Snow......ed in?

So it had seemed like I was asking for it all along. The rain in October, the unseasonably warm November, and as of Thanksgiving... no snow. Weird. For northern Michigan, thats just plain weird. In the past, we had snowfall in October, accumulation in early November and perhaps a snowday (cancelled school) by Turkey day, but this year the weather kept prolonging the inevitable.
But then it hit.

We heard about it for a few days before it actually came. The storm that was tearing it up through the west, overturning the midwest and heading up through the great lakes was all over the news. The farm had about 8 inches of snow fall overnight, add in the strong winds (windy knob... remember?) and it was quite the storm! So much in fact that it shut down schools in the area on Wednesday. There is something about a snow day I tell ya. I swear teachers get more excited for them than the students. Anyway, the snow just dumped.

But that wasn't going to be it. Then the cold kicked in, with windchills well below zero districts cancelled school on Thursday too. And there you have it, the first storm of winter. What's that do to a farm? Well, it makes it darn cold thats what it does. So now the little chores, like carrying hay from the loft down to the stalls becomes numbing. And you consider leaving the gate open and letting the darn sheep just run off into the horizon when they break their feeder that you just made a few weeks ago (I know I know, poor build, not bad sheep). But still. I mean c'mon. How about frozen water pipes? Anyway, thats what the cold does, it brings out all of those little odd jobs that you didn't plan on nor have time for.

Luckily, you adapt. You start realizing you can stack 8 bales, keeping it out of reach of the always hungry llama, and manage to get a weeks worth in there; saving the loft trips for weekends only. The frozen water pipe (which would have been disasterous) was easily fixed by wrapping and insulating heat tape around the spicket. Broken feeder? Bigger screws! That may be a temporary fix, Ill keep you posted. But you learn to roll with it. For someone that had every minute of every day mapped and planned out, thats one thing I've had to learn in raising livestock, you roll with it. Well, you yell and cuss a little bit, then you roll with it.

And while I'm at it, here's a complaint about Drogo the llama. How is it he has managed to train me into feeding him in his private stall, rather than making him eat with the others? Picture this, two feeders, plenty of space for the 11 of them to gather round and eat (7 Ewes, 3 Rams and 1 very overzealous llama); you break up the flakes of hay into the feeders and viola, Ponderosa for animals. No, somehow the llama has "personal space" issues and starts clicking and clacking and rearing his tv entenna size ears in every which direction and the sheep have to back down and get out of his way. Well, one day he was in the stall still (free reign to come and go out of the paddock) so I gave him a flake of hay in the wall feeder in the stall. Aw cute right? Poor little guy. Well it hasnt been but a couple days and now you feed the sheep, and where's the llama? You guessed it, inside the stall, sitting next to the wall feeder. No sign of guilt, no remorse or shame, just those beady eyes like, where's my breakfast? I'm more mad at myself really. How did I get suckered by these animals so quickly?

Cold November Rain?

November is just about through, although you'd never guess it by looking around the farm. The blower is on the tractor, cutter put away in the barn; the Christmas lights are on and the chickens have a timer for "daylight" in the coop; yet even with all this, it still doesnt seem quite like the end of November to me without the snow. This time last year we already had school closings, 12 inches of snow on the ground and had I had done the driveway numerous times. I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin'.

The duties over the last couple of weeks included closing the gates of the pastures one final time. I had to bring the remaining sheep up from "pasture" and reunite them with the other two breeding pairs that have been separated for the past month or so. This included bringing Drogo the llama up as well. In order to do this I have to create an alley of temporary electric net to usher them from the pastures, up through the barn and out into the paddock. Things went pretty smoothly luckily. While all the sheep were up in the barn, we took the time to trim hooves and change jackets. It has been about 7 weeks now since they had been shorn and I was / am / (were for all I know) amazed at how quickly their wool grows back in. Clearly its not the 5 inches it was after a years growth, but certainly more than I had exepected, and surely enough to insulate them through the winter.

Of course it is the time of year to stop and remind yourself just how good (I'll speak for myself) I have it. I am truly blessed with an amazing job that I love (not to mention steady income and protected job) and on top of that I live in amazing house, with an amazing farm and some pretty darn amazing animals. While my trademark strength is my work ethic and drive, its also my downfall in that I don't stop to smell the roses so to speak. And with Thanksgiving, its a day to give thanks and appreciate all that one has been given. Though I missed visiting with my family this year, I was able to prepare my first turkey. The turkey was raised locally at a game farm in Mancelona, and 15 pounds - 5 hours later, and I was elated at how well it turned out. I'm not bragging, I'm just shocked! It worked! A turkey, 3 sticks of butter, the herbs in the cabinet, some potatoes from the garden and viola - turkey dinner. Once is luck, so check back next year to see how the turkey comes out. I might even be eating leftovers still at that point.

My turkey - celery, carrots, apples, herb butter-spread under the skin, and yes I did cook it too.

With even more goodnews, I would like to introduce Noah. With all the animals, there had to be a Noah here too right? Being that I had a few days off for the holidays (and yet - farmers can't travel, my parents love me alot but bringing 10 sheep, a llama, two dogs a cat and 40 chickens home with me for a few days- well, lets just say I don't think so) and with the time around the house I decided to go to the Humane Society to pick out a new cat. I've been blessd with this home, and I would love to share it with a cat who needs one too. Noah is 4 months old and already drinking with the dogs- I mean getting along with the dogs.

So here we go. October was busy, but November just flew by. Thanksgiving is just a memory now but to be thankful each and everyday is something I strive for. And now with December coming in just a few days, I don't imagine things will be slowing down any time soon. All the hoopla of Thanksgiving day sales, and black fridays, cyber mondays, shop shop shop. Ugh. Can't we just sit and enjoy the holidays any more? Good luck with your holiday endeavors everyone.

Evening sun sets on Windy Knob Farms.

Finding Home...

You know there are so many cliches about a home vs a house, and what it means to find your home; a sense of where you belong. I see it with students trying to find the right college that suits them, or with careers or social groups etc. What it comes down to is finding a place in which we belong. A place that gives us that innate sense of security that leads to a comfort that can only be found... well, at home.

I can honestly say how blessed I am to have been given such a "home." I use the word given loosely because a lot of work has gone into it to make it what it is today, but still it's the place, the setting, the barns and the animals that makes it home for me. A place that I can not wait to get home to, despite the work that has to be done and chores to manage, I love it. I absolutely love it.

Finding home seemed to be a theme here these past few weeks. One thing was in regard to the sheep. Last time I went to pick up 8 sheep and borrowed a long livestock trailer. It took me almost 12 hours of driving, lots of white knuckles (through Flint and Saginaw with a four horse trailer and tons of traffic on Michigan roads no less.... c'mon). But for merely two sheep... I was better off driving the truck. So I had to build a contraption.

I went downstate to pick the final two ewe's from the breeder that I purchased all of my sheep from. They had remained behind in order to be bred by other rams. This gives me the opportunity to have lambs in March, with different bloodlines then what I have on my farm currently. Its like getting all the goods of the ram (genes) without having to pay for him or raise him for the year. How's the saying go? Why buy the cow when I can get the milk for... anyway, below you see the two newbies... Lisa and Artemesia. Welcome home ladies to Windy Knob.

Unfortunately it's not all good news in finding home. I would use a word like ironic but that doesn't bode well for the mood of the context. If you were to read back a few posts in the blog, you would see I mentioned about taking each day as it comes and not wishing days away. I specifically mentioned Baka the Cat and how he had "found the farm" and came to live here back in January. I was referring to how quickly time was flying by.

About a week and a half ago (okay who am I kidding, I know exactly when it was: Wednesday the 4th at 4:50pm, on my way to Suttons Bay) I found Baka had been hit by a car and was laying at the base of the driveway. He died. It was surreal at first and Ill save you the details, but it didn't take long before it set in and I realized I had lost a good friend. Baka was special, and I will be the first to admit everyone thinks their pet is special and they truly are, but everyone loved Baka. After my sister visited, she loved Baka so much she went home and adopted a kitten of her own. And our neighbors had first found Baka in their barn back in January. He then charmed his way into their house, where they had a couple of cats of their own who weren't as welcoming; which meant Baka was in need of a home of his own. Windy Knob had some room and a few dogs which was the hold up, how is this cat going to do around a few giant dogs? Well, this is how it went.

Like I said, everyone loved Baka, even the 145 pound Great Dane - Milos. I wish I could show you video of walking the dogs around the farm, and Baka following about 20 yards behind. Or how he was too good for his own kitty water bowl; instead he had to stand on his back legs and drink out of the elevated dog water bowls. He lived up to his name, which was short for Sobaka meaning dog in Ukrainian. He had found his home, and just wanted to be one of the dogs. Baka was special and I was lucky enough to have him find me. I'm sad that it was for only 10 months, but I'll never forget him. Something about him just soothed everyone he met. I think I liked to curl up and watch tv as much as I liked knowing that he would soon join me. I never thought I could become so attached to an animal in so little time. And with that, just as quickly and unexpectedly that Baka came, it was time for him to go. Its the full circle about finding home. Baka had to go to make someone else's day, just like he use to make mine.

The buck stops (and starts) here...

The colors are in their final stages. You can see here the final glimpse of yellows from the lone stand of aspens on the Western edge of the farm. Mind you this photo was taking in the 5 minute break from rain that has been falling throughout the majority of the week. A few changes were made with the sheep. The ewes are into their second 17 day cycle, which means you change the chalk color, and watch for any signs of being bred again. This is in hopes of being ready when the lambs are born, or at least having a window of when they might arrive. The young ram, Doherty and his mate, Nez Perce were moved up to the barn. This left Drogo the llama on his own. So he was moved to the larger pasture with the big kids. Another two weeks and the whole gang will come together (including the final two ewes from the other farm), and breeding season will have ended.


The fleeces that were shorn at the beginning of the month have been the talk of the town. Sort of. Maybe thats a bit overstated, but I have been pleasently surprised with the activity. When I called a wool shop in Traverse City, they knew who I was and the product that I am selling, "a lady told a friend who told so and so, and it got back to me" she said. Up until now I had sold one fleece at the Leland Fiber festival, leaving me with 5 others. I really pushed to advertise this week with ads on Etsy.com, a few phone calls, and some posters up at the local kiosks, and what do you know; I got a phone call from a wonderful Northport resident who came out to the farm today with her friend. They loved the sheep and were very impressed with how clean the fleeces were. I sold two fleeces! Then I checked email, and another buyer is interested in coming out from Traverse City. What do you know, there is a market when you have good product. The picture is one of the information cards that comes with each fleece.


The final excitement I have for you is the showdown between Drogo and an enemy. I thought about making this sound like an elaborate borage of fangs and claws, and a showdown where one dies; but I'll save the drama. Here's the deal. Drogo is supposed to be my guard llama, fend off any would be sheep predators. The only thing I have seen him do is stare down my dogs, and spit at the rams if they get to close to his food. Needless to say I was beginning to have my doubts about his security-ness. Well, I peered out to the pasture the other afternoon to see the sheep running frantically to the far corner of the pasture, and Drogo, creeping up towards the woods... what is it? I was waiting, watching, and out of the woods came this 4 point buck. Not that he was interested in eating my sheep, but at least Drogo helped to protect the could be danger. He squared up to him at the woods, exchanged a few words, and the deer was gone. So maybe he is going to pull through for me after all. Good job Drogo.

I got your farmville...

Farmville is an application on Facebook that has swept the country since its release in June of 2009. It allows users to manage a farm engaging in virtual activities such as planting, harvesting, fertilizing and managing livestock. It's all over the place. Click this, do that and voila. Your farmin'.

Well I have a bone to pick this week people. Farmville nothing- this is a lot of work. And I'll be the first to acknowledge that I too, often live in a dreamworld and somehow take on more than I can handle (although you ever notice how you swear you're at your last straw and that's it, game over - but somehow the next day still comes and everything continues on just the same?), but this weekend was my max. I realized this whole farming thing ain't so easy; and it certainly isn't a couple mouse clicks.

First of all, its been raining for 40 days straight; just ask Noah, he floated by the other day. And when you still have to get your last load of hay in for the winter, clean out the chicken coop, insulate it, finish a couple barn roof projects and yet all you can find time for is to dig yet another temporary trough in the hillside to usher the water runoff down in the right direction (as in NOT into the chicken coop front door thank you very much) it makes for long stressful weeks.

Today there was finally a break in the rain; out came the tractor to catch the four loads of soiled bedding from the coop. It's also time to empty all the water containers and feeders and to clean them with soap and water for disinfecting purposes. Well of course as I'm carrying these from coop to grass to get them out of the way, the chickens somehow translate this to mean fresh new food in the feeders, so I ended up battling them to gain access to the feeders. Meanwhile the sheep think something exciting is going on 'cause the chickens are all stirred up; so they start bah-ing at me wanting whatever it is the chickens are getting. It's quite a scene, trust me this place is more funny farm then money farm any day.

The other post I mentioned how objects can be so "farm" and here is another example. The soiled chicken bedding is full of straw and manure, its not something you bag up and bury in the backyard to hide (umm what do we call those... oh yeah landfills). Chicken manure is high in Nitrogen and is considered to be "hot". This means its not a good idea to put it right on your garden vegetables because they will burn up due to the high levels of Nitrogen. However, at the end of the season, and as long as I carefully mix the manure piles throughout the bedding to avoid saturated piles, I can use it directly on the raspberries and grapes to mulch, fertilize, and help insulate them for the winter. In addition to the chicken bedding, you can see little piles of wool along the row. These piles of wool were second cuttings, manure tagged wool, and other parts of the sheep fleece that were no good for products, but excellent for mulch. Its one more aspect of the sustainable farming being performed here at Windy Knob. Meanwhile, don't forget about our high quality fleeces for sale. These are updated on our website, visit us at www.windyknobfarms.com to learn about the fleeces and see updated photos of each sheep.

I was going to come up with some acronym or play off of swine flu seeing as its all over the news these days. All I could come up with was "time flu." First and foremost I don't want to joke about a serious issue such as swine flu, especially given the levels of intensity I have seen in the area and how hard our schools were hit over the past week; but I also found myself getting more introspective when I thought about how time is flying.

This is the last week of October ladies and gentlemen. Its another reminder that - hey- guess what- it isn't July anymore. There is something about September and October that seems difficult for me. Maybe it's the adjustment period of getting back into the swing of teaching. Or perhaps its getting to know the new batch of students; or being back to five days a week and going at it a solid two months before your first break from kids for a professional development day. None the less people, October is almost over. The sheep have been bred (thanks boys, you're through- we'll call you next October) the chickens are fattening up on corn for the winter, and soon enough our written dates will start with an "11." To me this is a big step that ushers in snow, hunting, turkey and holidays. This week I'm going to take it in - even the weekdays. The weekend will be here soon enough I found as I have longed for them every single work day. After this week another month is ripped off our desk calendars and so will begin the flood of holiday music and ads. So take it in people, deep breath, exhale.

You ready?

Forget the Chalk...

Fall is definitely here. I know because I am reminded by the beauty of all the leaves changing color, the crisp colors of a cool morning where you see your footprints in the grass as you cut through the frost and ample apple cider and sugar pumpkin donuts; that and I'm freezing every morning. But along with fall comes the anticipated first breedings at Windy Knob Farms. This year I am using five rams on seven ewes which is pretty ambitious for a first year breeder. Two of the pairs are being held on another farm, so essentially I am managing three sets.

One of the great things about sheep is their delivery of lambs is like clockwork. My understanding is once bred, you can count 145 days and have lambs within an hour or two. Thus, the hard part is knowing when the deed was done. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me remind you there is no courting here, no buying dinner first, no romance. It's breeding for the sake of procreation, and that's it. So if this sounds a little scientific, and leaves you feeling like romance is dead. It is.



Back to the task at hand. How do you know when the ram bred the ewe? There are all kinds of crayon holders and marking harnesses, but the farm way for me (farm is the new "ghetto", aka make due with what you have. So if you hear me say that is so "farm" that means practical, frugal, or cheap if you will) was to grind up some kids sidewalk chalk on clearance from Meijer, with some globs of crisco shortening and viola you have an underbody rub to spread on the ram. Green on ram leads to green on ewe tail, check daily and call me in 145 days.


Now here is where it gets pg-13 but I can not possibly avoid this part of the story. Imagine this, three rams in one stall, across the way are five ladies wafting their pheromones across and driving the boys crazy. You open the stall door and wrestle out this 250 pounder into the middle aisle, then pull out the 200 pound ladies you want matched up with him. From here, you have to open the barn door, and use the fencing aisles to get them down into the part of the pasture you want them to stay for the next 34 days (two ovulation cycles of an ovine). However... upon bringing the ewes into the center aisle, I couldn't even make my way to open the barn door before they were doing the nasty in the middle of my barn. And you laugh, but I was a bit traumatized. For a minute I had the gumption to try and push these two, while in the act, out into the pasture. And yeah, it wasn't happening; 450 pounds of humpty hump is a lot to move. What did I do? Nothing. What could I do, but wait 'till they were through. Chalk nothing; my retinas are still burning. My therapist said the nightmares and images will go away with time, but I don't know.


On a lighter note, above is the fleece off of 7 month old Dougherty. He is the future of Windy Knob farms. His sire is a Corriedale of great size and confirmation, his dame is a beautiful natural colored Corriedale with an amazingly long and tight crimped fleece. That equates to quite the ram passing on white and colored genetics to his offspring, and producing high quality fleeces. If you look closely you can see the crimp which is the tight waves or crinkles in the fleece. Speaking of fleeces, we sold our first fleece to a lady from Grand Rapids who was visiting the fiber festival in Leland. It should be the first of many, she was very pleased with the product. We have several available in both whites, brown and black. Please visit our web page and contact us at http://www.windyknobfarms.com/ if you are interested.



So now I wait. Wait for the cooler temperatures. Wait for the leaves to fall. Wait till I can check off the last thing on my "before snow falls" list.

Soon enough the snow will fall, and the sheep will be ready for their reunion in the barn, and we will all hunker down for the long winter and wait.

Shear Madness

Well I did it.

I sheard (shorned?, shearded?) my sheep! It was quite the experience I must say. If you asked me that night, I would have told you how frustrating it was, and that it took me forever (fur-ever wouldnt even be funny here but I thought about it), my equipment broke and I was sore and exhausted... but now that it has been a couple days and I have sorted through the fleeces and the sheep are all out grazing and walking around enjoying life a few pounds lighter... you know what... it went pretty dawg gone well for my first time.

And now I have some amazing fleeces to sell. I have learned more about wool than I ever knew was even possible. Did you know that there are characteristics like how many microns thick the fiber is or how it shines in light, how sometimes signs of stress or dietary changes can show up on a wool fiber, how the waves that run the length of the fiber (or crimp) is important, all of these things are used to measure the value of a sheeps' fleece.
These particular fleeces are considered to be fine, making them great for handspinners and for making soft clothes that are for the body (as opposed to heavy fibers for rugs or potholders for example). The picture to the right shows you an up close view of one of the fleeces. If you look closely, you can see the crimp and how tight and even it is. This is a good thing and something people would want when choosing a fleece for either handspinning or turning into a high quality yarn.

Shearing really is backbreaking. Being 6'4" and touching your toes while contorting an animal that needless to say doesnt want to be there, all while hoping your shears are making nice cuts through 5 inches of wool is quite the task. Its a skill; and according to statistics its a dying skill at that. There are rising numbers of sheep flocks in the US and yet fewer sheep shearers than ever before in US History. I'm learning for the benefit of sheaing my own, but I won't be surprised if I am able to turn this into some small weekend jobs. It's that hard to find a shearer in Michigan.

After shearing the sheep you need to collect the fleece and skirt it. This is where you seperate any manure tags, bleached fibers or vegetable matter from the good high quality wool. Windyknob sheep are jacketed, which helps to keep their wool clean and true colored. To the left you see Nez Perce's fleece and can see the amazing cream color of Corriedale Wool. The bottom right corner you might notice a little darker area which is part of the wool that was sticking outside of the jacket. This is an example of wool that gets picked off and used in a variety of other ways besides hand spinning.

Once in a while here in October, the sun shined brightly and made for beautiful Autumn days; but I have to tell you, its been alot of cold and rainy days thus far. I've got my hands full managing the sheep, the farm and school and I even have my Beautiful Sister's Wedding this weekend. But soon enough, things will slow down. The days are now getting shorter and each night gets just a little cooler; but I know fall has hit due to the fact that its time to now set up the breeding pairs which will occur later this weekend. You'd never know it though looking at Meri Jo, who took in the final rays of sunshine after having been freshly shorn this past Saturday.

Pumpkins, Cider and... Colds.

Tis the season. Got to admit, I thought it was a bit cheeseball myself to put pumpkins on the front porch this time of year. Whats with that anyway? Like the pumpkins grew there on the porch, or the cornstalks wrapped themselves around the column phototrohpically? I mean is that supposed to look natural? Anyway, somehow I succumbed to the cheese and ended up with three tiny pumpkins on the front steps. But listen people, its different when you grew the pumpkins yourself. Watching them grow for the past few months, cutting the stalks, walking them across the farm and showing them off on your step... that's different. Sort of.

The season also brings a wide variety of colored leaves. Autumn is definitely my favorite time of year, watching the trees prepare for winter, all the colors becoming so vibrant, its really inspiring. But I'm saving the "fall color pictures" for a future post; right now the leaves are just starting to change. I have to wait for the full effect as to not wear out my fall colors spiel. However, I am eating as many Macintosh and Honey Crisp apples as I possibly can. I love picking them up roadside at the local orchards and nothing, NOTHING beats a local honeycrisp apple. Or perhaps thats just how exciting my life really is. Of course with apples comes cider and donuts. I've moved on from the summer lemonade to the fall cider. I think you should too.

Do not attempt to adjust your screen. That is a machine for shearing equipment. I recently took a class on how to shear sheep. Again, my life truly is that exciting. Anyhow, a couple of key notes: A) There are some weird sheep farmers out there. B) If I spend so much time upside down that I too hang my clock like that in the barn, that tells you something. C) Its amazing to find out things you never think about such as how the wool sweater you might be wearing came to be, and who might have shorn that very sheep; I may have met 'em.

I'll end with these two things. The garden continues to produce, and I can't begin to describe the feeling of heading out past the barn early in the morning, through the dense fog and unlatching the garden gate to pick out breakfast. This weekend I made a quiche (yes I had to look it up the first time someone suggested I make it) with green pepper, onions and a scallion from the garden using the ever so amazing Windy Knob Farm Fresh Eggs. Wow what a healthy eater right?

...

THEN HOW COME I HAVE THIS COLD ALREADY??? I couldn't even make it to October this year people. ugh. Tis the season I suppose.

Sunrise and Sunset

This was supposed to be the week to catch my breath. I feel like I haven't sat down since September started. School is well underway, you can tell by the stack of papers on my kitchen table, and I do mean stacks. I'm still trying to clear the fog of what I am teaching and when I teach it, and whose in what hour; all the "beginning of the year" shannanagans. The odd thing is school (work) seems like a small part of the day. Now I'm thinking of the jobs I have to do as I drive home. Move sheep, feed and water chickens, clean the eggs, label the cartons, harvest the garden, deworm the rams; I mean honestly, sometimes I don't know if I am coming or going.

Sunrises and sunsets. That's what came to mind. Being back in school, I am now up again to watch the sunrise every morning. I remember how much peace I find in watching it. Sometimes it feels like I am the first one or even the only one to watch it rise that day; what a great way to start the day. For me, its more important to start the day with a calm preparedness then a worldly awareness. And by not watching the news or catching the top ten plays on sportscenter, somehow... someway... I am more aware of my day.

I can't wait till (for)... I am trying to remove this from my vocabulary. The sheep have been on the farm for almost 90 days. Three whole months have passed! Thats a crazy perspective. Baka the cat, got him back in January but seems like yesterday. I don't want to live my life jumping from day to day where I am just looking for the next bookmark of life. By changing my thoughts to "I am excited for ..." (sheep shearing, lambing, fall color change, Christmas vacation so on) it reminds me that today is darn good too. Because if I live to get to said day in the "future," soon enough it too will just be a day in the past.

So not everything has to be deep and philisophical today. I'm going to end with a note about Ella. Ella is becoming my favorite ewe. She looks awesome, with big wool around her face, it almost looks like a lion's mane. She has a variegated fleece with these shades of chocolate brown and khaki where the sun bleaced the color out around her face. The thing that cracks me up is her personality; being the tough one of the group. She also has a crush on Drogo the llama and will follow him around the pasture pestering him. Just tonight though she was up at the fence of the back pastures, and calling out to the boys in the front pasture. While all the other girls were in the back eating, Ella is taking time out to flirt with the rams across the pasture. You could hear her calling out from the house. Cracks me up; chill out Ella, you need to at least play hard to get first!

Approaching mid September...

With mid September approaching, there are quite a few noticable differences around the farm. While we do have summer like weather during the days (can you believe sunny and 70s all week) the nights are cool, often down in the low 40s. Of course this creates a lot of fog in the mornings. As you can see in the picture above, the fog is lifting out of the pastures as the sun rises up over the bay.





With mid September comes fall duties which I'll get to in a minute. During the summer, we tried for the first time to sell Windyknob farm eggs down along the roadside. Not being sure what to expect in terms of "traffic" we were shocked to say the least when the eggs were sold out in the first 4 hours! The chickens were laying 18-24 eggs a day by mid July, and the roadside stand continued to sell out every weekend. With the summer tourism traffic gone, its a bit of a reality check - how can we sell 10 dozen eggs a week? You'd be surprised. There's quite a demand for free range chicken eggs by my coworkers at school.

In the fall its time to prepare the animals for breeding, as well as the long winter ahead. After having been on pasture for the past 6 months, it is time to get rid of any internal parasites the sheep might have picked up while grazing. Some farmers will give this toxin every three to four weeks in an effort to kill all the larval stages of the worm. By rotating my flock every 4-7 days, I am able to decrease the exposure to worm larvae, and thereby decrease the frequency that I must deworm my flock. This is part of a practice known as Rotational Grazing. Of course its important to deworm before breeding season as well, which will start about a month from today.



Of course over the winter, the sheep no longer have the pastures to feed on, which is when we turn to hay for nutrition. This is the view of the hay loft, with almost 160 bales of hay (first cutting and second cutting) we are ready to roll here for the sheep's first winter at Windyknob farms. The 100 bales on the right were picked up this week. We are good to go on hay.

The aroma of skunk.

Its September officially, but the weather reminds me of July, except in July you'd think it were October. Anyway, of course as I head back to school, the sun comes out and the thermometer hits the upper 70s; all while I break out the planner and get ready for my new students.

This week could have been calm and relaxing; except for Milos the Great Dane who wanted a little excitment. So on Tuesday night at about 9:30pm he went out one final time for the night and about 20 feet off the deck took off after a skunk. Being as large as he is, Milos must have caught every droplet of oil that skunk could muster up. And instantly this pungent musty smell just overwhelmed the air. Two hours of baths tempered it a little bit, enough to allow him the night in the basement. The next morning more Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda to make him tollerable.

Stinky and Outside!

Then 48 hours later, Milos broke out in Hives and a high fever. Turns out to be an allergic reaction to who knows what. An Emergency visit to the vet and alot of Benedryl, he seems to be okay now. Just another week for him.

It was also a great week for the bounty of the farm. It's amazing to grow vegetables from seed and then to harvest your food from ground to table. It's something everyone should experience. It makes you think alot more about the decisions we make as a society, and what we eat, where we buy it and what we order. In one day I picked two bags of potatoes, onions, corn and 24 eggs from the chickens. Not bad for a days work.

And finally the sheep! The girls and drogo have moved into the barn and paddock for the week. Its great to see them out the kitchen window and to be able to have them closer to the house. I'm always going in and out of the barn and they watch curiously and come into the stalls to see what I'm up to. It will be their home for the winter so its a prelude for them.

Seasonal Change.

The cherries have been picked from all of the local orchards, sweet corn and potatoes for dinner just about every night, and the sunflowers are in bloom; thats how I know summer is ending. I also know summer is ending because I will find myself back in the classroom teaching next week. Its a bittersweet of course, long days on the farm and watching it develop from all the hard work has been great, but its also nice to trasition back to school again. I look forward to meeting my new students, being social again (the animals arent much for conversing) and all the other things that fall brings.

For instance, the sunrises. As the air cools the colors seem to really be amplified in the sunrises and sunsets. And of course Windyknob has some of the best sunrises in Leelanau County. One thing I have learned this summer is that even animals appreciate the earth's beauty and will sit and take in the views. One morning in particular had an amazing sunrise and Baka the cat sat on the bench and just watched the sun rise up over the bay.

Another thing I am looking forward to is my first experience in managing the sheep breeding. All of the pedigrees, strategies, genetics, traits, fiber, builds and more are taken into consideration for months and then in September I will start to "beef" up the rams and make sure the ewes are fed well in an effort to promote fertility. Then in early October I will have three different rams being used on 5 different ewes. The rams are from left, Dougherty, Ahgosa and Johnny.

I also intend on updating this blog more often, and more "officially" in an effort to give people a better idea of what is going on here at Windyknob farm. When the eggs are being sold, then the sheep will be shorn, whose fleece is available and just what project is next are all things I intend on blogging about. I promise to make a better effort, we will see how it goes.