Goat Candy!

Do you know what this is? 

This is what we call goat candy on our farm.  Most other folks around these parts call them briars.  Some like them because they produce berries that make some of the best cobbler.  My grandma introduced me to her cobbler at a young age and I must say it was very good!  Of course to pick the berries for the cobbler, you must encounter a few thorns.  Those are not fun!  No matter how hard I tried, I always managed to get scratched by the thorns and even carried a few home underneath my skin.  It seemed the biggest juiciest berries tend to hide out deep into the thorny vines.  This would cause me to try to steadily ease my hand into the thick of thorns to grab those good berries, only to pull back a few thorns in my hand.  Me and steady  don't belong in the same sentence these days!  I'm one of the clumsiest folks you will ever meet :)

Anyway, these briars are like candy to the goats.  The first time I saw them attack a patch of them, I stood there with my mouth wide open in amazement.  I couldn't believe they were able to eat those prickly things! If you can tear your eyes away from that gigantic pink wrinkly hand, you will notice the prickly thorns on the plant.

It still amazes me that they love this!  It is one of the many benefits of having goats around the place.  If the briars get too thick, I just imagine snakes hiding out under them.  I DO NOT like snakes!  So not only do the goats clean up the briars, but they also cause the snakes to go hide somewhere else.....far away from here.  I can only hope :)

This is  also "free" clover that is beside our hay barn outside our pastures.  I has been transplanted from the pastures to this area naturally.  Yet another goat candy.  They love the clover!  This spot will be fenced in with the portable electric net fencing to let the goats have a treat in the near future.  So glad we can provide them with their favorite forages!