Spring Shearing

The end of April was so beautiful. The weather was down right hot but welcomed. We were able to get all the ewes sheared in a shorter period of time than we normally do - a wet sheep cannot be sheared; not easily. Some of our wool is sold to End of the World Farm and they add it to the other wool they purchase and make rugs from the fiber. Additionally last year a guy purchased some wool for "all natural" dog beds he was creating. He called last week interested in more! And some of the real nice Romney fleeces are sold the Common Ground Country Fair held at MOFGA each September. Here are some pictures of Pete shearing our rams; Spike and Onslo. Also the bags of wool in the barn loft.

The before and after!

new spring

Here are some of new faces around the farm...wicked cuties!

Apple Creek Farm wrapped up the lambing season in the evening on March 22nd, exactly a month from when it all began. The weather was a balmy 63° and we were in the barn without coat or hat, which was a far cry from the February 22nd lambing. With the temperatures in the 60s and 70s last week I think all the mums were about ready to stand in line to get sheared. Good thing we held off since this week was back to being late winter with some snow and cold rain. Our season at the Brunswick Winter Market is soon to wrap up as we are almost completely out of meat inventory. The chickens are laying great and so we may continue to go with just eggs. Abby has been down to help out around the farm and there should be some goats kidding at her farm (Bacon Brook Farmstead) in another month! Also there will be pictures from shearing once we get going on that. And hopefully a blog post about lamb vs. mutton - there have been a lot of people at market asking about the differences.

Check our our Facebook page for updates throughout the summer as to where to find our meat and eggs.

They're callin for zero tonight.

The wind has picked up and the air from up in Canada is moving in swiftly. They're calling for zero tonight, maybe colder. I have spent a lot of time contemplating the shifts in the weather this winter and I have come to the conclusion it must drive the livestock nuts; more so than us humans. Four days of sunny, above average temperatures and we all jump for joy. The cows start thinking the ice and snow might be on its way out of the pastures. And the sheep think there will be green grass soon. Only to be disappointed or worse yet, frightened by the fact the air dries and drops 45 degrees in 12 hours. Our stock are hardy and spend each winter outside, but I can't help but feel a little more sorry for them this winter.