Ceremonial Goat Harvest: A Sacred, Hands-On Approach to Culling
April 6th, 10am-4pm.
Located on our Homestead in North Boulder
On April 6th in North Boulder, join us for a deeply intentional experience, honoring the life cycle of our food with respect, skill, and presence. This one-day immersive class will guide you through the entire process of harvesting, skinning, gutting, and quartering a goat, using a knife-only method that requires deep focus and reverence.
We will sit in reverence for these beautiful creatures, honoring their life, sharing about our own experiences, and then learning, hands-on, the entire process of culling a goat.
The entire ceremony and goat culling will take place on Sunday April 6th, however, there will be an opportunity for an additional butchering class the following day, Monday, April 7th from 5-8pm. See details below.
What You’ll Experience:
✔ Guided Goat Harvest – Our instructors will perform the culling using the knife-only method, ensuring a swift, ethical process that minimizes stress.
✔ Hands-On Processing – Participants will assist in skinning, gutting, and quartering the goat. While we wont be doing a full butchering class the day of slaughter, you will learn some of the basics. (There is an option to learn the full butchering process the following day).
✔ Ceremony & Reflection – This process can be deeply emotional. We will hold space for reflection, presence, and gratitude as we honor the life given.
✔ Eating Nose-to-Tail – Experience the tradition of honoring the whole animal by preparing and eating parts often overlooked.
✔ Communal Goat Meal – Share a thoughtfully prepared meal made from the harvest.
✔ Take-Home Portion – Each participant will receive a a variety of goat made products to take home.
The Ceremony: Honoring Life & Death
This is more than just a class—it’s a sacred experience. As we harvest this goat, we will take time to honor its life, recognizing the deep relationship between humans and the animals that nourish us.
You will be fully supported in this journey. We will gather together in reflection, discussion, and shared intention before the harvest. There will be space to share thoughts, emotions, and personal reflections around life and death, giving this moment the reverence it deserves.
Who is this course for?
This course is for anyone that is interested in connecting more deeply with how we bring food to our tables in the most respectful and local way possible. No matter where you are on your food journey, this course will bring new insights and expose all participants to the intimate and unbreakable bond between human and the living world, of which we are an intimate part. Sacred slaughter is also for those that have not experienced death first hand and recognize that it is the defining feature of life, and therefore would like to engage with this fact for themselves. There are no prerequisites for this day other than an open mind and an open heart. The staff are trained and prepared to be with participants of all kinds. We hope you will join us.
“I stopped eating meat about a decade ago out of concern for the way we treat the animals whose products end up in our grocery stores. I found our society’s disconnection from the living beings that we consumed disturbing, frustrating, and quite sad. It was important to me that if I were going to consume an animal, I could stand behind the humans or environment that supported that animals life. So I took Yoshua up on an offer to see what a more humane and connected process could look like, and I’m very glad I did. This course is an opportunity to experience playing a direct role in the natural cycle of life, death, and energetic transformation in a positive environment with a human who deeply respects his animals. It is intense, as taking a life should be, but I’m beyond grateful to have had this experience and taken away both a deeper connection to animals we tend to forget are sentient beings and practical skills for when I decide to raise and harvest animals myself. Would recommend for anyone, meat eater or not.”
*Bonus Butchering Day
This extra butchery class for those that choose to sign up for both days will offer a deeper understanding of the anatomy, breakdown, and processing of the goat. We will be offering the opportunity to work with us the day after the harvest. In this session we will have allowed the goat to cool down properly so that we can continue the work of transformation into food. This time in the kitchen will give participants hands-on skills such as: artisan sausage making, knife handling, proper grinding technique, and a close understanding of how to prepare all parts of the animal.
You’ll have the option below to sign up for just the ceremony on Sunday, or the ceremony and the additional butchery class on Monday the 7th, 5-8pm at the same location.
Additional take home for the butchery class includes goat meat we will process such as ground goat and delicious sausage.
The cost of the butchery day will be $150 for the 3 hour class plus the additional meat.
What’s included in the cost of the ceremonial harvest:
6 hour immersive workshop.
Hands on guidance for each step along the culling.
A communal meal where we will eat goat prepared in a variety of ways and taste other homestead goodies.
Take-Home Additions:
Participants will also receive:
✔ A jar of goat tallow for cooking or skincare ($15 value)
✔ 1lb of ground goat ($15 value)
✔ Homemade medicinal skincare product with goat tallow ($25 value)
When:
Sunday April 6th, 10am-4pm.
Location:
10 minutes from downtown Boulder, this 5-acre farm property nestled against the foothills is a budding homestead community. Location will be revealed via email at least a week before the class.
Cost:
$250 per person. *8 people max to keep an intimate container
Bonus Butchering Day $150 per person.
Both workshops = $400
*Cancellation/Refund Policy. If you cancel within one week you will get credit towards a future harvest or one of our other classes but this ceremony is non-refundable. However if there is a wait list we will do what we can to get your ticket sold to someone else and give you a refund, though we can’t make any promises.
Meet Your Instructors
John Clay
John has spent his adult life deeply immersed in all aspects of the food world—from cooking to growing to butchering. He previously served as the head whole-animal butcher at Wyebrook Farm, a regenerative farm in Pennsylvania, and has managed permaculture and organic farms in Maine. John’s deep reverence for nature and passion for teaching others how to interact with food forms the foundation of his work.
Yoshua Greenfield
Yoshua is the founder of You Enjoy Life Homestead, an educational homestead in North Boulder dedicated to reconnecting people with traditional food systems, self-sufficiency, and sacred practices. With years of experience in fermentation, regenerative farming, and ceremonial animal harvesting, Yoshua invites people into a deeper relationship with the land, food, and the cycles of life and death.
