Our Unique Farm Stay at Haute Goat Farm – Alpaca Pen Sleepover Review

Haute Goat Farm is a 200-acre farm located just outside Port Hope, Ontario (which hello! Is only an hour and a half away from Toronto!) This farm is the ideal place to go if you’re looking for a:

• farm stay getaway filled with diverse and unique farm experiences including:
  • cuddling goats
  • milking goats
  • walking alpacas during the sunset
  • yoga with goats or alpacas
• one-of-a-kind Ontario farm stay experience sleeping inside an alpaca pen
• romantic farm-to-table breakfast, lunch, or dinner experience lovingly created by their onsite chefs

We totally had a “Wait a minute.. Is this an anniversary trip? It feels SO romantic and cute here!” moment.

Haute Goat offers a luxurious and unique farm stay experience for very reasonable mid-range prices. This farm stay near Toronto is certain to appeal to any adventurous couple (or mother-daughter pair!) that loves animals.

Today, let’s do a deep dive into

• what is currently offered at Haute Goat Farm
• what to expect when you sleepover at Haute Goat
• our own Alpaca Sleepover experiences

annnddd of course I’ll be sharing plenty of cute farm animal photos too!

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Planning a staycation in Ontario? Find more inspiration in these articles!

• Places in Ontario where you can stay with alpacas
• Places to rent a yurt in Ontario
• Northern Ontario
  • (Dog-Friendly cabins available) Pine Falls Lodge near Sudbury
• Southern Ontario
  • (Dog-Friendly) Bell Tent Glamping in the Frontenac County
  • (Dog-Friendly) Hounds of Erie Winery in the Norfolk County

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This post contains affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through some of the links on this post.

About Haute Goat

Haute Goat is a 200+ acre working farm. It is home to over:

• 40+ Nigerian Dwarf Goats
• 12 Huacaya Alpacas
• 3 Tornjack livestock guardian dogs
• Several exotic chickens and ducks
• A couple of Icelandic horses
• One veryyy big silly mule named “Luce Mae Belle”

Haute Goat Farm also offers farm experiences and a variety of products to the public including:

Haute Goat’s Alpaca Sleepover Details

FULL DISCLOSURE: I reached out to Christa from Haute Goat to fact check their farm as part of my Places in Ontario where you can stay with alpacas. As a thank you for the write-up, she kindly offered us a free night’s stay in their new winterized alpaca sleepover experience. No strings attached! How super awesome and kind was that offer!?!? THANK YOU Christa! You’re the best!!

Let’s take a look at what this storage-shed-turned-accommodation has to offer. Don’t let its origins fool you! This tiny but mighty place packs a LOT into its building and there’s much to love!

Here is a quick list of what you need to know about the accommodation.

Booking and Check-in Process

Booking Process

At the time of writing, you may only book the Alpaca Sleepover via their website. Completing the booking process on their website only takes a few simple steps.

You pick the date, answer their ‘Additional Information’ box then provide any extra notes/requests. After completing the information, fill out your payment process and you’re done!

Once you book your sleepover, you will receive a confirmation of your booking. The day before your stay, you will also receive a reminder about your booking.

Check-in Process

When you arrive at Haute Goat, you’ll see a large sign instructing you to ‘dip’ your footwear into the pink water at the entrance. This is to reduce the spread of bacteria that could harm their farm animals. You only need to dip your shoes in for a couple of seconds before you’re good to go.

If you arrive at 3:00 PM, you will likely be greeted by someone at the kiosk by the main entrance who will provide instructions on:

• your check-in process
• where to park

If you arrive later than 3:00 PM, or if no one is at the kiosk, you can call either of the two available phone numbers posted on a sign near the entrance. Someone will arrive shortly to assist you with your check-in process.

You’ll also receive a quick tour of the farm too. Then, you’ll receive instructions to drive your car into the farm and park at the designated ‘Alpaca Sleepover’ parking spot. The parking spot is right in front of the alpaca pen. Yay for easy loading and unloading access!

To enter your alpaca shelter, you must walk into the alpaca pen. Make sure to always close the gate after you enter to avoid any escaping animals!

Look forward to a small welcome basket in your shelter with some water, towels, and alpaca fibre. As part of your welcome, you’ll also get:

• a breakfast selection paper to be filled in and handed into Screaming Goat Cafe if you choose to have breakfast with them
• a blue notebook with some information about your stay AND personality information of each of the 12 alpacas

The check-in and check-out times allow ample time for guests to arrive later in the day and leave a bit later:

Check-in time is at 3:00 PM (anywhere between 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM works as long as you notify the hosts of your estimated arrival time).

Check-out time is at 10:00 AM.

You’re free to linger on the farm beyond 10:00 AM but they do ask your items to be removed from the shelter by 10:00 AM to help them with the cleaning process and preparing for the next guest’s stay.

If you have any questions, you can call Christa or ask any of the folks volunteering or working at the farm for any help throughout your stay.

8 Things to expect during your sleepover with alpacas at Haute Goat

Sleeping inside an alpaca pen is likely an uncommon experience for most people. So here are some things you should know about the alpaca pen sleepover at Haute Goat:

1. Expect to sleep in an ultra-cozy and cute shelter (you won’t be sleeping inside a barn!)
2. Expect insects like flies and mosquitoes to join you
3. You will be sleeping on the ‘boys’ side with 3 alpacas
4. Fall asleep and wake up to the sounds of a working barn
5. Look forward to exclusive access to the alpacas during your stay
6. You might enjoy a bonus sleepover guest with JeffandSue!
7. Look forward to interacting with some of the nicest and warmest people
8. Additional farm experiences have additional costs

1. Expect to sleep in an ultra-cozy and cute shelter (you won’t be sleeping inside a barn!)

When we were offered to stay in the alpaca pen, our brains immediately assumed we’d be sleeping inside a barn enclosure fenced away from the alpacas. So imagine our delight and surprise when we were welcomed to the coziest and cutest little shelter that opens into the pen at Haute Goat!

Decorated with fairy lights, a reading light, and a bunch of cute decor, mugs, and even a mini-fridge, the alpaca sleepover shelter is like a tiny home away from home. There might not be a lot of space to stretch out inside, but it still comes packed with a lot of goodies including:

• lots of extra blankets for your stay. While the shelter isn’t heated, it is insulated and comes with a plethora of blankets to ensure you stay warm during the cool fall nights
• yoga mats you can take outside during the night to stargaze
• a variety of board games to enjoy in cooler weather or when you want to take a break from spending time in the outdoors
• cute cozy mugs and an assortment of coffee and tea for your enjoyment (comes sugar and a bottle of milk in your mini-fridge to add to your coffee and tea too!)

If you’re ever too cold, or it’s raining too hard to make it to the nearby Screaming Goat Cafe for the washrooms, the sheltered space does come equipped with a porta potty that is VERY discreetly tucked away into the corner (how did they fit so many things in this space is beyond me!) of your shelter. We didn’t use it during our stay but this is something useful for guests staying overnight during extra cold or rainy days.

Something to note: Since this is a retrofitted feeder shed turned into a shelter, you may want to keep any valuables inside your car. Why? Well, the shelter is closed on the outside by a latch mechanism, so if you step away from the shelter it is easy to open the shelter. We did however feel very safe during our stay and did leave our phones to charge in the shelter with the door unlocked while we explored the place, but if you plan on bringing anything particularly expensive, you may want to store it in the car if you’re planning on leaving the alpaca enclosure.

2. Expect insects like flies and mosquitoes to join you

As you are staying on a farm, you should expect insects like spiders, flies, and mosquitoes to also join you during your sleepover. The shelter comes with a bug net so you can have a good night’s rest.

Bring insect repellent with you if you plan on doing a summer stay.

If you’re looking for the absolute best time to do an alpaca sleepover – go during the fall to maximize your comfort.

During the fall you can look forward to:

• Relatively temperate weather (compared to the winter)
• Significantly fewer insects (hello no mosquitoes! Hello 3 flies instead of hundreds!)
• Comfortable and cool night’s sleep

3. You will be sleeping on the ‘boys’ side with 3 alpacas.

Better make nice with the boys! The alpaca shelter is situated on the ‘boys’ side of the alpaca enclosure, so you will likely be spending a lot of extra time with Widget, Obi-Wan Alpaca, and Chewbacca!

If you take a quick look at their personalities in the blue binder, you’ll very quickly be able to discern who’s who in the entire alpaca enclosure (both the boys and the girls!).

I know they already have ultra-cute profile descriptions in the binder, but we also ended up nicknaming the boys based during our stay too:

Widget – the silly boy who eats standing on two legs

Obi-Wan Alpaca – the spitter, and also Angelo’s favourite boy. We both got spat on by him, but something about being spat on by an alpaca makes us want to work all the harder to win their affection and love

Chewbacca – the goofy-toothed shovel eater. You’ll know what we mean if you ever get the chance to feed them some pellets during your stay!

That doesn’t mean you won’t have access to meet and interact with the 9 female alpacas! They can still be easily accessed by passing through a gated system in the partially open shelter.

Fun Fact: Prior to our stay the alpaca sleepover used to be set up in the partially open shed! With a queen mattress set atop several bales of hale, it was a truly rustic, semi-outdoor, as-close-to-the-alpacas-as-you-can-get experience.

4. Fall asleep and wake up to the sounds of a working farm

Ready to trade the late-night car honks, sudden angry midnight yells, and early morning garbage noises for the late-night and morning sounds of a working farm instead?

Here are some sounds that you can look expect to hear during your sleepover:

1. Humming, snorting, clucking and grazing sounds from the herd of alpacas – your temporary neighbours do like to make sounds during the night!
2. 3 working dogs doing their job protecting the farm and the animals overnight – expect to hear periodic barking as the 3 working dogs take shifts during the night to protect the farm. Their barks help keep coyotes away and keep the farm animals safe and protected overnight
3. Roosters crowing at sunrise – the roosters at Haute Goat are very reliable and will crow at sunrise and continue well into the mid-morning

All the sounds I heard at Haute Goat helped me sleep earlier, deeper, and better than I’ve done in a VERY long time. But for light sleepers out here, consider bringing some earplugs if you think the farm noises will likely keep you awake!

5. Look forward to exclusive access to the alpacas during your stay

Outside of the morning farm duties and alpaca walks in the afternoon and evening, you can look forward to having exclusive access to the alpacas.

Picture this. You wake up at the crack of dawn with the sounds of roosters crowing. You sleepily get out of bed, open the door, and you’re welcomed with this view. Actually, you don’t need to picture it! We made a video of it for you! This view is literally all yours to soak up and enjoy. Wow. Just WOW!

@syderoad

🌅 with 🦙 #hautegoat #ontariofinds #alpacafarm #uniquestays #sleepovergoals #travelblog #ontariotraveler

♬ The Good Part – AJR

What are some other things you can look forward to with your exclusive alpaca experience besides the already awesome sunrise with alpacas?

1. Selfies. So many selfies.
2. Farm-style breakfast beside alpacas
3. Extra time to befriend and pet as many alpacas as possible

As you may already know, alpacas are both curious and shy creatures. They will just as easily come up to you to say hello as they will walk away or avoid you when you try to approach them. You’ll likely end up spending a lot of your time patiently attempting to befriend the herd of alpacas ?

6. You might enjoy a bonus sleepover guest with JeffandSue!

Who’s JeffandSue? Only the funniest-named resident barn cat at Haute Goat of course! If you love cats, you may also have the very lucky opportunity to get a bonus sleepover with her as well too!

From our experience, JeffandSue is a very affectionate cat. She loves head scratches and will absolutely insist on rump scratches too. If you indulge, look forward to several minutes of cat love and gentle head butts for more scritches.

So, you might just be wondering, why is she named JeffandSue? What’s the story behind the name? Well, according to Christa, the resident alpaca expert (and full-time employee at Haute Goat!), Debbie and Shain used to own two cats. One named Jeff, and one named Sue. They ended up looking identical to each other, and no one could tell them apart! So eventually they were both named JeffandSue!

7. Look forward to interacting with some of the nicest and warmest people

Did you know that Haute Goat was the winner for the THIRD year running for the Hospitality and Tourism award hosted by the Port Hope and District Chamber of Commerce?

And honestly, I’m not surprised. You will feel so welcome upon visiting Haute Goat that if you’re anything like me, you probably don’t really want to leave! I swear once you leave the city life, everyone seems to magically transform into generally nicer people.

Meet Christa

We had the very lucky opportunity to get to know many sweet and charming folks like Christa!

Originally from Germany, she was inspired by her daughter to volunteer abroad during her time off. She volunteered at Haute Goat several years ago, found herself volunteering here again and again, before eventually quitting her job, and moving to Canada with her dog to work at Haute Goat full-time.

During our stay, she filled us with a plethora of stories about the development of Haute Goat’s agritourism alpaca arm. From developing the alpaca walk services (the sunset walks get bonus glow sticks!) to experimenting with summer Airbnbs, and of course, developing the alpaca sleepover experience.

If you didn’t already know, she kindly offered a free night’s stay at Haute Goat to experience the farm for ourselves. Then to add to our experience, she specifically put in a word for us so that Debbie one of the farm owners could include us in part of their final goat milking session of the year.

Normally farm experiences like these are only available to folks who have pre-booked a farm experience or are dedicated volunteers who are willing to stay for a while and learn on the farm. However, we were able to join in for just a moment for free. It was truly an eye-opening and unique experience.

As two very city-centric people, we struggled to milk the two Nigerian Dwarf Goats. At best we managed only a couple of successful squeezes!

8. Additional farm experiences have additional costs

There are plenty of memorable and special farm experiences that you can add to your stay to add a little ✨spice✨ to your alpaca sleepover!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG8Lgq0hJxC

There are currently over 10 additional farm experiences you can add to your sleepover stay. But do note that each farm experience will come with an additional cost, and most of them are priced on a per-person basis, with some experiences offering discounts for family experiences.

Special Note: When you visit the farm you’ll notice that all the animals are treated with respect, love, and care by everyone. Their safety is the farm’s top priority. While it goes without saying that you can tell the animals are well-loved, never overworked, and have the highest quality of life, you may also be happy to know that all of Haute Goat’s farm experiences are also found on Airbnb’s Animal Experiences Collection. To be a part of this collection means that the animal experience must follow the World Animal Protection guidelines. Yay for ethical, happy animal welfare experiences!

Goat Shmurgle – Snuggle, cuddle, and walk with 40+ Nigerian Dwarf Goats. Trust me this is way more fun than you can imagine. If we saw the videos and pictures before we visited, we would have added this to our overnight stay without hesitating!

Picture this. You’re in a fenced area. Farmer Debbie or Farmer Christa opens the gate and 40 little goats come rushing out with their tails wagging to come to greet you. It’s like … having 40 puppies greet you, only they’re goats! THEN once the cuddle sessions are over, enjoy a walk on the 200+ acre farm with them too!

Alpaca Knuffle Shuffle – Learn how to halter, groom, interact, and lead your alpaca around Haute Goat’s 200+ acre farm. During the walk, you may even have the very fun opportunity to see them scratch their backs against the tall grasses! Note: depending on the interest for the timeslot, you may need to share your alpaca with one other person during the walk, but don’t worry the large farm and long walk with the alpacas means there’s plenty of time to bond with the alpacas!

Magical Sunset Alpaca Walk – How do you level up the alpaca knuffle shuffle? By enjoying an evening walk and watching the sunset with an alpaca! Spend some one-on-one time with an alpaca and watch the sunset together before enjoying a 1.5 hr evening stroll through the farm’s forest and walking trails. Your alpaca might even get their very own special glowstick necklace too!

Other notable farm experiences include:

• Caprine Vinyasa aka Goat Yoga – that’s right. Do some yoga with a certified yoga instructor all surrounded by 40+ Nigerian Dwarf Goats that will come up to you for cuddles and play
• Milk a Goat, Make Goat Cheese – Take a more hands-on farm experience and learn how to milk and goat, and how goat cheese is created.
• The Screaming Goat Supper Club – Newly added in 2021, enjoy a rotating selection of farm-to-table dinner menus every Friday and Saturday curated by and cooked by Chef Signe Langford. All items are sourced directly from Haute Goat, or from other farms nearby!

For a full list of farm experiences available, head on over to Haute Goat’s ‘Farm Experiences and Workshop Page‘

Special Event Farm Experiences

Every so often there Haute Goat offers seasonal farm experiences that are extra special. These extra special-themed events are an extra delight to their already memorable farm experiences.

‘Ghoully Goat Spooktacular‘ is an extra special goat shmurgle held at the end of October. Goats will be dressed in creatively spooky costumes for their night walk with you. You’ll be able to take photos with these spooky goats and enjoy a “Goblin Grub”. Treat bags are also provided to the children too!

‘Goatchella’ – Support local businesses and browse local vendor stores at the annual Goatchella. You can look forward to various wares including: local favourite hot pepper sauces, local gift box gift ideas, pet-friendly baked goods, and many many more! If you head to Haute Goat’s Instagram page, you can find a variety of vendors featured from last year’s Goatchella!

Our Experience

At only an hour and a half away this is one of the closest staycations to Toronto that we’ve tried this year!

It’s kind of crazy that one of the best overnight experiences we’ve had this year was found so close to home! I’m not the only that assumes that all travel things ✨unique and memorable ✨ must be found ‘far away from home’ right?

If you’re an animal lover like me and you grew up playing video games like **Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley,** or Harvest Moon (hello! you must also be a 90s kid) … let me tell you, you’re going to have a great time.

Me? I think I literally had the best 24 hours of my life in a veryyyy veryyy long time (partly because of the state of the world, but also because… hello I got a real-life ‘easy-mode’ farm simulation!)

Here’s a quick rundown of what we managed to do in under 24 hours at Haute Goat that made our day so amazing:

• Met, laughed while learning the names and personalities of all 12 alpacas
• Experienced the Magical Sunset Alpaca Walk
• Walked the 200+ acre farm and learned the names of the various chickens, ducks and goats on the farm
• Pet an Icelandic horse named Elska and met her young foal
• Made friends with the barn cat JeffandSue
• Spent a very delicious and romantic evening enjoying the special Thanksgiving dinner menu created by Chef Signe Langford at the Screaming Goat Cafe
• Watched the sunrise with the alpacas
• Participated in a live-stream tour of Haute Goat and learned how to milk (and milked!) two goats on the last day of the goat milking season
• Watched the mini donkey Tiny Tim and the gentle giant ‘super-sized’ mule, Luce Mae Belle go on an adorable ‘diet walk’ across the farm

Here are some photos to summarize a lot of our experience!

Our Check-in and Accommodations Experience

Before we arrived, I had also booked ourselves their “Magical Sunset Alpaca Walk” to add to our farm stay experience.

Immediately upon our arrival, we were taken to the alpaca pen. Okay someone please tell me that I am not the only that takes delight in getting permission to enter a ‘Do Not Enter’ zone. Did we feel extra special and extra exclusive being able to freely open and close the gates to the alpaca pen as we please. Yes. 100% yes.

The alpaca pen really blew our expectations out of the water. At the time of booking, Haute Goat’s website only had one photo posted for their alpaca sleepover experience and they hadn’t yet posted updated photos.

We were expecting a bed set up somewhere in a barn set in the corner of an indoor alpaca pen area. So opening that little shed and seeing a fully decked-out shelter was jaw-dropping. Haute Goat did a fantastic job retrofitting the former feed storage shed into an ultra-cozy, modern, insulated farm stay accommodation.

The entire space was ultra-cozy and even when we had the windows open, we stayed comfortably temperate (think not too hot, and not too cold) overnight.

Angelo and I had such comfortable sleep in the space that if we hadn’t set an alarm to watch the sunrise with the alpacas, we’d probably have continued sleeping in! That’s just how comfy the space was.

What it’s like walking with alpacas into the sunset

If you thought walking with alpacas was pretty magical, you really need to give a sunset walk with alpacas a try. Haute Goat has an especially scenic view of the gentle rolling hills of the Northumberland County and their farm is set perfect to watch the sun set atop a gentle hill.

During our stay, the sunset walk with alpacas was booked by a total of 9 people. With a maximum capacity of 10, and with 12 alpacas on the farm, every guest was guaranteed a one-on-one experience walking with a dedicated alpaca partner of our choice.

Angelo had previously made frenemies with Obi Wan Alpaca (who had previously announced his dislike for being petted by Angelo with a contemptuous spit), was determined to make amends so he picked him as his walking partner.

After falling in love with Widget’s two-legs-in-the-feeding-stack ways, I decided to take the quirky and gentle Widget for my walk.

After all our alpacas were haltered in, we, along with the two other families participating in the walk were then led to the west end of the farm, where we had the wonderful valley view of the farm set against a beautiful fall sunset evening before walking the perimeter of the farm.

I was way too busy spending my time between check-in and the sunset walk inside the alpaca pen that I didn’t have any idea how large 200+ acres really was until the walk.

When you create multiple walking trails on a 200+ acres farm, you can very easily spend ten to twenty minutes exploring the entire property. When you’re walking with alpacas, that time can easily triple as they stop to graze, scratch their backs, and sniff their fellow walking alpacas.

As the sun wanes and dusk starts to settle, our alpacas were given glow stick necklaces. It doesn’t help you light the walking trails very much, but WOW – the little kid in me jumped for joy and excitement when I saw them being brought out.

Walking with alpacas? Very cute. Walking with alpacas with glow stick necklaces? Literally too adorable for words.

We ended up spending almost 1.5 hours walking with the alpacas before returning back to the pen. At this point, I couldn’t help but let out a gleeful laugh knowing that we could spend EVEN MORE time with the alpacas after the walk.

Dinner at the Screaming Goat Cafe

Fun story time (Courtesy of Farmer Christa)!

Did you know that several years ago, the Screaming Goat Cafe used to be the library inside Debbie and Shain’s home on the farm? Guests would finish their Goat Shmurgle and Alpaca Knuffle and would be invited inside the library room in their home for some coffee and snacks!

Now, the Screaming Goat Cafe has since transformed into a large standalone cafe that also functions as a gift shop, a restaurant, and an admin office! The cafe comes complete with a roofed outdoor patio complete with space heaters, and romantic fairy lighting, and dining table centrepieces created from local plants found on the farm!

Angelo and I had originally planned to drive to Port Hope to have dinner as we assumed that the Screaming Goat Cafe would be closed after our walk.

By a stroke of good luck, and a series of very fortunate events we ended up dining at the Screaming Goat Cafe. I’m happy to report that we felt incredibly lucky and blessed to have done so. Why? Because we had the entire cafe to ourselves, treated ourselves like it was our anniversary dinner, ate some really delicious food, and had the best service one could possibly ask for.

Fortunate Event #1: Haute Goat was expanding their farm experiences to include farm-to-table food experiences. A few weeks prior to our stay, they had just started The Screaming Goat Cafe Supper Club farm experience, where Chef Signe Langford (a former restaurant chef-owner, creator and writer of recipes for LCBO Food & Drink, The Food Network, Garden Making, and many others!) takes over every Friday and Saturday evening with a curated menu of farm-to-table 3-course meals.

Fortunate Event #2: Maybe it was because it was the Thanksgiving weekend, but this Supper Club normally requires reservations. That night, we were the only ones there.

The Dinner Ambiance and Service were chef’s kiss

LET ME TELL YOU. That dinner night we felt like debonair nouveau-riche folks who book out entire venues to impress our partners.

There we were. Sitting on the outdoor patio. With delicate tealight candles and fairy lights softly illuminating the space. Quiet classical music was playing in the background. Every single table is set with a delicate centrepiece. A private space heater for every table. Extra blankets on standby in case it was ‘too chilly’… with no one else around us. It was just the two of us.

With the ambiance, we were almost immediately hit with tropical surf resort vibes, very much like the laidback, upscale resorts you would see at surf meccas like we did when we visited Siargao in the Philippines.

Throughout the entire night, we were treated with attention and never once felt rushed despite being the only two people at the cafe. During the entire time, Emma, Chef Signe’s assistant, kept checking in on us multiple times to make sure we were comfortable, warm, had enough water, enjoyed the food, etc.

She even very kindly added extra bread to our takeout container when we asked to pack our appetizer so that we could enjoy it later!

Truly a wonderful and relaxing experience!

The Food

As someone who appreciates food (I can’t say I’ve ascended to food enthusiast yet!) one thing that really stood out and made this dinner experience special (beyond the ambiance) is Chef Signe’s dedication and commitment to sourcing almost every single ingredient locally.

Want examples? Don’t worry I’ve got you!

My sparkling water was flavoured with syrup made from the crabapples from the farm.

Angelo’s Raspberry and Lime soda was made by The County Bounty Artisanal Soda Co., sodas made from locally grown Ontario fruit.

Their ash sourdough bread? Sourced from Happenstance a local Bakery in Port Hope.

The goat butter and brie goat cheese on our charcuterie grazing board? Made by Woolrich Goat Dairy, a leading Canadian Goat Dairy producer in Orangeville.

What we ate:

• Grazing Board for Two (A charcuterie board featuring a selection of cheeses, house-smoked meats, house-made seasonal pickles and preserves)
• Mennonite Oktoberfest Sausage and the Pan-Seared Sirloin done Medium-Rare

I don’t have crazy amazing photos from our dinner because we were too busy enjoying the food, each other’s company and the atmosphere. So, unfortunately, everyone will need to make do with some not-so-great photos taken from my phone: I really loved the added flower petals to our dishes!

Both our mains were seasoned and cooked to perfection. The side of mashed potatoes filled with goat cheese and the buttered red cabbage was a comforting pair to both our mains.

Overall, it felt very much like a luxurious yet comforting meal.

After the meal we ended up heading back to the alpaca pen, bid the alpacas goodnight, and had one of the best, deepest, and longest sleeps that we’ve had all year.

Learning how to milk a goat

Every Saturday morning, Farmer Debbie live streams at 8:30 AM EST on HeyGo where she shares Haute Goat’s morning farm chore duties with a global audience.

During our stay, she was showing her audience how to milk a goat. It just so happened that it was also the last goat milking session of the season for the farm. We had the very lucky opportunity to take part in her stream and milk the goats!

Haute Goat’s morning stream is incredibly informative! We learned a lot of interesting things including:

• the difference between milking a cow vs a goat
• why they choose to stop milking the goats in early October
• how to milk goats that lay down
• how milk goat differs from other animal’s milks

Breakfast with alpacas

Now I know I praised the dinner A LOT but the breakfast that’s included with the alpaca sleepover experience is SO GOOD too.

While we were busy learning how to milk goats, Chef Eric, the head chef at Haute Goat, (and the food you’ll likely eat if you’re visiting Haute Goat during the day and afternoon!) was whipping up some incredibly delicious breakfasts for us.

Here were our breakfast options:

Option 1 – Farm-Style Meal

Chef Eric’s Classic Frittata with veggies from our Haute Goat garden including caramelized onion, sautéed mushrooms, and bell pepper with Ontario chèvre. This also includes:

• Clarke Cattle Company bacon or breakfast sausage
• Happenstance Country loaf toasted with goat butter
• Roasted Haute Goat potatoes

Option 2 – Light-Breakfast Meal

Greek yogurt parfait with fresh berries, Allen style granola mix, and drizzled with our Haute Goat Cajeta (Mexican-style caramel sauce)

If we were ever given an option to have a light breakfast or a hearty breakfast, Angelo and I never fail to opt for the hearty one. We both selected the farm-style meal and wow! The food did not disappoint. EVERYTHING was delicious, but I think the potatoes really stole the show for me.

Oh breakfast potatoes. When done right I literally cannot stop eating them. And these ones had me eating every last potato well before I finished the rest of the items from my plate. The potatoes were seasoned with so many delicious salty spices. Not overly mushy, perfectly crisp on the outer edges.. they were just SO GOOD.

Extra happy points when Obi-Wan Alpaca decided to meander his way towards our picnic table to say hello during our meal. I wish I had more creative writing skills to describe how nice it was to just have an alpaca walk up to you mid-breakfast. It was nice. It was fun and I could not stop gasping in excitement when he did.

How is it that the simple act of an animal approaching me mid-breakfast elicits so much joy? Please if someone has a scientific explanation, I’d love to know!

Haute Goat Experience Summary

If you made it this far on my post, then I can only assume that you have a pretty good idea about how we feel about our experience with Haute Goat.

Sleeping over at Haute Goat has been an incredibly fulfilling, fun and rewarding experience. I left Haute Goat feeling renewed, serene, relaxed, and happier. This farm stay was practically a mini-retreat for us.

As a quick recap, Haute Goat offers:

• unique goat and alpaca farm animal experiences like goat yoga, goat walks, alpaca walks
• a **one-of-a-kind sleepover with alpacas (**if you’re seriously considering booking the alpaca sleepover, do it in the FALL. You’ll thank me for the cooler nights and considerably less buggy experience)
• delicious farm food experiences
• plethora of local goods including craft goods, artisanal food, and locally created drinks

There really is something for everyone here at this farm! If you’re:

• an adventure couple looking for a unique and romantic farm stay getaway
• a mother-daughter pair looking to spend some bonding time away from the city
• a family looking for your next memorable day-trip adventure

You really need to be putting this farm on your list! I really think you’ll enjoy it.

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