An Apple Butter Future

I am not a weather wimp so I walk no matter what it's like outside.

But it's even better when I have a worthy goal in sight, so when the wonderful world of Facebook (thank you, Suzanne Hall) informed me that Goat Busters would have a herd hard at work behind Bark Park today, I set out for Church Hill.

I'd been reading about the public apple orchard planned for behind the dog park up there and today there would be goats munching their way to begin clearing the land.

Dressed for the weather since a wintry mix was forecast and with umbrella in hand, I set out to see some goat-scaping.

Not sure how many people would be willing to brave the cold and wet for the sake of watching omnivores eat, I was pleasantly surprised to find a half dozen people already there when I arrived.

Several were parents with kids, not doubt lured out on this dreary day to entertain, maybe even educate a little, the young 'uns.

Personally, I was there to show my support for public orchards, a cause I've long seen a need for here, wondering why it took so long for Richmond to be ripe (ha!) for such a thing.

Philly has long had public orchards and the idea makes sense to me on so many levels - use of vacant land, means of supplying healthy food to under-served areas, environmental boon of planting more trees- that I was thrilled to see that it was finally happening in the capital city.

Today's goat demonstration was just that since the herd of 47, which included a requisite black sheep, was clearing a fenced-off area not on the site of the proposed orchard but a nearby space.

But there they were in the cold and the rain chomping away at anything and everything they could find, even occasionally standing up, front paws against a tree trunk to reach some higher leaves.

It was funny when one did that because others would notice and head over to wait for a shot at the tree too, munching on kudzu until their turn.

Included in the herd were two dogs who'd been raised since they were puppies with the goats and who, with their white coats, were almost invisible in the group.

John from the Enrichmond Foundation pointed out the flat area behind the dog park where the goats will return in the spring to clear the orchard site, a process expected to take a week.

Thanking me for coming out on this miserable day, I thanked him and the group who'd conceived of this brilliant project, telling him I admired places like Philly who have been dedicated to public orchards for years.

"My wife's from Philadelphia!" he said, lighting up like I'd said the magic words. "Yes, they do a great job with public orchards."

As does Boston. As usual, Richmond's a little late to the party, but here we are finally doing it and I for one am wildly excited about that.

Since it can take up to seven years for apple trees to produce fruit, we need to get as many trees planted as we can and think about additional sites.

Naturally, I vote for Jackson Ward, for a possible second orchard.

Walking back from Chimborazo, the promised wintry mix began pinging off my umbrella.

"Pop Pop, it's hailing!" a little boy with a bucket called out excitedly from the fenced-in front yard of a corner house.

I'm willing to bet the goats continued eating right through the wintry mix.

Like me, they're no weather wimps. We might also have hearty appetites in common.

As for what that one black sheep and I have in common, you can draw your own conclusions.