Article by Janet Barry | Photography by Joanna Snyder | Owl Staff
Depression, loneliness, anxiety, and stress. In a time of quarantines, guidelines, and virtual education with no end in sight, children can be susceptible to all these struggles and more if parents aren’t careful.
When the first shutdowns occurred in March 2020, HCC’s Professor of Mass Communications Claudia Brown asked her then six-year-old son, Jeremy, what his one wish for his childhood would be. To Brown’s surprise, he eagerly responded with his request to raise farm animals.
“[I figured] that if I could fulfill that wish,” states Brown. “[It] could help to offset some of the challenging times ahead.”
This set them on a path of renovating, fencing, cleaning out, organizing, and researching so they could be ready for animals.
Having grown up in Street, Maryland, with sheep, a pony, a horse, chickens, goats, and more, Brown was no stranger to working with and raising animals. Despite her experience, Brown still had to complete extensive research over the past year. From purchasing books, connecting with local farmers, and joining groups on Facebook, Brown dedicated her free time to making her son’s wish come true.
For their starter animals, Brown and her son decided on Nigerian Dwarf goats known for their friendly temperament and tasty, lactose-free milk. Since then, the farm has grown, gaining mini-Nubian goats, a mini horse, a rabbit, and a Katahdin lamb.
“This set them on a path of renovating, fencing, cleaning out, organizing, and researching so they could be ready for animals.”
“Without my son’s interest, I would not have ventured into farming this past year,” states Brown. “While this is not the life I imagined for myself right now, I am the happiest I have felt in years.”
“Destiny is what you make it.”
For more information on the pandemic farm life, readers can follow the farm’s journey on their Facebook page, Goat Milk Revolution @https://bit.ly/3fbOD4D