Many days leave me feeling utterly spoiled. Even with a huge bruise on my leg from handling a lamb who didn’t want to be medicated and scratches on my arms from moving through rough brush, I feel like the most fortunate person alive. After a long day of work, I took a moment to walkContinue reading “Berry Picking”
Category Archives: economics
Our BFL Yarn is Here
I am so happy with the BFL yarn that came back from Battenkill Fibers this year. In past years, our BFL clip has been too small for me to send it to a mill. Bluefaced Leicesters are bred to have light fleeces. In the UK, this was done with the idea of reducing the fleecyContinue reading “Our BFL Yarn is Here”
How Haying Works
By request, here’s a basic primer on how haying works! First, some definitions: Hay is grass and grass stems that animals eat. It’s cut from fields that could also serve as pasture. Correctly made, hay provides most or all of the nutrients an animal needs to survive the winter. The best hay is greenish inContinue reading “How Haying Works”
Summer Arrives
Summer arrives to find the bobolinks have fledged from our neighbor’s hayfield. Three streaky brown birds making little plink calls were flitting and bouncing around the pasture I set up for the sheep. I’m grateful for the opportunity to provide habitat to this struggling species. We are so close to weaning time. I know the ewesContinue reading “Summer Arrives”
Making a Few Changes
I’ve had a long-term struggle with this website and blog that I am finally ready to talk about. There is a conflict between my efforts to sell yarn and my efforts to sell meat. It seems like the folks who are here to see the sheep and the yarn aren’t always keen on meat, andContinue reading “Making a Few Changes”
Real Talk About Selling Lamb
Our first year selling lamb at a larger scale is almost over. Time for an honest assessment of how our year has gone. Our initial plan was to build both retail and wholesale capacity in Boston and New York. We contacted several wholesalers and have one wholesale company to partner with. We have also madeContinue reading “Real Talk About Selling Lamb”
Cooking My Goose
Raising geese, then eating them.
Porcupine
Poor 1616. When I saw her this morning, I thought she must just have some lingering frost on her nose. But closer inspection showed that she in fact had a dozen porcupine quills stuck in her nose! My working theory is that the porcupine came to dine on the salt I put out for theContinue reading “Porcupine”
A Big Opportunity
A while ago, I had thought to put in my application for a booth at Rhinebeck (formally, the New York State Sheep and Wool Gathering) because I had heard that it could take a decade to get a booth. So I figured I’d just send applications their way for a few years while I putContinue reading “A Big Opportunity”
Happenings on the Farm
We have had a busy few weeks at the farm! Having acquired our final group of ewes we plan to purchase, our flock is at full strength. Such numbers require that I move pasture frequently, especially with the dry summer we have had. Grass growth is stunted and we are moving the sheep off ourContinue reading “Happenings on the Farm”