EVENING  ON THE FARM

Vanguard Ranch is committed to agrarianism as a lifestyle choice. We are stewards of the land. Blessed with the responsibility to nurture it and leave it better than we found it. We are Renard and Chinette Turner and we thank you for stopping by. Vanguard Ranch is located on 93 acres in Gordonsville,Virgina in Louisa county.

    Sustainability is at the core of all we do. Our farm is based around our commercial meat goat herd .The goats help us to improve the land by clearing as they forage and fertilizing the soil. We produce an exclusive line of  VANGUARD RANCH  GOURMET ready to eat meat goat products. We serve and sell goat burgers, goat kabobs and curried goat out of our custom mobile concession trailer at food festivals, fairs, and  we cater private functions. You may also purchase on line!
    Our Vanguard Ranch Golden curried goat has met with rave reviews at several festivals and the State Fair of Virginia. Folks like our goat kabobs and goat burgers too!!  Value added production is the way to go!
     We use composted goat manure and an organic seaweed solution on our heirloom vegetable and herb production areas . Our produce is sold locally through natural food stores and local food hubs. Delicious produce spiritually crafted and grown for your dining pleasure. A difference you can see, taste and feel. We put the "V" in value!

 Virginia State University 2010 Field Day and the crowd lines up to try our gourmet goat products.
The response was  a great two thumbs up!  It was a first time experience for most of the crowd who came back for seconds, we served three hundred portions that day. Americans are behind the rest of the world  in goat meat consumption . We know that will change once they try our goat burgers , goat kabobs and curried goat. Our custom made mobile concession unit allows us to take our product to the crowds and showcase it hot off the grill. This is value added production at its best. Straight from the farm to the consumer.

Our meat goat herd is very special. We are into our sixth generation of goats all free ranged on forage with no added growth hormones or injections. We started our herd with Kiko goats and still use them as a maternal base.  Dr. Richard Browning of Tennesse State has researched and documented the attributes of the Kiko breed as a production animal.  We are very pleased with our family of Kikos they make great nannies that raise fast growing kids without intervention.  We use no pens, our does kid outdoors unassisted.  Our newest additions to the goat herd are the Valera strain of Spanish goats. These goats got our interest because they are a rare strain of Spanish goats that are quite large and known to be as productive as the Kikos, both strains are excellent maternal goats . We look forward to developing our Valera strain Spanish herd .  Last but not least we have some Myotonic goats, they are short legged thick wide bodied meat goats.  We are very pleased with their maternal strengths and hardiness.  Myotonics are  really nice meat goats that I think will become a major force in the American commercial meat goat industry's future.  A good Myotonic buck bred to any other breed of doe will definitely increase the muscle mass 6%  to 10%  and they are known to have a higher meat to bone ratio than other breeds .
Good maternal instincts, with good parasite resistance or tolerance, a good forager that efficiently converts forage to muscle and produces twins is what we look for in a doe. We have found these qualities and carefully select to keep them in our herd. Our goats are never locked up, they free range 365 days a year enjoying native forages with selective plantings of cereal rye, lespedeza and forage chickory to enhance their diet.  All goats have access to automatic waterers, shelters and  free choice loose organic mineral from COUNTRYSIDE NATURAL which we find to be an excellent choice, our goats stay slick looking  and healthy. Goats are great animals for a sustainable farm..

Magic Man has made me a beliver. We got him from Dr. Phil Sponenberg a long time Myotonic goat breeder, owner of BEECHKELD FARM. What a buck he has turned out to be, he is thick stout and all buck!  Magic Man got his name when he escaped and got in with our Kiko does one day, what followed was an abundance of 1/2 myotonic kids that were thicker than the rest and grew just fine on mothers milk and forage. We were impressed. It is true that a good MYOTONIC BUCK WILL PACK ON THE MUSCLE . Magic Man has left his mark in our herd and we look forward to building around his genes. Here he is hanging out with a few of his female friends. The brown and black doeling in front of him is a very nice Valera  strain Spanish goat from MUDDY RUN FARM.  We have not had any kids from him that we did not like, they were all healthy, thick and hardy.  Unlike alot of breeders we do not focus on getting a really fast growing kid, moderate growth is fine especially when the rate of food conversion is highly efficient with minimal input in labor and  food cost. The yield from Magic Man kids has been great, he packs a punch.

We begin with building a living soil . We use our composted goat manure with an organic seaweed based fertilizer and dolomitic lime.  Drip irrigation is used to deliver water most efficiently.  We purchase our seeds from SOUTHERN EXPOSURE SEED EXCHANGE, they are local to us and do a great job. The seeds are started in trays in our greenhouse or planted directly to the fields. We have a high tunnel which  allows us to get an earlier start and extends our growing season.  Heirloom cultivars are selected for suitability to grow in our area, disease resistance , vigor, flavor and vibrant colors. You can see taste and feel the difference in our food.  It is vibrant colorful food for colorful people!  We sell our produce to local natural food stores and local food hubs. We grow in the field in a high tunnel and in a solar greenhouse.