Shetland Sheep: Rich in History, Rich in Textiles

Shetland Sheep: Rich in History, Rich in Textiles! Our farm mission is to enjoy and promote the wonderful diversity of the Shetland breed by fully utilizing to the best of our ability all they have to offer historically. We believe the best preservation and management of this breed includes it's full spectrum of history. We encourage old and new shepherds alike to join in the fun by engaging in fiber arts, especially spinning and knitting, as this breed is so intimately linked with those aspects of the arts.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

The Farm: Rain! Rain!

Beautiful rain!  Last night, and this afternoon, we've had the best rain we've had in a good eight weeks!  It's still not enough, but it will surely get the plants going back into a life mode, rather than death.  Our apple trees will have very few apples to harvest this year, and the pear was surely stressed, so I hope the fruit can now recover.

The sheep have been grazing all along, but we were on our last grass and getting very worried.  The 100 degree days (like yesterday) mean the sheep are left in (and fed hay).  It's so hot on the pasture, the sheep would not be able to pant enough to cool themselves and their lives would be threatened.  We have saved one last rotation of grass to give them, but now we may not have to worry so much!  I think we've gotten enough rain that the grass will grow.  So let's see...I've lost track now...I think we are now at day 24 or day 25 of over 90 degree temps (several of those over 100 degrees).  For this region, that's very, very rare.  I'm sure I won't forget this drought for a long time to come!  I still remember the 1988 drought, even though I was living far from here, high up in the cool Colorado Rockies!

This living, breathing planet just cannot be ignored.  We all depend on it for survival.  For every year older I get, I come to realize how important it is to make choices in life that promote awareness of our dependency, and proper stewardship.  This is not hippie stuff, folks.  It's life.

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