McFarland Creek Lamb Ranch
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Products
    • Press
  • Store
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Links

April 5-23, 2015

4/23/2015

 
PictureThe morning shift- 3 hrs of hard labor and they're still smiling!
Just another reason I love this Valley:  where else does your Internet Service Provider bring their entire staff to your house to do yard work for a day?  9 people showed up last Wednesday, shovels in hand, and went to work.  We got leaves raked, weeds pulled and made a huge dent in the giant patch of mullein in the new upper pasture.  Thank You Jeff and Maria at Methownet for such a great donation to the Kiwanis fundraiser!  Keeping weeds under control without using chemicals is basically all about manual labor- not difficult, but takes time.  The results are very satisfying, though.  Only a couple of years ago we had thick patches of thistle and mullein in a couple of pastures, and now they are completely clear.  I predict that the work we just did will mean that this new pasture will be clear of weeds in one more year.

Picture
Mullein casualties on the battlefield...
PictureWaiting patiently
Every day has been so full that I hardly know where to start- the sun has been shining and I realized that I had better get my seedlings started before summer is here.  We got the greenhouse up and I mixed up my secret recipe of starting mix.  The little seeds must be happy, because they are sprouting up all over the place.  

Another thing that is sprouting up are lambs!  We had our first lamb right on schedule Saturday afternoon, followed by twins on Sunday morning, a single on Monday, and a single and pair of twins on Tuesday.  Whew.  Yesterday the ewes took a day off and so far we have none today.  This is definitely the year of the ram- we have 6 males and only 1 female so far, and all white.  Usually it's split pretty evenly with a few black ones.  There are about 4 ewes who are so close, and I expect to see them have their lambs in the next few days, so time will tell.  I'm posting some videos below.  One is a few days after shearing, in the early morning when it was still cool and the yearlings were feeling frisky and happy to be free of their heavy coats.  The other is from yesterday, when some of the lambs were playing in the shade under the willow tree.  They are about 3 days old and just full of spit and vinegar.



March 12 - April 4, 2015

4/5/2015

 
PictureApricot flowers
Happy easter everyone!  It's a glorious morning as I write this, sun shining, sheep running and jumping around the pasture, glad to be free of their heavy winter coats.  Even the pregnant ewes, heavy with their lambs, have a spring in their step.  We saw the first hummingbird of the year hovering around the deck, and Bill leaped up and dug out the feeder and filled it up, even before he put the bacon on.  Now that's excitement for you!  
Spring came very early this year- all the snow was gone by mid-March, and everything has started blooming already.  Daffodils were up about a week ago, and the apricot tree is in full bloom.  The hillsides that were so brown after the fire are sprouting with new green growth, which is so nice to see.

PictureNew fence
I have been working on getting the garden ready.  The fence was damaged from the fire last year, and the chickens had got in and made a mess of things, but they are good at eating the bugs (they especially like the big juicy cutworms) so I let them forage around until I got the fence repaired.  We had our fabulous helpless, Fernando and Tino, come and build new fence in the entire lower pasture, including the garden, which they just finished a few days ago.  It is so nice to have a secure fence for the rams, and a garden that is chicken-proof.  The day I locked the garden gate the hens were furious with me.  I was inside, getting the beds shaped up, and they were clucking and squawking all around the perimeter, so angry with me!  

Yesterday was shearing day, which is always something we look forward to, and are happy to be done with.  This year we had 40 sheep, which is a record for us.  Our shearer, Martin, was very happy with the new barn and shearing platform.  The sun was streaming in and made everything bright and cheerful.  It's always fun to see the young ones jump around when their coats are off, and now we can get a good look at the ewes to see how they are coming along.  Some of them are really big- first lambs are due in about 2 weeks, and we're expecting lots of twins!  I've put some pictures and a video below.
I sent off another 25 lbs of fiber to be made into yarn- 9 more colors.  I'm also trying out something new this year- quilting batts, wool mattress pads and pillows.  I'll have samples back before the Fiber Festival, and be able to take custom orders.  We're eager to see what people think of them.  Meanwhile, we are plugging away with Spring chores.  We'll have help in a couple of weeks, thanks to our friends at Methownet.  We went to a fundraiser and bid on the best auction item ever.  Our local internet service provider donated the labor of their entire staff (9 people) for a half day of yard work help.  That's 27 person-hours!  They will be here on the 15th, and I have a big list of chores waiting for them.  We'll take lots of photos and post them on the next blog report.  Meanwhile, Happy Spring everyone!

    Life on the Ranch

    This Blog is intended to be a summary of the events of daily life that take place on our ranch.     We hope you find it interesting - feel free to comment if you like.

    Archives

    October 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    January 2017
    December 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All

 © 2014 McFarland Creek Lamb Ranch  PO Box 510 Methow, WA 98834
contact us        links       press