Back last millennium, when I was at West Point, the cadet who graduated last in our class was called “the goat.” The goat won a bounty of $1 per member of the class in recognition of the achievement. It came to over $700 dollars, as I recall; not a bad reward for sustained performance!
Now I see references in sports to “the G.O.A.T.” or “the greatest of all time.” I oppose making acronyms just for their own sake. This one confuses, too, because in general being the goat is not a good thing.
We spent our time this weekend with some real goats. The four-legged kind. We visited Gallo de Allende, a new family-owned business along the lake. Juan Diego and his wife Laura have a hillside goat farm above the town of Mezcala, and they are offering tours in addition to selling goat cheese and milk at local markets.
The couple has taken the property from a scrub-covered, rocky field into a cleared and cultivated farmstead with amazing views. While they are focusing in the near term on growing their herd (32 head), they are also considering eventual expansion which could include a guest house, a cellar for aging cheeses, maybe even a place to host weddings. Juan Diego and Laura emphasize the quality of the natural feedstock their goats consume and the resulting quality of their milk and cheese.
During the tour, we had a great breakfast of Mexican coffee, fresh fruit, goat-milk yogurt, and homemade granola. We got a chance to feed the goats and take a little tour.
Judy wanted to adopt the littlest one, but I don’t thing our dog Tucker would have approved.
We finished off with a nice little picnic consisting of wine, various cheeses, chimichurri, and plum jam. Delicious!
We had a great Sunday afternoon, leaned a lot about goats, and ate well. You can buy the farm’s products at the Tuesday market (Ajijic), take the tour (which starts at the bus stop in front of WalMart), or visit their FaceBook site.
This sounds fantastic!