Green Scene: This week's environmental news 

As Laura Covert approaches the large pen in the backyard of her Woolen Mills home, Ellamenope and Zinnia jump around and squeeze their snouts through the square holes in the wire fence, unable to contain their excitement; it’s dinner time.

Covert’s 1-year-old Nigerian Dwarves are the beneficiaries of a recent ordinance that legalized miniature goats in Charlottesville.

“That was Meghan’s mission,” Covert said.

In June 2010, Belmont resident Meghan Keith-Hynes began a crusade to amend a Charlottesville law that said goats were not appropriate pets in the city. She formed the Charlottesville Goat Justice League, gathered signatures and presented a petition to City Council. On September 7, Council voted unanimously to allow residents to own up to three miniature goats, dehorned and weighing less than 100 pounds. It passed in record time, Keith-Hynes said.

After the vote, Keith-Hynes and fellow Goat Justice Leaguers held an “Urban Goat-Keeping Seminar” to promote responsible care.

“It’s now in our hands to make this program a resounding success and make sure our little beasts are good neighbors,” she wrote on her blog.

Two years later, the little beasts have proven to be all that and more.

Covert is one of the new owners since the ordinance became law. Ellamenope—Ella, for short—and Zinnia live in a large square pen complete with a shelter, tables, stairs, and other things to play with (though Keith-Hynes emphasized that such a large space isn’t necessary to keep goats).

“They’re like cats,” Covert said. “They have to be on top of things or underneath things, and they like to get in small places.”

Unlike Covert’s cat, the goats pull their weight around the house, eating weeds and brush in the yard and providing rich manure for Covert’s garden. When they get older, they’ll produce about a quart of milk per day. Goat’s milk has numerous health benefits, Keith-Hynes said, and it’s easy to use for making cheese and butter.

As for Covert’s neighbors, the goats have been more of an attraction than a nuisance. When she and her husband brought the goats home last spring, it was the start of what she called a “community-building experience.” Neighbors stopped by all the time, bringing their own kids to play with Zinnia and Ella.

“We met all kinds of people,” Covert said. “It was a very nice spring.”

Next spring, Ella and Zinnia will bring even more kids to the household; Covert plans to breed both females in the fall. All but one of the baby goats will have to be sold or given away, because of the new law’s three-goat limit.

Keith-Hynes thinks the urban goat market will continue to grow as potential owners see examples of “how it’s done.”

“It’s probably kind of mysterious to people, and it probably seems very difficult,” she said.

“They’re fantastic pets. There will be a lot of baby goats, and it would be nice if people in town bought them and carried on the tradition.”—Ryan McCrimmon

Green for good health: A nutritionist weighs in 

With the garden already producing its first bounties, and more around the corner, we thought it would be fun to write about some greens. The benefits of greens are countless; they contain minerals (vitamin K, magnesium, calcium, and iron), alkalinize our bodies and can be incorporated into our diet in a variety of ways. 

Greens are easy to make and very tasty. Dark green leafy vegetables can get bitter when cooked, which may leave you with an unpleasant taste in your mouth. Try cooking them for a short time to minimize the chance of a bitter taste. Add a little garlic and oil, stir-fry for about four to seven minutes and turn off the heat. Below, I’ve listed greens in four categories to consider adding bit by bit to your diet.

Leafy greens: Arugula, asparagus, beet greens, Bok choy, carrot tops, celery, collard greens, endive, escarole, frisee, kale, lettuce (red, green, bibb, romaine), mizuna, mustard greens, radicchio, radish tops, spinach, swiss chard 

Weeds: Chickweed, cloves, dandelion greens, lambsquarters, malva, miner’s lettuce, plantain, purslane, stinging nettles 

Herbs: Aloe vera, baby dill, basil, cilantro, fennel, mint, parsley, peppermint, spearmint

Sprouts: Alfalfa, broccoli, clover, fenugreek, radish, sunflower (Sprouts spoil easily, so use them quickly.)

The reality for most of us is that we buy the same produce week after week. We have favorites and we stick with them. As terrific as it is to find foods from the bounty available, I encourage you to expand your repertoire. The world is changing fast, and our bodies benefit from a wide variety of nutrients to obtain what we need for optimal health.  

Here are two favorite and easy recipes incorporating greens. It is hard to choose only two! If you have a French Press, consider infusing some nettles or plantain to put into a smoothie or drink on its own as a cool beverage in the summer. To do this, take 4 Tbsp dried herb to 4 cups boiling water. Pour the boiling water into the press on top of the herbs. Wrap the press with a towel to keep the steam in and let sit for at least 1 hour. Press and drink plain, with stevia drops or blended into a smoothie.

Dandelion Pesto (adapted from my friend Laura Bruno)

2 bunches dandelion greens (can also use arugula or spinach)
2-4 tsp brown rice syrup or agave
2-4 tsp miso
½ – ¾ cup pumpkin seeds
2-4 tsp umeboshi plum PASTE
1 container chives or 2 scallion “stalks”
½ cup olive oil or more to desired consistency
1 small onion

1. Cut onion and sauté in oil until browned. Set aside.
2. Blend the other ingredients in a high speed blender.
3. Serve pesto over whole grain pasta or grain or zucchini raw pasta. Put the sautéed onion over the grain first then the pesto, mix together and Enjoy!

Makes: 6 servings Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Crispy Kale (adapted from The 30 Minute Vegan Cookbook) 

1 large bunch curly-leaf kale (this works better than dinosaur kale)
2 Tbsp olive oil (can also use coconut oil)
3 Tbsp nutritional yeast (optional or use to your taste and tolerance)
1/2 tsp sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350oF (can use lower oven temperature and bake for longer). Use your hands to rip small pieces of the leaves off the stem of the kale. Arrange them on a baking sheet in a single layer, using two baking sheets if necessary. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until your desired crispiness is achieved.
2. Remove from oven and transfer the kale to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle with the olive oil, sprinkle with nutritional yeast and sea salt, and toss gently with your hands until all of the kale is covered. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container at room temperature. Please do not refrigerate.—Wendy Vigdor Hess

Wendy Vigdor-Hess is a local dietitian and the author of Sweetness Without Sugar: A Resource Guide for Delicious Dairy-, Egg- and Gluten-Free Treats Made with Healthy Sweeteners.