Farming in the shade

I found this chick at a garage sale and couldn't pass her up, even though I'm not big into "dustables". When I took her home, I found just the place in our kitchen to hang her. And, while I enjoyed having her on the wall, the lack of an apostrophe bothered me. A lot. When I took her home, she proclaimed: "This chicks busy." Ack!  One time when friends were over, I mentioned it to one of my fellow English language stickler friends. She fixed it with a black sharpie marker, and I have been a happy woman ever since. Silly me--I could have fixed it, t00, but I just let it bother me... (Read the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves if you also are an English language stickler.) Tomorrow is our Shearing Day, 9-noon. Today is preparing for that. Making food, organizing the workshop, double checking with a few people who will be helping, and praying that the muddy driveways will freeze...

Last chance to come out to Shady Side Farm to see the sheep shearing. We'll be shearing around 100 Polypay ewes this Saturday, February 28th, from 9-noon. Come anytime during the morning. We'll be shearing in the barn, so wear old clothing and dress warmly!  We'll also have fiber arts demonstrations going on in our workshop, and wool products for sale. Refreshments will be available. 

As, requested, I blogged about the birth of lambs, complete with photos. I back dated it so that it wouldn't appear at the top of the blog (for those who don't want to see). If you'd like to read about lambing and see a few photos, click here.

The Guge family farm in Estherville, Iowa, is one of the seven regional winners in the 18th annual Environmental Stewardship Award. The award recognizes cattle operations that are proven stewards of the land, dedicated to natural resource conservation through the use of innovative, cost effective stewardship practices. Mark and Norma Guge own and operate a commercial cow/calf, feedlot and farming operation, which runs on owned and long-term lease acreage. With family roots in the area dating back to 1891, the Guge family has developed a love for the land as short-term tenants with aspirations of passing on the traditions that have been passed on. Read more about this family farm operation here.

As part of the Berries and Cream Blog Launch party, Shady Side Farm is giving away a pair of handcranked socks (of the winner's choice). Now's your chance, people. Don't enter on this blog. You've got to go here . 

Well, the poll (upper right hand corner of the blog) is closed. Looks like people want to see a lamb count. Last year's ever lengthening list was boring! I've been looking for a ticker or something fun and graphic and I can't find anything. So will the above photo do it for you? It's a snapshot of our actual wall calendar with lamb counts on it! I could just take a picture of the calendar every day... According to the lamb count calendar, we've had 61 babies born. We've lost a few (too little, born dead, poor care from mom), which always happens and always is sad. Our biggest day (to-date) was February 6th, when we had a set of triplets and 2 sets of twins born.  (A side note for non-sheep people: Sheep have two teats, so raising triplets requires a mom with a bit more patience--she has to let 2 nurse for a while, and the 3rd one has to wait until they're done. If one of the lambs is small or less aggressive, or if the mom is not terribly bright, the same la...

Sock yarn on bobbins... A bobbin and its matching sock... A pile of socks underneath the Master machine.  The Farmer will be cranking socks this Saturday (February 21) from 11 - 3 at The Shaker Messenger in Holland, Michigan. If you've wanted to see him at work, here's another opportunity. Socks will be for sale, but there's no obligation to buy. Just come on out and visit for a while! A friend of ours will also be spinning at that time, so you'll get to see the process of converting wool into yarn.