I had my goods for sale at Montpelier for the first time yesterday. I still have a lot to learn about effectively selling my goods. Don’t forget your tent! The market was on Saturday morning. On Friday evening that I realized that my pop-up tent was 150 miles away in Keene, NH with my parents. Continue reading “Lessons from the Farmers Market”
Category Archives: Hard truth
Looking Under the Hood
This post is going to be about meat and finances. If you are mostly here for the cute lambs, that’s totally cool, of course, but this post doesn’t have any of those. We will be back to our regularly-scheduled programming next post. *** We are excited to announce that we will be having lamb sausageContinue reading “Looking Under the Hood”
More Goodbyes
Many of you who follow this blog know that Caseous Lymphadenitis has been an issue in the flock in the past. After an aggressive eradication campaign, the whole flock tested negative in March. However, my last CormoX ewe, Meadowlark, developed a very large and very concerning abscess on her cheek last week. Even though sheContinue reading “More Goodbyes”
The World Awakens
Last week, we had snow. This week, we seemed to be on track to be snow-free until, of course, it snowed again. On April 30th! That’s Northeast Kingdom life. Just a few hints of grass are visible. It will be a while yet before the sheep can graze, even though they are plainly aware thatContinue reading “The World Awakens”
Wool Culture
I am a frequenter of Ravelry, a knitters’ and crocheters’ forum with 7 million users worldwide. I have a favorite group with a mostly social focus that I like to participate in, but I also read other discussions to keep tabs on what people want from their wool products. I want to make sure IContinue reading “Wool Culture”
A Sick Lamb, Part Deux
An update on Steven gets…scatological.
A Sick Sheep
I did chores as usual this morning- I fed hay to the rams, bottle fed the two lambs, checked and changed everyone’s water… But then I noticed that everything was too quiet. Our older bottle lamb,Steven was not baaing for the “cookie” he gets each morning . Usually, he would be insisting on my attention. Continue reading “A Sick Sheep”
Pork and Soybeans
Talk of trade wars in the news gave me some thoughts. I’m not going to wade into politics, but I will wade into farming. Given their intelligent, social nature, I feel comfortable saying that pigs are some of the most abused animals in factory farming. According to a recent article in Civil Eats, 75% ofContinue reading “Pork and Soybeans”
Ode to a Truck
For five years, I have been driving a 2003 Tacoma 4×4 V6 with a series of terrible truckcaps. We bought a truck in 2013 when we accepted the fact that we needed to stop putting livestock in our Nissan Versa. Those of you who know me in person or who meet me should askContinue reading “Ode to a Truck”
Six Inches of Button Thread Saves a Life
Midnight: Matt tells me that Chloe is starting labor – she has a bag protruding and is restlessly shifting. I set an alarm to wake up in 90 minutes. 1:44 – I can see on the Barn Cam that Chloe has birthed one black lamb. Out to the barn I go to find a large,Continue reading “Six Inches of Button Thread Saves a Life”