My garden is in high raised beds. I border a couple of them with Italian parsley,started inside and transplanted out at about 4-6" apart. I try to harvest it and train it so it flops over the side (instead of into the bed). Its more than decorative though. We make and eat a lot of Tabouli. I have never had parsley flower the first year (in WI). And have actually only had it return once - then it went to flower mid-summer. To answer the original question - yes if you want a full cup of chopped parsley, it could take the whole plant (but it will grow back) Same with Basil a cup of basil leaves could defoliate a mid-sized plant. (depending on the type of basil). I am a "you can't have to much basil" kind of gardener. I grow it from seed and have 20-30 plants around the garden - I eat it in salads, on tomato sandwiches, chopped and tossed into garlic olive oil pasta, and I make lots of Pesto in the fall. Love it!!

I do not keep bucks, but have a friend who has 3 Oberhasli bucks I can choose from when I do breed. I tend to milk my goats for usually more than a year or two. They are pretty heavy milkers and it is possible to milk them for years. I have one doe,who is retired now,that I milked continuously for 4 years and she milked a gallon a day for all of that time. I don't like to breed every year because there are only so many people who want baby goats in our area, and there are already quite a few breeders around. If I get does out of a breeding, I keep them. The boys, I have neutered and usually train them as pack goats and sell them for $100.00 or so. But, trying to find homes for the boys is sometimes a challenge. Some of my friends put their wethers(neutered males) in their freezer for food, but I haven't done that yet. We raised meat goats for years and I prefer to eat them. I get too attached to my dairy goats to eat them.:-) But, if you have a doe that is a pretty good milker, you can always try to milk her through her breeding season. The volume of milk will fluctuate some during their cycle, but usually comes right back up when their cycle is over. A goat that is a "light" milker will come into heat and the volume will drop and won't pick back up. Basically, she is just drying herself off. But, heavy milkers can perk right along. Works for me!

Wow. It certainly depends where you are! Does start at $200-$400. Bucks $150-250, whethers 75-125. These prices are for purepreds, though, disease tested for the most part. Salebarn goats go for $30-70, though you can almost guarantee something wrong with them, sometimes you can get lucky & find one that the owners just lost interest in and not have CAE, CLA, or Johnes. Here though, we do not have year round pasture, oftentimes having to haul hay from quite a bit away. We're covered in snow/ice sometimes from Nov/Dec through Mar/April, depends, so the price to raise them is higher than some other areas. Plus, it's a bit more residential so that limits the breeders/choices. Brendasue

I have been a landlord for just over a year now. I have not raised the rent from what the other owner charged. I have thought about, but I live in my building and I'm not in it for a big profit just looking to have a nice place to live thats not going to cost me alot over the long haul. If I did I would have many good reasons for doing so. Since I bought the place I have been working to fix it up. I have establised a nice lawn, improved the electrical and plumbing. installed a new more reliable heating system, painted outside and more. plus the proberty taxes have gone up as well as the cost of natural gas for heating both which are costs the rent for any property has to cover. If I were to raise the rent I would be justified because the cost of running the place has gone up and I have made improvements to make it a nicer more livable place, so that its worth more.