Farming in the shade

Shady Side Farm will host our Annual Shearing Day on Saturday, March 5th from 9 am - 3 pm (come and go as you wish.) Our farm is located at 13275 Blair Street, Holland, Michigan. 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. This event is free. Fiber artists will demonstrate their work, and wool products (roving, yarn, socks, 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. :) For blog posts and photos about other years' shearing days, click here .

There's nothing like spring on the farm. It's a love/hate relationship, to be sure. In this photo, The Farmer had just brought a bale of hay to the cattle--something he has done successfully and without incident, all winter long. This time was different, though. A couple of days of very warm (50s!) temperatures melted all the snow, and turned the solid ground into something much less than solid. Of course, it was just before we needed to go somewhere. He texted me, and asked me to meet him at the pasture gate--he was going to get the tractor, after removing the snowblower that was mounted on it. I don't think I've ever driven this tractor--it's the new Kubota--and, after a 15 second lesson and the application of some log chain, I was in charge of pulling the skidsteer out of the mud. Fortunately, I didn't muck it up too badly, though there were some tense seconds. Never a dull moment.

Therefore  lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,   and  make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint  but rather be healed.   Strive for peace with everyone, and for the  holiness  without which no one will see the Lord.  --Hebrews 12:12-14 A couple of days ago, a friend emailed me to check for life signs. She keeps up with me in part by reading this blog. And she told me she was getting tired of seeing the same Christmas greetings each time she checked the blog. Okay, Leslie. I get the hint. :) Each year my January is a time for recuperation after a year of blistering busyness. Many days this winter I intended to blog, but the days off stretched into weeks. As time went by, I found I had less and less to say.  It's not so much a funk, as it is just a general tiredness. I feel like I've blogged our life over and over and there isn't much to say that hasn't already been sa...

May you have a Christmas filled with joy  and a new year that brings peace and health! 

We have been busily preparing for our annual Kerstmarkt (Christmas Market). Three days done, five to go. If you are close to us, you are welcome to make the drive. Make sure you introduce yourself when you come--blogging can feel very one-sided, and it would be nice to know there are a few people out there still reading.  Here's the schedule: I know--it's small. Click on it to enlarge it a bit.

Earlier this year we separated the lambs from their mothers, and moved them to the other side of the road. They've grazed that hayfield twice over since then. And now that the grass isn't regrowing much due to short days and cold nights, it's time to give that hayfield a rest. And it is also time to move the lambs on to their next purpose. The ewe lambs that are keepers will be put in with the ewe flock for possible fall breeding. The wethers (castrated ram lambs) will become lamb chops, and other related food products. The first item of business was to block off where the horses are. The last time we moved lambs, they took a detour into the horse pasture. The horses thought the lambs were a real-life version of a "whack-a-mole" game. No lambs were injured in the excitement, but it's a wonder. We didn't need that happening again. The second item of business was the planning meeting. We sometime skip this step, but the fact that we held one show...

We finished up harvesting corn last week before the rains came. We have had beautiful fall weather (in fact, it was 63 degrees this morning when I got up), and even with the recent rains, harvesting is happening all around us. Since we are small farmers, we run a small combine. Four rows at a time, back and forth. This is the same combine (pronounced COM-bine) that we use to harvest wheat, rye, oats, and our edible beans. We have three interchangable "heads" that we swap out depending on what we are harvesting.  When the combine hopper (storage area) is full, we unload into a waiting wagon. Here's a short video of what unloading looks like. I grew up playing in the neighbor's corn wagons at harvest time. We now know that it is dangerous to play in grain (the larger the amount, the greater the danger). Sometimes the grain bridges up, leaving air pockets underneath. When the bridge collapses, people can be buried in grain and will suffocate. This is...