Eliza’s mother, Toni Lake, established our herd of Highland Cattle in 2007 with four heifers: Bonnie, Annabelle, Clementine, and Primrose. In June 2011 we added to the herd, purchasing three cows with lovely names we never use, who we instead refer to as Momma Red, Momma White, and Momma Dun.

Since then, these wonderful mothers have been joined by a bevy of baby calves, who are growing like crazy and some of whom are slated to become part of the breeding herd: April, Abigail, Beatrix, Button, and Cecelia. We have a new crop of calves each year, with each year assigned a letter, so as to simplify both the naming process, and our ability to easily know the age of  each calf. And we try to link the names somehow to their mother’s.  For instance:

• 2011: Asterix, Arthur, Abigail, Aria, Aoife, and April
• 2012:  Cinnamon, Cosmos, Cecelia, Cairo, and Clyde
• 2013: Disco, Denali, Daisy, Dehlia, Darling, Devin, and Djibouti
• 2014: ???

Of course, as is true on any farm, some animals are around for a long time, and some are not.  We are grateful for their contributions to the farm’s viability, enjoy their presence greatly, and enjoy the work they do to keep our rough pastures open.  We expect to continue growing the herd to at least 30 animals, but it’s a slow process.