Farming in the shade

Saturday morning we woke to a new dusting of snow. Hooray! No mud! And the people came... Good thing we live on a not-busy gravel road. The shearer started his work. He had 116 sheep to shear, and no time to waste. Here he was sharpening his blades so they cut the wool better. In the foreground of the photo, you can see our skirting table. We laid each fleece out to pick off the dirtiest wool before putting the rest in a large bag. The Farmer talked with those who came, answering their questions, and administered vaccinations. We had a great crew of helpers. Wally answered questions and made sure folks got out of the way when each finished sheep came through. John and John herded the sheep up the chute. Sara and Kami helped with skirting the wool, herding the just-shorn sheep back to their pens, showing off the lambs, sweeping the floor and answering questions. Tom swept off the shearing stand between sheep. The Polypay sheep were shorn on Saturday. But the Suffolk sheep have been havi...

C an't seem to squeeze in blogging right now, so I'll just put up a re-run advertising our upcoming shearing day. Shearing Day Open House 9 a.m. to noon Shady Side Farm will host our Annual Shearing Day on Saturday, February 26th from 9 a.m - noon (come and go as you wish.) We will be shearing our Polypay sheep that day, and our open house is geared toward folks who want to see shearing on a working farm and learn more about wool production. Fiber artists will demonstrate their work, and wool products (roving, yarn, etc.) will be available to purchase in our little on-farm shop. The open house is suitable for families and folks of all ages, though very small children sometimes are bothered by the noise and smells of a sheep barn. Wear old clothing and dress warmly. We shear in a barn. :) Shearing Day Raw Fleece Sale 1 to 3 p.m. In the afternoon, from 1 - 3 p.m., we will be selling fresh raw Polypay fleeces. Our shearing day special is $4.00/lb., whole, skirted, uncoated fleeces...

...and everything in its place. Recently, inspired by our clutter, I made a collection of items for sale on Etsy. It's just a fun way to promote other people's work. You can actually click on the photos and go see more information about the item pictured. Enjoy! And yes, I did put a bunch of stuff back in its place here at Shady Side Farm. 'A place for everything...' by ShadySideFarm And everything in its place. ...

Recently I heard that if every Michigan household would spend $10 on Michigan food each week, an additional $37 million would be infused into our struggling economy. It's no secret that Michigan's economy is in trouble. Just this morning I read the long list of cuts that are proposed by our new governor, and trembled. No one will be unaffected by this, it seems. The one that worries me the most is the farmland preservation tax credit. We will see if we can afford to pay the property taxes on our land if that one passes. But I digress, and bring my worries into this post, which was going to be about shopping locally. When you buy items from a Michigan retailer, you are helping. When you buy Michigan-made or grown products from a Michigan retailer, it's even better! I recently visited a nearby shop in a formerly- (and perhaps still)-dying mall. Tree Huggers is owned by a couple who is passionate about the environment. They realize that part of environmental stewardship is th...

What do farmers do in the winter, when there is no tending the fields, no planting, no harvesting? The taxes are done (whew!), but the organic certification paperwork remains in its mailing envelope, untouched. We're still taxiing the boy to his extra-curricular activities WAY more than we'd like to be. And the lambs are still coming (though at a much slower rate of speed than The Farmer would like to see, to be honest). Actually, the sheep are much more work right now, as they need to be fed and watered and watched. In the summer, other than moving them to fresh pasture, they mind themselves. But the project that has consumed The Farmer this winter more than anything I've seen for a long time is out in the woodshop. He and the boy have been building themselves wood strip-built kayaks. I've almost been jealous of the project, because it's been so consuming. Every free moment is spent out in the shop. I think The Farmer is getting in touch with his inner Carpenter.

The Farmer went off to his market on Saturday, leaving me home (almost) alone. Hmmm...what to do? I decided to kettle dye some yarn. Here are some random photos that give you a peek into the process. In no particular order. All in all I dyed 23 skeins of chunky and aran wool yarn. It was a very satisfying day.

This is one of two ram lambs born to the ewe that lives at the nearby tech school. The kids in the ag program are getting a hands-on education. This little guy is about two hours old here. More photos later, I promise!

Recently we purchased a WonderMill for grinding our grains. While we haven't fully explored the wonders of the WonderMill, we have been using it for corn meal. We have been taking freshly ground corn meal (made from our organic corn) along to the Saturday Farmers' Market. The mill does a nice job, but we wish we could set it to grind just a bit more coarsely. This is what we get from the "Coarse" setting: And here's a basic cornbread recipe--perfect for breakfast with butter and syrup or paired with chili. Corn Bread (a.k.a. Johnny Cake at our house): 1 cup unbleached flour (may substitute all-purpose) 1 cup corn meal 1/4 cup sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1 cup milk 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 egg, beaten Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 8" or 9" square baking dish. Combine flour, meal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, oil and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into greased pan. Bake 20-30 minutes (close...

"Wind from the east, not fit for man or beast." Or sign. Gotta be here somewhere... Found it! Fortunately nothing was broken.

Well, the power stayed on despite the howling winds all night long. Our first indication that things were a little out of the ordinary was the snow INSIDE our house. Even the dog knows something isn't quite right. After checking for new lambs (there were none, thankfully), the first order of business was digging out the snowblower. Dig the snow away from the door, open it, and then clear the drifts away from the blower, inside the barn. Even the workbench was dusted. Hmmm...guess someone should have shut that drawer. Other than feeding the sheep and doing the other chores, The Farmer's morning (and a good part of the afternoon) was taken up with blowing snow. Our tractor mounted snow blower does a number on snow. But this was hard-packed snow--not easy to move. And there was a LOT of it to blow. Nearly roof-high drifts in some spots. This one did come straight off the roof and slope downward. I guess it's a good thing the sheep are in the barn. Dunno that this fence would h...

We're all sitting tight in a pretty serious winter storm, and like the rest of the folks in our area, spent the last day or two getting ready for it. With the prospect of some pretty serious drifts developing, we made sure that we brought enough feed to the barn to last a few days. We made lamb jackets for a set of small triplets, knowing that it will be very cold. We make our lamb jackets by cutting off the last 6-8" of the sleeves of old sweatshirts. I'll try to get a photo after snowmageddon blows itself out. We tested the generator to make sure it runs well, in case it's needed. And I bought a cart full of groceries this morning. I suspect I've got enough food laid up to sustain the whole neighborhood for 2-3 months. In other news, the last daughter home helped me to build a graph showing the lamb crop so far this year. It's at the top of the left sidebar (for as long as this lambing season lasts). I'll try to update it every day or two. Stay warm and s...