As crops at Geraldson Community Farm are covered in preparation for the sweltering Sarasota summer, the farm is getting creative by hosting yoga sessions in its barn featuring professional yoga instructors and--wait for it--a bunch of goats from Yoder’s farm.

Yes, you read that right. While you're in downward dog (downward goat?), goats from Yolker's Wilde Hatchery and Dairy Goats wander around during the class. 

Christa Leonard, Geraldson's operations manager, says that the classes are a great way to fundraise, especially during the summer months. "Who doesn't love goats?" she says. 

Leonard says she got the idea to host goat yoga classes at Geraldson after hearing about a goat farm in Portland, Oregon, that did the same.

The sessions are not very intense, Leonard says, and the focus is fun. “We clean out the barn and gate off the door,” she explains. "We get all kinds of people, and we sell out every time. Sometimes people don’t even end up doing the yoga, they just end up petting the goats.”

The goats are very sociable. Usually, Leonard says, they walk around eating snacks and staring at the yoga participants.

“These are bottle-fed baby goats, so they've been raised around people,” Leonard says. “When they're really little, they'll jump on you.” 

In addition to its goat yoga classes, Geraldson hosts farm-to-table dinners and other events such as yard sales and live music. The farm also offers CSA memberships; members can pick up boxes of produce from the farm or locations around Sarasota-Manatee. 

More goat yoga classes will be scheduled throughout the summer; check Geraldson Community Farm's website for future dates.