Author: Karen GoatKeeper

Karen GoatKeeper loves to write. Her books include picture books, novels and nonfiction for science activity books and nature books. A recent inclusion are science teaching units.
The coming year has goals for two new novels, a picture book and some books of personal essays. This is ambitious and ignores time constraints.
She lives in the Missouri Ozarks with her small herd of Nubian dairy goats. The Ozarks provides the inspiration and setting for most of her books.

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Latest From High Reaches

Goats Love Pumpkins

Pumpkins are great food for people and goats. They are loaded with vitamins and minerals. Luckily goats love pumpkins.

Previous Years

I don’t remember when I found out goats love pumpkins. It started me asking people around town for their pumpkins left sitting out after Halloween and Thanksgiving.

These were cut up and fed to the goats. The pieces were about two inches square and a quarter inch thick. It was like feeding coins into a slot machine as the pieces disappeared so fast.

Any pumpkins too soft to cut into pieces were broken up out in the pasture. The goats ate the parts they wanted. Some of the seeds came up the next spring and even made a few pumpkins.

old garden resists new garden beginning
My sugar pie pumpkins seem to have the shortest keeping time in the pantry. These are the first ones to feed the goats. There are enough to keep them almost to the end of the month.

This Year

Another goat owner is now collecting many of the pumpkins around town for her goats. I’m glad as I cringe a bit inside watching leftovers slowly rot away wishing I could take them home.

This isn’t because I don’t want to. My goats love pumpkins and are busy eating them every morning and night. They eat close to a pumpkin a day.

It’s because I raised both my goats’ favorite squash and pumpkins last summer. My pantry has so many piled in it, I have trouble reaching the shelves for stored food. The goats will be eating these easily to March.

cover of "The Pumpkin Project" by Karen GoatKeeper
Although “The Pumpkin Project” is primarily a science activity book, it has lots of information about pumpkins in it. The last section has recipes for soups, breads, cheesecake, pie and more.

Eating Pumpkin

My goats don’t get all of the pumpkins and squash. Some of the pumpkins turn into puree which becomes cookies usually.

The goat special squash is a cushaw cross we don’t care for. So the goats do get all of these.

There is the yuxi squash. We generally eat one or two of these. They are big and, as older people, we don’t eat a lot.

Besides, we love butternut squash. These vines were very busy last summer and we will be eating these for months.

My goats love pumpkins and goat squash and butternut squash. I enjoy sharing them with my goats.

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Averted Tragedy

Last night one of my new hens, one of my winter layers didn’t come in. All night I thought she was picked off by a fox or a hawk. This morning she was the lucky one that averted tragedy.

Accidents Happen

Rural living is an invitation to accidents. Machines don’t work as expected. Wire snaps. Wood or metal beams fall.

Livestock has its share of accidents too. Some end tragically. Some are averted tragedy.

Trapped Goats

As told in “For Love of Goats”, we had a young doe slip down into the crotch of a tree. My companion found her and lifted her out. Otherwise she was trapped, unable to get her hooves on anything to let her push out of the tree.

cover of "For Love of Goats" by Karen GoatKeeper
Part of “For Love of Goats” is a series of memoirs taken from my many years raising dairy goats. Kids are often in trouble. They can get trapped, lost, hurt. The best account is averting tragedy for the kid in trouble.

There was another such incident. This time a doe was stepping over a fallen tree. It had two trunks. The ground was a hillside covered with gravel.

The doe slid down the tree trunk into the crotch and got stuck. When she didn’t come in that evening, I went looking. It took two of us to slide her up out of that trap.

The next morning that upper trunk became firewood.

Trapped Chicken

I have extra water buckets placed upside down along the fence into the goat barn lot. The buckets I’m using sit on top of these, easy to grab to fill at the hand pump.

This morning the bucket had fallen onto the ground. When I picked it up, my lost hen was under it. She was eager to get back in the chicken yard where she promptly grabbed the vole the flock was arguing over.

Avoiding Tragedy

No matter how careful I try to be, accidents happen. Some do end in tragedy. Most do not. There is reason for this.

When my flock goes back in their yard at night, I count them. Three of this kind, three of those, seven of the other, until all are accounted for.

The same is true for the goats. I make sure everyone goes out and everyone comes in.

The chickens are locked up at night. The goats are in their barn.

I much prefer taking precautions to having another averted tragedy tale to tell.

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GKP Writing News

Finishing NaNo

Life’s Rules is not done. Yes, finishing NaNo did happen, but not with a completed draft. Difficulties arose.

The Idea

Before November, I made out a bullet list of the major scenes I expected to occur in my nove Life’s Rules. And the first fifteen thousand words went according to plan.

Then the novel took a sharp turn. The bullet list became obsolete. Even though the novel still moved in the same general direction, the route had changed.

Hated Timelines

This novel draft was supposed to move from beginning to end with little deviation. Finishing NaNo with a rough draft seemed a sure thing.

Instead I ended up with a different novel, one requiring a timeline. And I didn’t have one. I blundered on for thousands of words until the novel began to look like a disaster happening in slow motion.

Solution

There were three possibilities. One was to abandon the whole thing, write something else. That wasn’t what I wanted to do.

A second was to continue with the disaster I was working on. The ending draft might be over the fifty thousand words, but it would be a mess requiring months of work and rewrite to straighten out.

This alternative was not attractive. I don’t mind doing rewrites. I do mind doing unnecessary rewrites. And this would be one.

That left the third alternative. I started back at the beginning and did a rewrite of the twenty-three thousand words I’d completed.

This time I put in the timeline. It meant adding some new material and deleting other scenes. Some got altered to fit into the timeline.

cover for "Broken Promises" by Karen GoatKeeper
This was my first attempt to complete NaNo. I had an idea. I had a bullet list. And it all went wrong. Unlike this month, I kept slogging on and ended up with 50,000 words I totally discarded. It wasn’t until several years later I revisited this novel idea and wrote “Broken Promises”.

The Result

I ended up finishing NaNo with half a draft. It isn’t completely right. It needs another thirty or forty thousand more words to finish the draft. This can be done in December.

Perhaps I did break an unwritten rule of NaNo of not editing. However, I ended up with half a draft of workable prose.

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Latest From High Reaches

Wildlife Defenses

Winter ends most gardening. A few cold weather crops remain in protected areas. Most of the garden is cleared and ready for erecting wildlife defenses.

One thing a rural gardener learns early on is that wildlife is persistent. And numerous. And inventive.

Groundhogs

Four or five groundhogs invaded my garden last season. These herbivores are voracious. Although they have preferences, any vegetables will appear on their menu at some time except mints. But I don’t want to only raise basil, mint, monarda and catmint.

These persistent creatures can climb, but prefer to dig under fences. My wildlife defenses will include old roofing tin dug down along the fence lines.

wildlife defenses are challenging against groundhogs aka woodchucks
The groundhog aka woodchuck lives in the back yard far from my garden. It’s an interesting creature to watch. Any living near my garden require defensive measures to prevent digging under the fence or climbing over it. The only really effective control is live trapping and shooting.

Deer

Every year I seem to have a deer leaping over the fence. The Jerusalem artichokes and greens disappear. Any tomato showing color disappears.

Last year I put up another layer of fencing so increase the height of my garden fence to six feet. This worked except for the gates.

Putting wire across over the gates worked. It also made garden access difficult.

My wildlife defenses include taking all gates up to four feet tall, putting in tall gateposts and stringing wire across starting six inches over my head. Anyone else can duck.

Squirrels, Chipmunks and Pack Rats

These invaders eat greens and tomatoes and peppers. What they don’t eat, they carry off. Either way, the plants and their fruits disappear.

I don’t mind sharing with any of the animals, but they don’t share. They take every last one.

My wildlife defenses include cold frames over the raised beds to protect the greens. These will have hardware screening for the warm seasons and plastic over the late fall and winter. I’m hoping the screening will discourage small herbivores like cabbage moth caterpillars and grasshoppers as well as the furry ones.

Tomatoes and peppers will need wire cages. This will make harvesting difficult unless I can think of a way to make gate access to each one. That will be left for in the spring.

wildlife defenses sometimes are needed against livestock
Chicken invasions of the garden are a disaster. Even in their yard, they dig holes. Their droppings burn vegetation due to high nitrogen content. A good fence of 2 x 4 welded wire has worked around my garden as long as I remember to keep the gates closed. They look at the garden longingly hoping I will slip up and are delighted when I do.

Weeds

The best weed defense I’ve found is covering every bed with cardboard and mulch. This stops most of the unwanted weeds from getting started over the winter which dead nettle, chickweed and wooly mint do.

Winter will be a busy season this year as I put up my wildlife defenses and smother weeds. The payoff will come next year, I hope. However, the invaders will come up with other plans to thwart.

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GKP Writing News

Writing Loneliness

Writing is considered a solitary occupation. A writer sits in front of a computer or typewriter or has pen and pad in hand. Loneliness is part of the occupation, or is it?

A recent article in “Science News” magazine reveals scientists are taking another look at loneliness and its causes. It is no longer considered as the same as being alone.

What Is Loneliness?

Anyone who suffers from loneliness can tell you about being in the center of a room full of people, yet they are still alone. At other times a peron can be alone as off walking in the woods or sitting at a computer and not be lonely.

Although present measures of loneliness don’t touch on this, the key seems to be connections. If a person feels connected to a group, pets or a place, that person is not lonely.

Hopes, Dreams and Reality cover
Mindy is left with no phone to call anyone and no road to drive out to town. She is alone except for her livestock and cat. This could be a recipe for loneliness to strike.

Writing Loneliness

In my recent novel “Hopes, Dreams and Reality” the main character is cut off from everyone she knows. She is left alone for the first time in her life. Yet, she depends on her goats and cats for companionship. This keeps her from sinking into loneliness most of the time.

“Life’s Rules” has a main character who has cut herself off from everyone. She lives in the midst of a neighborhood, yet knows no one. She walks to town for groceries and library books, knows the people there, yet doesn’t know them.

Her life revolves around travel books and language tapes. These give her that sense of connectedness so she isn’t lonely until she makes a connection with another person.

Loneliness companion Mira Cat
Mira Cat always seems to be criticizing the world, but she is a loyal companion. She naps in my computer room, comforts me when things fall apart, destresses, counters loneliness and demands I pay attention to the important things in life: food and sleep.

Describing Loneliness

Most people have had that empty longing we call loneliness at one time or another. It isn’t a pleasant feeling, one we try to avoid.

When writing about such a feeling, a writer deliberately recalls the feelings. These are described in writing. And the aftermath colors the day afterwards.

Then writing is not only solitary, but lonely.

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GKP Writing News

Meet At the Laundromat

Many years ago I was asked to clean the local laundromat one day a week. As I washed my laundry there, I was already at the laundromat, so why not? Now you can meet At the Laundromat to find out more about this interesting and necessary place.

Any business, especially those open to the public, need cleaning every day. In this case, dirt, hair, dryer sheets, spilled detergent and softener along with bits of paper and spilled food make cleaning essential.

Behind the Scenes

People come into the laundromat with their baskets or bags of laundry, stuff them into a washer to wash, a dryer to dry, fold them up and cart them home again. Sometimes friends meet at the laundromat. They take the place for granted.

cover for "At the Laundromat" by Karen GoatKeeper
Find a topic, start gathering ideas and taking pictures, and a picture book seems to write itself.

At the laundromat I work at, there is the water softener to tend to, any broken machines to fix, change to put back into the machines after getting it out of the washers and dryers. All of that just keeps the place working.

Cleaning is what makes the place a good place for people to come into. Dirt and lint mount up fast. All kinds of things get left in the machines and must be taken out. Do you clean out your pockets before washing your clothes? Lots of people forget.

Folding clean clothes on tables sticky with spilled soda, coffee or mustard defeats the purpose of washing them in the first place. Washing clothes in a machine filled with animal hair doesn’t do much good either.

Using a Laundromat

People think this is easy. Easy until their quarters get stuck. Frustrating when a machine doesn’t work right. Efficient until they find some of their clothes disappeared.

At the Laundromat I work at, these problems do occur. The first is carelessness when feeding quarters into the slots. The second takes a phone call to use a different machine for free. The last takes better checking inside the machines to find clothes hidden inside.

Surprise Gift

Yes, I wrote this little picture book as a surprise for the laundromat owners as they are special people. But it wanted to be more than that. I hope it is.

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Latest From High Reaches

Our Bird Feeder

Changing seasons bring a change in customers at our bird feeder. All summer morning doves, goldfinches and cardinals have foraged through the various offerings. Now our winter birds like blue jays, chickadees and titmice have moved in.

Winter Birds

The summer birds like warblers, tanagers and hummingbirds have left for more southern climes. A flock of robins who stopped for drinks at the rain barrels before flying off were the last migrants we’ve seen.

chickadee on our bird feeder
Winter brings the black-capped chickadees back to the Ozarks. They are among the hit and run crowd at the bird feeder. Fly in, perch and watch, swoop in, grab a sunflower seed and fly off.

Late October to early November bring in several birds that are migrating south to the Ozarks. Nuthatches, juncos and several kinds of sparrows hop across the yard. For now, they are busy devouring giant ragweed and other weed seeds.

Competition At the Bird Feeder

Dawn brings the chickadees and titmice down to the feeder platform checking to see if we have put breakfast out yet. Some morning doves still wait up in the black walnut trees.

blue jay on our bird feeder
Blue jays are year round residents in the Ozarks. They don’t spend much time at the feeder during the summer. Come fall, the parents and their fledglings move in. Few other birds will stop on the feeder while the blue jays eat their fill.

Once the spread is set out on our bird feeder, the blue jays move in. They chug down whole sunflower seeds as the nuthatches, chickadees and titmice swoop in to grab one and fly off. The doves march across the feeder roof occasionally dropping down to encourage the jays to leave. Cardinals wait in the old peach tree.

Then the first squirrel arrives. There are three or four regularly foraging walnuts in the back yard. They think they can also gorge on sunflower seeds.

nuthatch on our bird feeder
Nuthatches are such interesting birds. These birds can go up tree trunks looking for insects and their larvae, turn around and go down again head first. They are hit and run birds on the feeder. They hop up the posts or fly in, grab a sunflower seed and fly off.

All the birds wait when the red squirrel sits in the tray. The nuthatches, chickadees and titmice swoop by when the gray squirrels are there.

Chasing the squirrels works for a short time. Usually we wait until they go elsewhere and put out more sunflower seeds. If cold weather comes back, it will chase the squirrels into their nests leaving our bird feeder to the birds.

Woodpeckers

Even the red squirrel doesn’t deter the red-bellied woodpeckers. These and the Downey woodpeckers move up the posts to work on the suet cake. Few of them are regulars now. This will change in another month.

Our bird feeder stocked with sunflower seeds, hen scratch and suet will keep us entertained all winter with our winter birds.

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GKP Writing News

Reviewing the Pumpkin Project

I try to keep several copies of each of my books in case someone wants to purchase one. Getting ready to order more, I am reviewing the Pumpkin Project.

Another reason is to look over the pumpkin cookie recipe. The three sugar pie pumpkin vines were very prolific and pumpkin cookies are my fall indulgence.

Wandering Down Memory Lane

This was my first science activity book. I’ve had to revise and edit several times already as I learn more about constructing puzzles.

This book also introduced me to the world of giant pumpkins. The growers I met both in person and by email were very interesting people. A pumpkin weigh in is a great place to be that first weekend of October.

cover of "The Pumpkin Project" by Karen GoatKeeper
Maybe it’s the colors or maybe it’s the sizes. Whatever it is, pumpkins are interesting to grow, investigate and eat. This science activity book cracks open the door to the fascinating world of pumpkins and plants.

Massive File Size

In reviewing the Pumpkin Project this time I did find a few grammar mistakes, some misspellings, mior things. What really impressed me is how big the file is for this book. I started wondering why it is so big, which is why I haven’t been able to make a digital version.

All of the pictures in this book are at 400 dpi. In the City Water Project, the images are only 300 dpi and print fine. And, even though this science activity book is half the length, it is one fifth the size.

Future Plans

I would like to have a digital version of the Pumpkin Project. For now I will keep the massive file to have more of these books printed.

The images can be resized to 300 dpi a few at a time. It won’t take a lot of time to do a few each day. I’m starting with the Investigations.

In reviewing the Pumpkin Project, I’ve accomplished several things. I corrected some minor problems and found the possible reason I’ve never been able to create a digital version. Perhaps I should review some of my other books.

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Winter Garden

With killing frost ending the summer into fall garden, my winter garden takes over. This year finds it a bit meager thanks to the groundhogs and deer, but there are a few plants left.

Choosing Plants

Cold hardiness is a must for a winter garden. It’s hard to help more sensitive plants survive.

My choices are spinach, turnips, Napa cabbage and carrots. Some others a bit more sensitive include yellow heart cabbage and winter radishes.

Chinese celery likes cool weather, but is not frost hardy. Bok choi is hard to keep too.

Winter Tactics

I use old blankets and towels along with plastic. The main raised bed is set up for a plastic cover. The new raised bed has the beginnings of a cold frame so the blankets and plastic are jury rigged for now.

This round I got caught with some leeks and beets. Luckily the beets are in the same bed as the turnips which are frost tolerant to mid twenties. The forecast is for lower, so all of this bed is covered for a few days.

winter garden strategy
Blankets and plastic may look clumsy and ineffective as winter garden protection, but this picture was taken after a night at eighteen degrees and another at fifteen degrees. The winter radishes and spinach came through just fine. All of my other beds protected in this manner survived well also, no casualties.

The Shade House

Plastic goes over this cattle panel structure turning it into an unheated greenhouse. Although the plastic doesn’t keep the inside from freezing, old towels and blankets protect plants overnight. The plastic does heat up the inside if there is any sun. It gets quite toasty necessitating opening the door.

The plastic I use is nothing fancy. It’s clear – actually cloudy white – from the hardware store. This is not greenhouse grade, but it works for the winter.

Winter Garden Greens

Generally this will hold plants into January, occasionally into spring. The shade house need only covering attention and door opening to raise some good Chinese celery and greens.

The raised beds need a more permanent winter garden solution. I’m hoping to get cold frames over both, but will make do over this cold spell.

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GKP Writing News

My Book Signing

Scheduling a book signing in the fall is difficult. So many other things are going on. My book signing had a lot of competition.

Our Ozark Natural and Cultural Center has recently been painted with beautiful natural and people scenes. It’s grand opening was that day along with an arts and crafts affair behind it, the Pumpkin Days sale by the Ozark Arts and Craft Guild.

Why That Saturday?

I had thought about having my book signing the Saturday before. But I wasn’t sure the books would arrive on time.

There was the next Saturday. But that is up against all kinds of Halloween and other fall events.

Salem Public Library children's section with book display
My book reading was held in the children’s section of the Salem Public Library shown behind the book display.

Measuring Success

The easy way would be counting how many people came. For most people my book signing would be a flop as fewer than a dozen people came.

I look at it as a success. The three little girls had a good time listening to me read the story and show the pictures of “The Little Spider”.

Several people came by to purchase a copy of the book. And some copies of “Waiting for Fairies” sold as well.

What Would I Change?

Nothing. Well, some things. I could do a better flyer. And getting the book done sooner would help a lot as I would have more leeway in scheduling my book signing date.

The type of book makes a difference too. Picture books lend themselves to doing book readings. Parents enjoy bringing their children to such an event.

Novels are different. Unless I become much better known, I doubt a book reading event for a novel would draw many people.

My book signing display
A little goat graces one end of my book display to call attention to the five books by Karen GoatKeeper involving goats.

Next Year?

Yes, I’m making plans for next year. They may not happen, but they just might.

My book signing success was because of the book reading. So, I want another book reading. That means another picture book of some kind.

Opal and Agate: Partners In Adventure is coming up.