We're Lambin', and I hope you like lambin' too

Well, It is 12:11 AM on a Friday nite and my wild time consists of making sure that some newborn lambs find their mothers teat for their first lifesaving meal. Karen finds it amusing that I stress out about lambing so much. In my defense, I am most concerned about the first time ewes, who like irresponsible teenage moms, step over their children to go see what is new with their friends. I worry about every stumbled step the newborn takes and why the mom isn't getting up right away and oh god please do not let her have twins because that means a whole Pandora's box of problems for me. Tonite is Holly, who (hopefully only) just had a lamb and looks like another is on the way. She is part of the new problem as the oldest ewe who now we have to worry about her having triplets again and will she make it through the whole process. She is a strong girl though and I think there is one more breeding season in her future. As always, she is laid back and ready for what comes her way.

Holly

It is a huge time of year though. It determines how much hay we need, what kind of pasture rotation we should plan, how many boys or girls, and most importantly, what color are the lambs! Icelandics are always a surprise as to what color may come out. We have bred black rams with black ewes and had white lambs and vice versa. Sometimes you get black and white, like our ewe Bessy who looks more like a Holstein cow than an Icelandic sheep-always a surprise.

We lamb late. Unfortunately this year it was very late. Some breeders have lambs in January-February so that by time the grass is gone, so are the lambs. Icelandics are a smaller heritage breed so they grow slow and they don't get very big. We would rather wait until April (or May in this case) when it is warmer and we can turn the lambs right on to fresh green grass with mom, because regardless, we will need to keep them over the winter and feed hay so they can get big enough to sell for the boys. The girls will get one year off to get bigger and then they will become moms too.

Ewes have a five month gestation period. We move the girls into the barn five months the day we turned the rams out with them. This is actually the most crowded time of year for inside space. The ewes are put into lambing jugs. These are small pens, most recommend 4'x4', but we usually make them larger and odd shaped to fit the space we have available. These give ewes no choice but to love on their babies. You can see from the pictures that pretty much every scrap piece of anything gets used as fence/barrier material for the jugs.

Let me out!

Well, Holly has had twins. A black girl and a white boy. Both have nursed from mom and she seems to be doing fine, despite Noel knocking over her water and flooding the jug. Hay and shaving added for bedding so she (and I) can go get some sleep.

Notice the obligatory bailing twine holding it all together.

Dirt Farmer

Long, long ago, when we were first starting our farm, Karen said she wanted a garden. Being an ardent carnivore, I promised help as far as it could be done from the seat of my tractor. As a child I grew to hate weeding with a passion and began to hate the gardens that produced them. So, we tilled a corner of the field, fenced it off with electric and planted everything under the sun. The only thing that came up was some raspberry shoots from my Great Grandmothers garden and those were quickly devoured when the sheep figured out that the power had gone out (I have a suspicion the goat had a hand in this). Karen was heartbroken but for me it just reaffirmed that gardens suck....time and money and energy from you.



Yeah...I did it. And the next time you plant I'll do it again.

Now, don't get me wrong, I would gladly have a fresh juicy whatever from my own garden than some pesticide laden junk from the supermarket. That has been the driving force behind most of our farm plans. But, I just never really enjoyed the garden much. We were also lucky to have a friend who grew an abundant garden that kept us fully stocked anyway. But, when we moved back to New Hampshire, other than some free zucchini, we were on our own. It is rumored that the only time people lock their cars here is when zucchini is in season because friends and neighbors will sneak in and dump a few bushels without your knowing. After a season with a regular garden where Karen came into her gardening prime, as well as years of fencing experience under our belts, we decided to make a garden that was user friendly. Enter our raised beds.



Just like that!

We decided to make our raised beds taller than normal. Advantages- you can sit on the sides comfortably so no bending over to weed. Also, deeper soil to grow in. Disadvantage--more lumber and more compost. We ended up doing 6 raised beds and were very pleased with the results. Some lessons that we have taken away are that spreaders like pumpkins, watermelon and squash should have their own area on the ground or a separate bed. We also keep horseradish, rhubarb, garlic and other recurring plants or overwintering plants in a traditional garden bed. If a really harsh winter hits, the beds don't retain heat because of their exposure. While I may not help much on the weeding, I do get into the spirit by planting seedling and watering- you know, Lazy farmer stuff.

Yummy!