About ten years ago, the Hamblen family moved onto their 40 acre farm, ready to make it their own. Their first real obstacle was already waiting for them: invasive honeysuckle had crept across the property over the years, choking out everything in its path. Kellye briefly considered goats as a solution — they’re famously good at clearing land — but fate had other plans. Not long after the family settled in and began building their home, a run-in with a neighbor’s goats left Kellye thoroughly unimpressed. From that day forward, she decided she was done with the goat concept.

Fast forward a few years, and Kellye found herself drawn to homesteading — to the idea of living off the land and raising fiber animals of her own. That’s when she discovered the Cashmere goat. Everything about the breed won her over: their easygoing personalities, their tendency to actually stay behind fencing (no small thing, as she’d learned), and the fact that they were raised for fiber rather than meat. Just as importantly, they didn’t require milking. This, she decided, was the breed for her.

Kellye turned to the Cashmere Goat Association’s website and found a nearby farm, McClure Farm. She called the owner, Dorothy, to pick her brain about the breed, and not long after, made the trip out to select her very first goats — several does, and eventually a buck to go with them. This year, that small start has grown into something bigger: the farm welcomed three baby goats of its own.