Farm land in Washington State had gotten so high, even without a house on it, that we knew there was no way we could afford to live there, especially since our income would be a lot less than when we were both working. My husband has most of his family here since this is where he was born and raised. Looking at the cost of buying even a small amount of land here and the lower cost of living would provide us with a place to have a decent sized garden, farm equipment and let me have a couple of dairy goats for milk, cheese and butter. Six round-trips from Seattle to Kansas and 6 months later, we made our last trip to the farm that at that time had no name.
During that time, my dad and mom both passed away in Florida, 3 months and 6 days apart. My grieving would have to wait until things were settled on the farm. I felt their presence all around me, especially my dad.
I mentioned dairy goats earlier. My first two goats here on the farm were a BoerX Nubian cross doe that I got when she was only a few months old
Fast Forward two years. Having gotten into meat goats, Boers, due to a friend who was one of the earliest members of the Kansas Meat Goat Association, I started looking for ways to sell meat products from the farm as well as goats that I didn't want to keep as breeding stock, I still had a couple of dairy goats here-offspring of the early dairy goats, and still had "Rusty" as my herd nanny. Calling the Kansas Department of Agriculture to find out how I would go about getting a license to sell the goat meat and sausage at the Abilene Farmer's Market that I was now involved in, I learned I could get a license for nothing and I had to have the meat slaughtered and processed through a commercial slaughter house. No big deal. Met with the licensing and meat inspecting people who asked what the name of the farm would be on the labels for the meat.
A voice in my ear whispered "Use your Indian name Shadow Walker". That name had been given to me years earlier, I had never thought about using it in a commercial sense. I never really thought about it much until that day. The Seminole word for "Shadow Walker" is "Sha-to-Wak", and means "One who is not always what he or she seems to be". Shadow Walker Farm was born on that day in May, 2003.
KIKO goats came to this farm in May 2005 when I went to Missouri to pick up a 7/8ths black KIKO buck from Crazy Women Ranch in Beulah, Missouri. I had heard and read a lot about the KIKO goat breed on the internet and on the goat groups I was on. Even though I am not from Missouri, I had to see for myself if these goats lived up to their reputation. This buck's registered name is "Oak Haven's John Wayne". I call him "Duke" as I am a big John Wayne fan. My first kid crop has exceeded all my expectations by 150%. I am looking forward to having a lot more of this breed of goat on my farm in the coming years.
I have had a lot of obstacles to over come in the last 8 years, including the loss of 14 head of goats in a barn fire on February 16, 2004, that took the lives of 5 nannies and does, including my herd nanny-Rusty-and 9 kids. That was over half of my goats and my heart was almost ripped out of me as I surveyed the ruins in the cold on the morning of February 17, 2004. I almost gave up, but a voice in my head said, "You are not a quitter", and my Daddy is right. I'm Not a Quitter.
Allen, Kansas
Click here to contact us by Email