Blog

Despite a profound difference in opinion as to where she should farrow, our sow had 8 piglets and they are all doing great.
She flat out refused to farrow in the trailer I set up for her. Nor would she even consider the plein air makeshift pen I cobbled together when it was clear the trailer wasn’t going to make her happy. In each spot I placed a nice fluffy pile of hay for her to make a nest. I also supplied her with a generous food trough filled with everything a pig mi

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Now that the grass is growing and all our pastures have plenty of forage, we are setting up grazing paddocks for the summer. Once in place, it’s “just” a matter of keeping the fences electrified and predators away. Moving the sheep daily at Hill-Stead and weekly at Mountain Spring will help keep the grass in a constant vegetative state.

If we allowed the sheep to continuously graze an area, they’d eat all their favorite plants, like clover, down to the ground. As soon as the clover starts to

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Despite my very best efforts to get out of it, last week I found myself talking to a large group of third graders about “Sustainable Farming.” I was pleasantly surprised by how well it went, but then again, my expectations had been rock bottom.
When I asked the kids what sustainable meant to them, one boy said, “It’s having a nice place to live.” I agreed and said “Yes, in a way it is. I think that planet Earth is a very nice place to live. In fact, I feel lucky to live on such a nice planet a

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Honeybees are out in force, and we’ve been doing everything we can to catch another swarm. Two years ago, we caught a swarm in the middle of May, but a bear destroyed the hive later that fall. Last year we didn’t have any luck, but this is definitely going to be the year. I just know it.
A healthy honeybee colony might have a summertime population of 50,000 bees but will reduce its size to about 15,000 bees by late fall. Only a third or so of those bees, and the queen, will make it through

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This past week has felt like an overdue reunion of long-lost friends.
Our bluebirds moved back into the nesting box outside our dining room window. Yesterday, I watched as they defended their nest from a starling. A part of me wanted to go help them, but as much as they may look like helpless eye-candy, they both very aggressively and successfully defended their nest. I cheered as the starling left, and now I know they clearly don’t need any help from me!
The robin is making a halfhearted

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Is there anything as beautiful as a naked sheep? (Don’t answer that.)
We were so happy to have all our sheep finally shorn - but now I’m impatiently waiting for our pastures to grow. The grass is green – but it needs to hurry up and grow. Spring is like that for me - it tests my patience at every stage.
In late fall, we pull our animals off pasture and winter them over in a “sacrifice” paddock where we feed them hay. That area gets overgrazed and abused throughout the winter. It is, in

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Shearing day is almost here! I’m not sure who will be happier to see it come and go, me or the sheep.
First thing Sunday morning we’ll corral all the sheep in an outside holding pen. As the day progresses, we’ll move a few at a time into the barn where they will be “on deck” waiting for the shearer. When the shearer is ready, I’ll escort/coerce a sheep onto the “shearing floor.” As the shearer takes the sheep from me, she’ll place her leg behind the sheep while placing the sheep’s butt on

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In 1991, the mummified remains of “Otzi the Iceman” were discovered in the Italian Alps. The 45 year old male died 5,300 years ago, as the result of violence he suffered just days before his death. He had a myriad of chronic health issues, including a terrible case of parasitic whipworms - which are still preserved in his mummified intestines. It was an arrowhead, though, embedded in his shoulder and the massive bleeding that it caused that likely led to his ultimate demise. Found among Ot

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Our Shetlands are a breed of sheep known for being healthy, hardy, self-reliant and notoriously independent. They are considered one of the few “unimproved” breeds of sheep. This slightly insulting term refers to the fact that they still have many qualities that were bred out of other sheep.
Unlike the “improved” sheep breeds, our Shetlands still retain the original shades of black, brown and grey fleeces along with some very distinctive markings. Over the centuries, as the processing and

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This morning, the sun came out, the wind paused, and a healthy lamb greeted us in the pasture. It was pure unadulterated joy. The first lamb of the season always brings a sweetness to life, and this year it was especially so with the stress of endless wind, rain, soggy pastures, and sick sheep. Indeed, lambing brings on a whole new set of stresses and heartache, but it feels balanced and natural, unlike what felt like the impending doom of climate change. The magic of lambing will never get

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