NEIGHBORnetwork

Deborah Dramby Owner, Operator, & Shepherd of 56 Hooves By Hojung Ryu

Deborah Dramby is an expert on cultivating an agrihood through goat grazing: She is the owner and operator of 56 Hooves. Originally from Ellicott City, MD, she holds a bachelor’s degree in English and writing from Towson University and a master’s degree from the sustainable agriculture program at the University of Maryland, Institute of Applied Agriculture. After her education in agriculture, she moved to Northern Virginia to expand her career. Growing up, her parents always told her, “Do what you love and a career will evolve from that.” Now Dramby pursues her passion for livestock and farming through her business.

What is your background and how did you start your business? While at College Park, some friends and I grew vegetables in a community/teaching garden, now called the Community Learning Garden (near the by campus gym and School of Public Health). The area we built on started as a heavily weeded hillside and we weren’t getting as many volunteers out in the space as we needed. Then we heard about goats being used to clear land in California and reached out to a regional company, Eco-Goats. Brian Knox, the shepherd there, wasn’t terribly comfortable with leaving the goats unattended on a college campus and asked if we’d be willing to stay overnight and keep an eye on them. In doing so, I just totally fell in love with the goats and the whole concept of it. I ended up interning at Eco-Goats until I started working for them more formally. When I got the gig at Willowsford Farm in Ashburn, VA, it was hard to leave them behind, so about a year into my time there, we started a small herd. We set them up keeping the fence lines clean and ended up doing a few local grazing gigs to pay for winter feed for those 10 goats. A couple of years later, we got three bred does from Blue Ridge Goat Dairy, where we got the original 10, and two of them had triplets, one had twins. We doubled in size. What initially drew you into grazing goats? Using the goats for clearing land meant that I could have them in my life and not have to send them to the butcher. I’ve processed chickens, turkeys, and pigs for meat, but I just have never been able to make that leap to goats. Starting a dairy requires a lot of capital: land, milking facilities, learning how to make cheese, marketing it, etc. When I got the herd that is now known as 56 Hooves (www.56hooves. com), I didn’t own land. They moved from place to place with the trailer as their shelter. The home base was Willowsford Farm and Community. I commuted to them every day, which is hard to believe looking back, since now they reside 300 feet from my front door in the off-season.

How did you come up with the idea of this business? All credit goes to grazers before me. Eco-Goats, of course. Clay and Linda Tranium of Autumn Olive Farms. Jace Goodling of Goatbusters. I was really lucky to land in a region in Northern VA that is sort of in the middle of all these great grazers, but too far for them to haul their goats, so in the beginning, they sent me pretty much every gig we got.

What would you identify as your strongest influence in life? In this realm, Michael Pollan. I read The Botany of Desire in high school and it profoundly changed the way I saw the world around me. Before that, I thought humans were in the driver’s seat. After that, I realized plants, nature, and animals are influencing/controlling us just as much, maybe more. Then, I went back and read Second Nature as well as The Omnivore’s Dilemma. This led me to farming.

What made the location of Western Loudoun County, VA, the best option for the business? Shortly after I purchased land further west in Loudoun County, I underwent major back surgery and couldn’t take the goats out on any jobs in 2019. That year, I realized how much the frequent moves and travel stress took a toll on their health and body condition, and

my own as well. I realized how stressful it had been to be far away from them, having to travel into DC, on and off the Beltway, to care for them, or even just look in on them after a bystander reported that something was wrong. Like everyone in this business, we had some tragedies. I realized that— even after healing—it wasn’t personally, financially, or emotionally sustainable to put them on land more than a 30minute drive from home. Also, I work full-time now for Future Harvest, a wonderful nonprofit that trains farmers, so there are only so many hours in the day!

Is there a trend you are seeing in the industry with incorporating targeted goat grazing? Nature preserves were the “early adapters” of targeted grazing, but there has definitely been increasing demand from homeowners and Homeowners Associations (HOAs), especially during the COVID pandemic. Requests were through the roof. I think people slowed down and saw that there’s more than one way to manage unwanted vegetation and that goats are really fun, engaging, and effective “first responders.”

Is there a memorable story you have about a specific goat/goats? I have to make a shout-out to our goat, Mister, who had to be rehomed a couple of years in because he loved people too much. The goats were at Morven Park in Leesburg, VA, and he’d jump the fence to go jogging with someone, to a soccer camp, even an ultimate Frisbee tournament. While he was cute and he meant well, this is, of course, dangerous and a liability. The behavior is also contagious to other goats, they see him and learn, and suddenly you’re one of those herds on the news because they’ve all gone on a walkabout. He went to an animal sanctuary, in Ellicott City, MD.

Besides it being eco-friendly, what are other compelling reasons why people should look into goat grazing? I think renting goats is a wonderful first step to goat ownership, and that there is a lot of land overrun by invasive vegetation that would benefit from goats grazing full-time. They are delightful creatures, as long as they are getting everything they need on the right side of the fence.

What is a special characteristic/fact about goats that you would like to share? They aren’t as easy to care for as people think. A lot of homesteaders start with chickens and then the next step up is goats. This is great, but there is a lot to learn, such as managing their health, your land; having proper fencing; learning their body systems, needs, and maintenance. I always recommend renting them first. o

Hojung Ryu is a junior journalism and criminal justice double major at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD. She is an intern this semester with Washington Gardener and is from Mahwah, NJ.

Photos courtesy of 56 Hooves.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Urban Garden: 101 Ways to Grow Food and Beauty in the City

Coming Soon! By Kathy Jentz and Teresa Speight Published by Cool Springs Press/Quarto Homes Pre-order it today at: https://amzn.to/3yiLPKU

GardenDC Podcast

The GardenDC podcast is all about gardening in the greater Washington, DC, and Mid-Atlantic area. The program is hosted by Kathy Jentz, editor of Washington Gardener Magazine, and features guest experts in local and national horticulture. The latest episodes include interviews with experts on tree care, evergreens, and outdoor lighting.

You can listen online at https:// washingtongardener.blogspot.com/ or on Spotify, Apple, etc. o