We never planned to live on a goat ranch in northern New Mexico. In fact, before acquiring our first few acres of land, we intended to live in the heart of our hometown of Austin, TX. But life has a way of changing your mind, and after many twists, turns and career changes, Jenna opened Bee Tree Dairy just east of Austin where she created goat milk cheeses from the milk of this herd of goats. Despite loving cheese making, the work became too tough in the intense heat and humidity of central Texas. That's when we very accidentally stumbled across Sweet Pea Ranch, a historic property just north of Las Vegas, New Mexico in the Sapello Valley. Just over an hour from both Taos and Santa Fe and with an abundance of water, hay fields, cotton woods, ponderosa forests and a sunny, cool climate: we couldn't resist making the move north.
Sweet Pea Ranch has had many lives before it entered ours, first serving as a stage coach stop just off the Santa Fe Trail, it has hosted artists and dignitaries, the Rough Rider reunions, and served as home to many families over its nearly two centuries of existence. But we are the first family to fill its pastures with goats, and the land seems to be made specifically for them.
The herd thrives in the dry, cool air of northern New Mexico, and they graze freely across the entire property providing a seasonal buffet of alfalfa, willow, rose hips, oak, grama grasses, wild rose and - yes - they love the sweet peas, too! The herd thrives here, tucked into this high mountain valley where they are protected by a fiercely loyal pack of livestock guardian dogs.
