April 9, 2025, 10:57 p.m.
(A farm. Photo courtesy of the interviewee)
"I have a little time, because Tia is in labor," says Tetiana. That is, she had to get the interview before the goat gave birth. You would agree that a journalist does not often face such a task. However, communication with Tetiana Stramnova, the owner of the Amalthea Goat farm, was easy. The family's story is full of difficulties. They are immigrants from Donetsk region who were caught up in the war and Russian occupation for the second time. But while in 2014 the family lost their home and business, in 2022 they survived and are now restoring the goat farm to its former capacity. According to Tetiana, it was because of the animals that they decided not to leave the Kherson region.
Tetiana Stramnova. Photo provided by the interviewee
Tetiana Stramnova was born and raised in Kherson. In 2004, she and her husband Roman moved to Maryinka district in Donetsk region. The couple began to settle down in the new place: they got a job, bought a house, and had a daughter, Iryna, and a son, Ivan. Both children have autism, so Tetiana decided not to work as a designer but to start her own business.
At first, she raised broiler chickens for sale, and then she set up a quail farm. In 2014, there were already 3,500 quails, but the "Russian World" came. There was nothing to feed the birds, and many birds began to die from the explosions. Of course, we did not want to leave the house and the farm. But in a few months, the last straw overflowed the cup of hesitation.
"I went from the village to the city and had a meeting in the center of Mariivka. The person was late, and I decided to postpone it to another day so I wouldn't miss the bus home. This decision saved my life, because as soon as I left that place, it was covered with hailstones. After that, I gathered my children and took a train to Dnipro with only two bags, and from there I took a ride to Kherson, where I had relatives," says Tetiana Stramnova.
Roman stayed behind to look after the house and the farm. The family hoped that this would not last long and they would be able to return. In a year, the man barely managed to get out of the Russian occupation with one bag, leaving everything behind. The family does not know what is happening to their housing and farm premises with equipment. Communication with the neighbor who was looking after the property was cut off after February 24, 2022.
In the village of Zelenivka, Kherson region, Tetiana and Roman tried to resume breeding poultry, laying hens. To do this, they applied for grant support, learned how to write projects, make estimates, and defend their idea. Despite this, it was extremely difficult to set up a business.
The family didn't know good suppliers and repeatedly fell for scams, and the market was crowded, so it took some time to find customers. At the same time, the rent for the house was rising.
Eventually, the couple decided to move to Muzykivka, another village in the Kherson region. They had no opportunity to move further, as their children attended a specialized school in the city.
"In the new village, we found a house with land for a small farm with a lease with a subsequent purchase. We moved the poultry here, but again faced all the problems of moving a business. So I decided to advertise on OLX that I would exchange the poultry for either feed or other animals," says Tetiana Stramnova.
People from Stepanivka, a town near Kherson, responded to the offer. They offered three goats and one goat. Unlike Tetiana, Roman was against dealing with a new kind of animal, so the woman made the exchange while her husband was at work.
When he returned home and saw the goats, he was persuaded to try to implement the idea. Only the goat and one goat survived, and the farm was named after the latter, Amalthea's Goat.
Amalthea. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
The next two goats also came from an advertisement, and the family bought them for just 100 hryvnias. The animals began to breed, and Tetiana kept buying new goats that she liked by breed or color. Gradually, the herd grew, and the volume of milk produced increased, so she began to wonder how to process it.
"My first attempts concerned brynza. It always turned out delicious, and I treated the farm guests to it. Then someone asked me about goat cheese. I didn't know anything about it at the time, but when did that stop me? Thanks to the Internet, I found recipes and started experimenting. The thing is that they are mostly based on cow's milk, and goat's milk has a different structure. So I had to spoil a lot of raw materials until I found the right recipe," says Tetiana.
At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Stramnovs' farm had about 50 animals and produced more than 15 types of cheese, from brine to hard. The farm was also actively developing in other areas.
"We had a lot of plans. We grew from a sole proprietorship to a farm, and the village council allocated us 1.5 hectares of land. We planned to move there not only to breed goats and produce dairy products, but also to open a large contact farm. I didn't stop doing poultry, although I left it more for beauty. I had purebred chickens, guinea fowls, and turkeys. I wanted to have other animals... But the "Russian world" came again," says Tetiana Stramnova.
Tetiana does not hide the fact that if it were not for the goats, she would have left everything behind on February 24, 2022, and moved to a safer place. However, she could not part with the animals, each of which she had raised since childhood. She emphasizes that it took her a very long time to assemble this herd, choosing goats primarily for their milk quality. She knows each of the goats not only by name but also by their character.
"Volunteers offered to help us, but they could only take 10-15 goats. How was I supposed to choose? If the occupiers had taken away the goats, there would have been nothing to keep me here... So no, I was adamant. In addition, Roma and I never stopped believing in the best, that the occupation was not going to stay in our house a second time. And then people who were evacuating started bringing their animals to us. My husband said that because of this he would soon write "Shelter for goats" on the gate. It was an additional responsibility, and I wanted to save the animals," Tetiana Stramnova recalls.
Most of all, the entrepreneurs were afraid of raids by the Russian military, as they knew their ability to take animals. That's how they lost a goat, which they had given free of charge to a family from another village on the eve of a full-scale war, where the mother had no milk.
Neighbors begged for the young mother and offered to take other goats so that the child would not be left without milk. In response, they only pointed their guns at them. That's why Tetiana and Roman hid their herd from the occupiers.
They sewed up the goat shed with pieces of linoleum so that the animals could not be seen through the cracks and the sounds from them could be heard less. Sometimes the couple even stayed overnight in the barn to keep the goats calm and quiet.
Tetiana with her pets. Photo provided by the interviewee
But the shelling caused irreparable losses to the farm, and the goats were constantly dying from loud explosions. According to Tetiana, every morning they were afraid to enter the goat pen because they did not know how many and whom they would have to take out: "The first goat to die was Feilina. My heart breaks when I remember what it was like... The herd was out walking and then there was an explosion. Feylina started running nervously around the corners and hitting her head against the fence, then fell down, started convulsing, and foamed at the mouth. It was a stroke due to fright and stress. Goats are very fragile animals."
It should be noted that due to the prolonged absence of electricity in the village, there was no way to store the produce. Therefore, Tatiana Stramnova distributed cheese and milk free of charge, including lactose-free milk, which she specially made from the remaining stock of enzymes.
After the de-occupation of the right bank of the Kherson region, the Stramnovs gradually restored the farm. Today, the herd has 40 cows, and the production of four types of cheese, yogurt, and lactose-free milk has been established.
Tetiana says it wasn't easy to take this step, and she had doubts about whether they would be able to cope with the new challenges, or whether it would be better to sell the business altogether. One phone call changed everything.
"The Slow Food organization invited me to travel to Italy in September 2023 to receive an award for sustainability. I don't know how they found out about me, but it became a kind of support and impetus not to give up. Imagine, people abroad know about a goat farm in Kherson region. The Italians also really liked our cheese, which I brought for tasting. So I plunged into the grant world again: I looked for programs and participated in them, and I managed to win several of them," says Tetiana Stramnova.
With the award in Italy. Photo provided by the interviewee
With the support of the Danish Refugee Council and the CLEAR program, the family set up a mini goat milk processing shop. The family is currently awaiting a decision on another grant, as they dream of repairing the goat barn, building guest rooms, solar panels to set up cheese chambers, and agricultural machinery to cultivate the land they sow with grain to harvest hay and straw for animal feed.
Yoga on the farm. Photo provided by the interviewee
In the fall of 2024, the farm returned to developing a tourist destination based on its location, which they began to implement in 2021. This includes farm tours, a petting zoo, and therapeutic activities for children with disabilities.
In general, the family is open to any suggestions for interesting forms of work. For example, last year they held their first yoga class with the goats. To further implement this idea, Tetiana wants to buy Cameroonian goats, which are more suitable for this purpose. They are beautiful, small in size, and bouncy.
"I believe that we will be able to develop and spread in Kherson region such a field of activity as psychological relief when communicating with animals, in particular for children with special educational needs. I know from my own experience how effective contact with animals is for such children. My daughter became more open-minded, and my son began to make progress in speech. Before the full-scale invasion, we held similar events for students of our school and friends, and there were some positive results there as well. One boy who was panicked by any animals, after our excursion, came up to feed a goat with grass and tried to pet it on his own. You should have seen his mom's eyes: happy and full of hope. That's why I want to resume all this," says Tetiana Stramnova.
As for other goals, the entrepreneur has many of them. A herd of at least 100 cows, an increase in the production of various dairy products, and the construction of a full-fledged farm where Ukrainian animals can be revived. "We need to develop to help people. Only constant work will bring the desired result," Tetiana concludes.
Born during the interview. Photo provided by the interviewee
We had time to talk while the goats were calving. Tia gave birth to two children: a goat and a goat boy.
Ігор Льов, Яніна Надточа