What’s unusual about Jeannie McKenzie’s Oakland urban farm is the breed of goats she chooses to keep-her Oberhasli goats are not minis and they’re not the usual urban variety I found most people keeping when I visited the farms in Backyard Roots. The very old breed, originally came from Switzerland is a hardy variety; the goats are known for their sweet disposition and their excellent milk production. Jeannie’s half acre lot in the Montclair district in the hills of Oakland is a little bigger than most city yards so she has the room for this larger variety and her three adult females produce around three gallons a day during peak production. What does she do with all that milk? Lot’s of cheese: Brie, mozzarella, chevre and feta. Here goats, like all dairy goats need to be milked twice a day, every day when they are in production. To help out she has enlisted friends on certain days to help out, who are willing to work for goat milk. Read more about goat keeping in Backyard Roots and in this article, Going to the Goats by Susan Davis that just has come out in Oakland Magazine.
