland-based urban farmer (GhostTown Farm), owner/worker at BioFuel Oasis, and author of Farm City: The Education of An Urban Farmer teaches like she writes. Her casual yet methodical approach contains hints of dark humor sprinkled lightly with four letter words. Learning to raise goats in the ghetto had been an iterative process -- there was no definitive "urban goat manual" and the lessons learned from owning other city farm animals (chickens, ducks, turkeys, rabbits, pigs) didn't necessarily translate. Throughout the class, Novella shared her methodology along with lists of essential information to raise milking goats in an urban environment. Clearly the need for guidance in urban farming provided inspiration for teaching this class and writing the much needed general manual, The Essential Urban Farmer, Novella's forthcoming book.

I love a good class handout and Novella's 8-page Goat 101 packet was extremely informative and well-organized. It opened with this sobering statement:

Warning: No one should enter into goat husbandry without full knowledge that goat ownership is an all-engrossing hobby that will suck up your time and money.

She covered legal issues; dispelled goat myths; described different types and breeds of goats; provided a list of essential housing and caretaking necessities; and shared how to buy, breed, and milk goats.

Here are some goaty reality factors that might stop you from responding to a Craigslist ad on a whim:
1. To keep milking goats lactating they need to be bred annually. So, that means you are also a goat breeder and need to deal with stud services, birthing and (goat) kids.
2. Male goats stink and it is illegal to own them in Berkeley. If your goat gives birth to a male kid you will need to have a plan how to deal with him. Selling, giving away or eating are your basic options.
3. Goats don't like to be alone so you need to have at least two females, ideally three. (Berkeley law allows only two female goats per household. Oakland law was only specific about goats not being raised on properties occupied by apartments, hotels or in a business district. San Francisco law was only specific about goats not being used for animal sacrifice but did cite a limitation of four small animals total.)
4. Dogs and goats are natural enemies (however, goats and chickens are compatible)
5. "Goats are not lawnmowers. Many a person has been disappointed when they brought their goats home and expected them to trim the grass, and instead the goats denuded the shrubs and trees first....But the main feed for your goat should always be hay."
6. Be prepared to spend $500-600 for a good quality milking doe.

After the didactic lecture plus Q&A we moved into the experiential goat-handling portion of the class. Blue-eyed Milky Way and bearded Orla May entered the space and brushing and hoof trimming was demonstrated and practiced. Novella went through the motions of demonstrating milking technique but her milker goat Bebe was off getting "freshened" so she was not available for an actual milking demo. That was my only disappointment. I was hoping to witness actual goat milking and possibly have a hands-on experience and tasting. However, taking photos and interacting with these unfamiliar and extremely cute creatures was quite a thrill.

The folks attending the class ranged from goat owners to goat-curious. The class was 3 hours long, cost $30 and was kept to a comfortable size so all participants wanting to handle the goats had easy access. Novella brought samples of her own GhostTown Farm goat cheese for tasting and briefly discussed goat milk products. A great class to follow this general introduction would be "How-To make Goat Milk Cheese, Yogurt and Kefir."

Novella will be teaching this class again on Sunday, June 20th from 9:30am to 12:30pm. It will be taught at a house with a backyard so there is more natural space for the goats to wander around. If you are even slightly goat-curious I recommend attending, but register ASAP because her classes sell out quickly.

Hors d'oeuvres. Tapas. Appetizers. Small plates. There are many names and countries of origin for those little bites of deliciousness. From canapés and dips to dumplings and kabobs, the small plate is varied and versatile. Although appetizers were once used primarily to sate guests until the main course arrived, they have more recently achieved a higher status in the entertaining world. I have attended everything from cozy gatherings to large weddings where only small plates were served. This is always fine with me, as I love variety and a dinner made up of appetizers offers just that.

In honor of Oscar night Sunday, I wanted to share a couple of my own favorite quick and easy small plate recipes. Although I think I’ve only seen one movie up for the Best Picture award (this is the sad state of movie-going affairs in our house after our two favorite babysitters left for college), I see Sunday as an excuse to curl up on the couch with a couple of my favorite hors d'oeuvres and a glass of wine while my daughters comment on the red carpet fashions.

The first recipe is for a white cannellini bean dip. This is my standard appetizer when we have unexpected guests--I can make it in less than five minutes and always have all the ingredients on hand. It’s similar to hummus in texture, but has more Italian than Middle Eastern seasonings. You can make it with or without hot pepper sauce, so you can customize the spices to your own taste. I like to serve this dish with bruschetta, but crackers, pita chips, or bread sticks would work just as well.

The second recipe was created by mistake. I wanted to try out a new appetizer recipe but forgot to look at it and write down the ingredients before I went to the store. I knew the general idea was stuffed dates, but that was it. After wandering around the store and picking out ingredients for the varied dishes I was making that evening for guests, I went home and saw that other than the dates, my groceries didn't include any of the required ingredients. After a good laugh with my husband about my inability to take a list with me to the grocery story, I immediately got to work to see if I could concoct something with what I had bought. I had some goat cheese on hand for a salad, but decided to use it instead as a stuffing for the dates because I thought the velvety rich texture would counteract the sweet denseness of the fruit. I had also gone to the deli section to buy prosciutto for sandwiches the next day. I had plenty, so decided to use a few slices in the hopes that the salty flavor of the cured ham would accent the other sweet and creamy flavors. After tasting one of my new creations, I realized each flavor was too distinct. In the hopes of melding the tastes of dates, cheese, and cured pork together, I set everything in a 350-degree oven for about five minutes. The result was what my friend Jeff called “pork candy”: goat cheese oozing into the sweet date meat with a crisp salty finish. Just the thing when watching those starlets ham it up on the red carpet.

Cannellini Bean Dip

Ingredients
1 can cannellini beans drained and rinsed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 Tbsp lemon juice
A few dashes of hot sauce
1/4 cup cooked or raw red onion

Preparation
1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree.
2. Taste and add more salt, pepper, lemon juice or hot sauce as desired.
3. Place in a bowl and drizzle the top with olive oil and a sprig of parsley.
4. Serve with bruschetta, crackers, pita chips, or bread sticks.

Note: I am not a big fan of raw onion so I like to sauté the red onion in a drizzle of olive oil for a minute or two before I add it to the rest of the ingredients. If I get an exceptionally sweet onion, I’ll skip the sautéing process.

Serves 4-6 people

Pork Candy (a.k.a. Stuffed Dates with Goat Cheese and Prosciutto)

Ingredients
12 fresh dates
2 ounces goat cheese
6 slices of prosciutto cut in half
Olive oil

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pit dates and remove stems.
3. Spoon enough goat cheese into each date to fill the centers.
4. Wrap dates with between a quarter to a half slice of prosciutto each (depending on the size of the dates).
5. Lay stuffed and wrapped dates on a baking tray.
6. Drizzle with olive oil.
7. Bake for 5 minutes, or until prosciutto crisps up.
8. Serve warm.

Serves 4-6 people