Farming in the shade

In preparation for Shearing Day, we set the shop up to house all our products and 3-5 demonstrators. This year we had people demonstrating needle felting, spinning and sock knitting. Most of the 500 visitors who came also took the time to walk down the driveway to the shop to see the demonstrators and the wool (and other farm) products we have for sale.  This barn was the original chicken coop on the farm, and a few years ago we took the flat roof off and built a second story on top. You can read more about that process by clicking here for all the "barn renovation" posts.  We sell roving and combed top for needle felters and spinners. Many spinners have not had the opportunity to spin the wool from Polypay sheep. They are pleasantly surprised at the loft and sheen in our wool. Our unique wool socks are popular to give as gifts, and are a full-circle "Made in Michigan" product. We care for the sheep, send the wool to a Michigan mill to be ma...

This year's Shearing Day was warmer than usual. And, thanks to a dry spell, there was no MUD! What a gift. Just over 500 people attended our Shearing Day this year, and I think most of them had a good time.  Here are some of the ewes before shearing. Sometimes I ask the kids what it would feel like to wear the same clothes for a whole year without washing them. The outside of the fleece is fairly dirty, but the inside is very nice and clean! Our shearer worked alone this year, and did a great job. Timothy has a strong back and his own shearing equipment. We hire him to do our shearing, and he travels all over the state of Michigan to shear on a regular basis. He is an award-winning shearer (did you know there are sheep-shearing competitions in many places in the world?) and has traveled internationally to compete and to shear sheep. Want to see the world? Become a sheep shearer. Our capable skirting crew sorted off the wool that was extra dirty or full of h...

This morning it is raining. We are glad for that, as it's been a bit dry lately. But that was good, too, because it allowed us to get the oats planted on time for the first time in several years. We worked the sand field that had beans in it last year several times over a two-week period in preparation for planting.  This is the "new" tractor we purchased last year. We sold two of our older tractors that were pretty tired in order to be able to buy this one.  Oats are drilled into the ground using the implement behind the tractor. Hopefully, the oats will come up thick and in very narrow rows that will eventually blanket the field. We harvest the oats to use as a feed for some of the ewes when they are in the late stages of pregnancy and sometimes during lactation.