Maple Oak Salad

This year the oaks put out an unusual amount of leaves, due to the unusually late spring, with the extra rainfall and late warming. there were so many leaves that whole branches broke off of the trees. One oak branch fell in our driveway, and the goats ate on that branch for about a week.

We had been gathering maple leaves that were too high for the goats to reach for themselves, to give to the goats as treats and bribes, and the milk was nice and sweet. After the goats started eating the leaves off of that oak branch in the driveway, we noticed the oak had imparted a nutty richness to the milk.

We have been giving our goats a little help reaching the high leaves lately. The pruning pole allows me to get a quick breakfast together for the goats before they go out to browse  among the blackberry vines, poison oak and shrubbery. 

When I get up I let out the goats and go into the woods to collect a few branches of oak and maple for Rue Dee and Happy for breakfast.

Now the girls get a maple oak salad for breakfast, sometimes I add a huckleberry branch if they have been good.  The milk is now sweet, nutty and richer than ever.