Austinite Uses Goats to Raise Awareness about Sustainable Living

For south Austinite, Sean “Peppy” Meyer, goats are more than just farm animals. Sure, his goats supply him with creamy milk, high in butterfat, perfect for cheese and soap making, but Meyer has decided to farm out his goats in a different way, too.

Luna and Lavaca, twin Nigerian Dwarf goats, are the cover models featured in Meyer’s picture postcard subscription service. In the postcards, Meyer gives subscribers a glimpse into the goat’s daily lives as they journey their way to motherhood.

Photo: andrewdominguez.com

For $25 annually, Texas Hill Country goat lovers (and those everywhere) receive one postcard a month for 12 months delivered to their mailboxes. Sometimes dressed in fashionable costumes, sometimes lounging in fields of bluebonnets, Meyer hopes people will fall in love with the gentle, cuddly kids just as he has.

Photo: andrewdominguez.com

Luna and Lavaca share their 1-acre home with a pig, a couple of horses, and a mule. A few other humans live there, too, and perform various functions that help make the small farm a success. The goat models, of course, ever conscious of their weight, enjoy the veggie scraps that the property’s 1,750 square foot garden provides — a perfect meal after a long photo shoot.  This year, Meyer plans to raise 200 pounds of tomatoes from the garden along with eggplants, peppers, melons, squash, and herbs.

He also recently planted an orchard that will grow hybridized citrus, like a variegated Meyer Lemon and a Mandarinquat. Other trees planted encourage fertilization of the soil so that Meyer can continue to expand his homesteading project.

Photo: andrewdominguez.com

Through the subscription service, Meyer hopes to raise funds to continue his efforts to live sustainably and to educate others on how to do so. For more information on how to subscribe check out: Goat Monthly and “Like” the Goat Monthly Facebook page.