If you are looking for something to do with your Christmas tree after the new year, an Andes farm takes in people’s trees after the holidays to feed to its goats.
Cyndi Wright, owner of Dirty Girl Farm in Andes, said people can drop off their trees next to the barn on location, without any tinsel. The farm is across from Andes Central School on 38 acres at 114 Delaware Ave. and houses about 30 goats. Wright said goats like to eat trees, leaves and thorny things.
“They much prefer something that is coarser, and it is better for them,” Wright said.
The only reason the farm can accept the trees is because the goats are not producing milk at this point of the year, she added.
If the family was milking the goats, it could make give the milk an “evergreen taste,” she said.
“We couldn’t use it if it was any other time of the year,” Wright said.
Pumpkins, Wright added, are a natural dewormer, which is good for goats as well. Customers also can drop off pumpkins during the Halloween season.
During the summer, the goats graze in the pasture, Wright said, and when the pasture gets low, there is a greater chance of obtaining parasites. She said the goats will “devour” the pumpkins because “they know they need it.”
“It’s just a good variation in their diet when they are not on pasture anymore to get fresh Evergreen trees,” Wright said.
One Christmas tree would last about an hour for the goats, she said. The rest of the tree could be used to make a bonfire once summer hits. Wright said she has typically accepted trees in past years, but trees do need to be dropped off. She said she cannot pick them up from people’s residences.
The number of trees received per year varies, Wright said, but some years about 10 are dropped off. This year, she said she has received one so far, but it is still early. Wright added that she had gotten a tree dropped off around Easter one year, but at that point the goats no longer want to eat it because it no longer has any nutrition.
Wright said a handful of customers will show up with vegetable scraps, banana peels or apple peels to feed the goats. What the goats don’t eat, the rabbits could eat, Wright added.
She said she is hoping to expand to provide a food waste drop off point for the community.
A family farm, Wright said she runs it with her husband, Lester Bourke, and daughter Jesse Wright-Burke. The farm first started in 2012, Wright said, with a small herd of about 10 goats on three acres of property.
She said her family started to milk and make cheese for just themselves, but neighbors began showing up asking if they would make some for them or if the family made different flavors of cheese.
One day, Wright said a representative from state Department of Agriculture and Markets informed the family that they needed a processing plant license to sell. She added that Ag and Markets helped to walk them through the process of obtaining the license and were “super helpful.” Officially, the farm was able to start operating in September 2012.
It has grown its herd over the years, with 12 sheep now, some rabbits and three little quail. When people visit the farm, they can pet the goats, Wright said, though the sheep get a bit more “standoffish.”
Wright said she would love to get pigs in the future. The farm sells its products in outside places like Albany, Manhattan and the Hudson Valley. She said there is a 10 feet by 12 feet walk-in cooler at Dirty Girl Farm, the farm store, where people can buy some farm products, including yogurt.
While Wright said in the past year, the family grew produce just for themselves, she hopes to expand that. She said they would likely grow cherry tomatoes, carrots and potatoes to “get our foot in the door and see how well the community is interested in it.”
To her “amazement,” Wright said the vegetables grew with “little involvement.”
Creating pathways for people to get more involved with the farm and share ideas, Wright said, has been one of the most rewarding parts of running the farm for more than a decade.
“Some people, we have seen their kids basically grow up,” Wright said. “They have had a baby, the kids have grown up, and now they are teenagers, and they want to work at the farm. That’s been really good.”