After giving away my dairy equipment last month, I was eager to set up the newly vacated milk room in my creamery as a dye lab! I got together a table, some hot plates, big pots for mordanting and dyeing the wool, cleaned out the milk room, and was eager to get started. Melinda is
Dyeing with Dandelions Read More »
I gave away my whole milking setup this week! It went to a wonderful part-Basque family from Wilton, south of Sacramento. I met them when 13-year-old Mati sent me an email inquiring about buying dairy ewe lambs to start a backyard dairy. I talked with Mati’s mom, Carmen, and after hearing more about their family
We’ve had a very unusual May. Usually May is our little bit of summer–the spring winds have died down, the pastures are still green and full of wildflowers, and we have sunny days and lovely long evenings that make me nostalgic for the summers of my childhood, in New York and visiting my cousins in
Lambing is almost over, and I’ve hardly had a minute to write a blog post this year! We began on February 13, and have had no lambs born for the past two weeks, but we have 5 ewes holding out. We expect them to lamb in the next week or two. My friend Annie is
Lambing Reflections Read More »
Yesterday was one of our miserably windy March days, with gusts so strong anything not nailed down was flying away. It was also a sad day because it was time for my cousin Linda to return to Idaho. After we said goodbye to Linda our minds were taken off it all by a little lamb-storm.
Yesterday morning Melinda and I found ourselves in a puzzling situation. Our older Romney ewe, Swiss Miss, was in labor for quite a while and not progressing. Finally we decided we needed to investigate. I held Swiss Miss and Melinda examined her and found her cervix fully dilated, but no lamb in the birth canal
Lambing began on Sunday morning, when Nan, one of our older Romney ewes, went into labor. Last year Nan had a torn placenta and lost both her lambs, and was so sad, so we were eager to see her be a happy mom this year. Melinda and Lolo got her into the barn from the
When the new year rolls around it is time to shear the pregnant ewes, so they will be clean of fleece and ready to lamb. Yesterday was the big day for our 41 pregnant ewes, and it was a LONG day for Lolo, Lisa, Melinda and me, and for the ewes also. The day began
This group of 19 ewes is made up of 5 retired grandmas, 4 ewe lambs that were to small to breed, and 10 ewes who did not get pregnant this year. Even though they are not producing lambs, they are earning their keep, with their fleeces and their grazing. We are rotating them through all
Our Healthy Soils Team Read More »
