April 24, 2020
April 24, 2020
36 lambs and a record number that need extra help. We have 6 bottle fed lambs that we have to bottle feed every 4 hours. We had the vet out (for the first time in years) to see if he could figure out what was going on. We normally have an extremely healthy flock, but this spring seems to be a never ending rotation of unhappy ewes and unthrifty lambs. The sooner we can get them on fresh grass the better.
April 17, 2020
Twenty eight lambs on the ground and just a few more to go.
Now that the shearing is done, it's time to skirt all the wool. Skirting means removing the little bits of hay and "vegetable matter" from the fleeces. Any wool that is too matted, or dirty, gets tossed on the compost pile- and left for the birds to make nests out of. Once it's skirted we will take it to a mill in Eastford CT to be cleaned and spun into yarn. The yarn is then sent to various artist to be woven or knitted into the wide range of products we sell. Hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, socks, rugs, blankets...
We started our first pasture rotation with the sheep on Mountain Spring Road. After a winter of eating nothing but hay, they seem very pleased to be on fresh grass. Hill-Stead's pasture is growing more slowly, so we impatiently wait until we can graze the sheep there as well.
April 10, 2020
Encouraged by the warm daytime temperatures, the first of our shiitakes are starting to produce, and as the night time temperatures remain cool, the mushrooms "stress out" and become slightly dehydrated. The stress causes the caps to crack, and the white fissures that develop create a "flower like" appearance. These Spring Donkos are highly prized in Asian cooking. Welcome Donkos!
The lambs continue to keep us insanely busy, and tired. It's a very good thing they are as cute as they are, it makes the 2 a.m feeding a little less painful.
We hired a professional (and wonderful) shearer, in March, to shear our Hill-Stead flock. The Hill-Stead flock consists of most of our pregnant ewes - but that still left 20 yearlings and rams on our farm to do.We finally got them all shorn this week. We have never left it until so late in the season, but oh well, they are naked now. I find shearing the rams much easier than the ewes, as the horns give me plenty of "handle bar" to hold onto!
April 3, 2020
We have 12 lambs so far, with at least another 10 to come. We also have 3 batches of newly hatched chickens, and another batch in the incubator. Keeping everyone warm, fed and happy is a full time endevour. So life goes on, and we muddle on, regardless of what obstacles the virus throws in our path. The pigs don't want to hear about supply chains- they want dinner exactly the same as always - Now!
The shiitakes, though far less demanding than the pigs, need some attention now as well. As soon as the nighttime temperatures start getting favorable, our first strain of shiitakes (appropriately named "Bellweather") will start to fruit.
As I monitor the pastures and the mushrooms for signs of progress and growth, my mantra has been "Grow Baby Grow" (technically though, with all the expletives frequently thrown in for good measure- it's totally non "zen", and therefore non mantra like at all)