There's no business like "Goat" business

Ever since I was a kid I have raised or helped to raise some sort of livestock. From chickens and turkeys to pigs and cows, there was always an animal or two to take care of. It helped to give me a sense of purpose. About a month ago I was visiting with my buddy Jean Bosco and he mentioned that his wife Macelenne wasn't happy. Jean Bosco has a good job and is going to college. Macelenne quit her job before the first child was born and now they have two children and she was wishing that she could contribute to the family in other ways than raising children. Basically, she was getting bored.

I asked Jean Bosco what she enjoyed doing and he mentioned that she preferred taking care of animals. They have two pigs in a pen but that wasn't a whole lot of fun for her. He said that she really liked goats. As for me, I have been trying to figure out how to have some livestock again. I don't have the place for them so if I were going to be involved, I would need to have a partner. After a few conversations, Macelenne and I had struck a deal.

We picked up two goats on the first of May and have since gotten a third. One of the goats was pregnant when we got her and we are anxiously awaiting our first kid together. The second goat is now pregnant thanks to a neighborhood billy. The stud fee was 300 Rwandan Franks ($0.53).

Our partnership should be good. The plan is that they will eventually buy me out. Basically, it is a no-interest loan. To protect my investment, I will work with them on various animal husbandry practices. We have a budget and a marketing plan which will allow for expansion of the group of breeding females and marketing of the males. I also have made arrangements to get a billy of our own for crossbreeding and to lease out for the stud fee. I stopped in to see them today and they are doing very well and Macelenne is very happy. Her only request has been for a book so that she can learn more about goats. My buddy Mike will be here on Tuesday and is bringing two with him.

My banana buddy Ellie lives near my goat partner so I stopped in there for a quick visit since I was in the neighborhood. He has one tree that is just beginning the reproductive phase. We have a native banana tree here at the house so I set up a way to collect pollen. Ellie's son will stop by the house twice a week. He will take the pollen from my tree to his dad's tree. I googled it a bit and decided just to hang some material on my tree for the pollen to transfer to. Ellie's son will take that material to the improved tree and attach it to the bud and we'll let the ants and bees do the rest. Ellie's son will keep swapping the material around every 3-4 days until the stalk of bananas is well on it's way. We have about a one in a million chances of getting a new banana. I like those odds.