the sheep "on our farm"

(Looking for "Charlotte" at our CSA farm)

There are a lot of conversations around here that begin with "on our farm..." It's followed by any number of things, depending on who's talking. Because of course, our "someday farm" means five different things to all five of us. But we have so much fun dreaming about the possibilities, driving around perusing the possibilities (not yet! but it's coming soon...I can feel it), and talking about what we all do share in common for our farm plans. A near nightly conversation at the dinner table - always started by one of the boys - begins with "tell me the first three animals you want on our farm." Calvin's keeping track of it all on a pretty fabulous 7-year old version of a visual spreadsheet that I adore.

The chickens are a must (we all agree). A cow is a must (Calvin and I insist - Ezra's the swing vote, and we've still got some convincing to do with Papa). The donkey is uh, questionable (though Ezra is persistent on this one). As is the colt that Calvin wants to 'break' by his 8th birthday (just like Almanzo - his super hero). Adelaide will get her kitties. But sheep. Oh, the sheep are fast making their way to the top of my dream farm wish list.

Not helping has been the arrival of these two books in the past month. Shear Spirit: Ten Fiber Farms, Twenty Patterns and Miles of Yarn by Joan Tapper is a portrait of fiber farms in the US, with tales of their lives and animals, wonderful knitting patterns, and gorgeous photography sprinkled throughout. There's some knitting in here that I'm pretty excited to give a closer look at, but until then, this book sits on our coffee table for all to pour through the pages of farm life, and the amazing creative fiber works that come out of that (Calvin keeps stealing it away to his bed to look at the sheep -  I think I've got an ally on the sheep argument).

A Fine Fleece: Knitting with Handspun Yarns by Lisa Lloyd is another I've been daydreaming in the pages of lately. It has some great information about handspinning, wool, sheep breeds and other technical detals like that. And then 26 amazing knitting patterns - each featuring a handspun beauty as well as a more readily available commercial yarn. The designs are gorgeous - a little beyond my knitting skill, perhaps. But that hasn't stopped me from admiring them and scouting our yarn for a pattern or two that I'd like to give a go at.

For now and until the time is right, we're all quite happy to get our farm fix at our local CSA farm (where this new little one was born last week - just hours before we visited), where they're kind enough to let us hang out and pretend. Which is just what we do.

Comments

[jean]

man oh man. then i'll be calling your farm "our farm".

[Suzanne]

When we bought our little "farm" we considered cows but um...the poop is really big:-) Ask the kids about goats, we have nubians --big floppy ears and roman noses and as my hubby says they poop blueberries, quite easy to clean up...LOL! And you can get milk and cheese from them too:-) It's so fun to dream !

[Sarah]

I will need to get Shear Spirit as we are discussing sheep as well. Or Alpacas. It is fun to dream.

[camerashymomma]

oh man, i will live vicariously through you and your farm! my best friend up in Ithaca just got four sheep last winter and she is SO loving them! she even found a spinner two miles down the road to turn her love into yarn! it's a dream come true for her. i love that ya'll are all on board with your farm, how exciting!!

[brandie]

i really *really* hope the soule family gets their farm someday (soon!). we will definitely come visit...often, unless you have a donkey, no can do with the donkey (too much time spent with them in Honduras!) ;)

[Rebecca]

In the goats vs. cows discussion, I'll contribute that I think goat poop doesn't need to compost before you add it to the garden. I'd double check that somewhere but I think I remember tucking those little pellets into my friend's CSA rows of salad greens.

[Susan]

If you'd like a humorous account from a new sheep farmer (with some goats and chickens thrown in), I recommend Catherine Friend's "Hit by a Farm" http://www.hitbyafarm.com/ I started it last night and I'm almost done, it's that much fun. Enjoy your sheep!

[maya]

I would love sheep. And alpacas. A few chickens.

Actually, we're moving in a couple of months. We are hoping to buy a house and I'm hoping we can have just a couple of chickens there. And a little garden.

That'd be nice.

Happy day to you & yours. :)

[Mary Jo, Five Green Acres]

We just moved to our dream farmette in November, and it's the subject matter of my blog. So far we've got 18 hens and 40 chicks and an overwhelming amount of sprouting seeds for our garden. Oh yes, guinea keets are ordered and on the way, to eat the torrent of ticks, box elder bugs and asian beetles. We've been doing lots and lots of dreaming about what's next. Bees, for sure, next summer. And I'm campaigning pretty hard for a sheep or goat. Milk + fiber + cheese + handmade soap.... What wonderful dreams we have!

Your post also reminded me of something I came across yesterday: a CSA that offers wool shares. There's a listing on etsy: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8815662
What a great idea, no?

Your blog is the first I read everyday, and I'm slowly delving into your book, enjoying every morsel. Thanks so much for all of the motivation!

[~liz]

my husband and i have been tossing around the idea of a few sheep on our acreage. we already have chickens and honeybees (the honeybees are new! we're learning lots!).
i read "hit by a farm" as well - it made me even more excited to have a few woolies animals!
a milk or a beef cow for you? we've tossed that idea around as well...but, oh! the milking twice a day, every day!
those books look like must-reads! thanks for sharing them!

[Sonya]

Amanda, do you know that your blog is a handbook on how to have the perfect life and family? "Perfect" not in the sense of perfect-perfect, but rather "perfect" because of all its shortcomings and moments you spare us :)
Love!

[coffeechris]

ahhh your words are tugging at the heart of this fellow "Farm Dreamer" we too, here dream of "our farm". For now, I really enjoy Kristin Nichols blog Gettingstitchedonthefarm - you and your family would really enjoy her beautiful story righting and pictures on the sheep stories (check out old posts) - and of course her fabulous color, knitting and embroidery. You both are my daily morning blog reading. Thank you.

[Kim]

Hi. I'm a new reader of your blog. I have to add my vote. Go with the goats over a cow. I've had both and goats are much easier. Their manure is tidy and they can be managed by children.

I have sheep and I LOVE them. They make my day complete with their peaceful grazing, lovey eyes watching me as I bring the grain, and the lambs . . . they just cannot be beat!

Kim

[elliebelle]

I always wanted goats, but we lived in town - and then my parents built a house in the country when I was in college! haha - but it sure is fun to go visit. No goats - but horses, dogs and cats - and great cross country skiing trails in the winter! :) I hope you find your dream farm soon.

[Allison]

If you don't already know of it, you'd probably enjoy the British documentary TV series Escape to River Cottage (followed by Return to River Cottage, River Cottage Forever, and Beyond River Cottage, etc). The shows follow Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (a food/cookery writer) on his adventures of becoming a smallholder. He starts with chickens and pigs (and a big veggie plot). In later series he adds sheep and cows. The shows are very inspiring.

[Melody]

Oh how exciting! I would love to get back out to a "true" farm again! As it is, I have a "backyard farm" on my 1/3 acre lot. We have rabbits, chickens, and ducks.

I adore chickens! I love the fact that I can turn kitchen scraps (they'd love your kids' compost soup!) into rich, yellow-yolked eggs. They are adorable as chicks and wonderful as adults. Take a look at many of the fascinating breeds at mcmurrayhatchery.com (ask for a catalog, too!) They have more breeds than any other hatchery I know. It is also where we got our Runner Ducks that stand up straight and tall.

Goats are nice. My favorite breed is the Nubian. Nubians are milk-goats, and all the ones I've known think they are dogs...they follow around like a pet. One lady I know had to lock hers up when she took a walk because the goat would always follow her. Goats give about 2-4 qts of milk a day, compared to a cow's gallon in the morning and at night, so I can keep up better with the goat's milk than a cows. On the first day, when it is truly fresh, goat's milk tastes very much like cow milk. Thereafter it starts tasting just a bit "goaty", though not terrible. You could turn excess milk into goat milk soap too, that would be a new project!

Oh! I am so envious! Have fun day-dreaming and also turning the dreams into a reality!

[Kate]

your farm dreams sound so much like our farm dreams (chickens also a must, and we dream of a cow as well!)....something tells me your dream will be realized well before ours will! And I can't wait for that because living vicariously through your life is almost as great as enjoying our own!

[lunemalo]

You and your family are my own American dream ;-))

[charlotte]

oops, meant to actually write something in this box...like how much I love your someday farm and that picture of Adelaide stallside. giving away some felted wool on my blog- for those of us who skip the farm-sheep-shear-spin-knit steps. xoC

[heather]

i love pretending and dreaming about our farm too... though i think the real estate market is keeping us right here a couple more years, which has me rethinking the idea of urban homesteading and what that means for us. we are trying several new things this year... stay tuned. i'll be staying tuned for sure to things on your end. i so hope your farm dreams come true soon, i really understand that aching need to be closer to the earth.

[Outi]

Great post, I would love to have a farm too. I have worked in various farms in different countries and though I'm sure that you have been researching the subject thoroughly, here are some quick tips from my experience:

I would rather choose something else than a cow, as they need to be milked twice a day. Sheep are easy, I worked once in a farm with 1000 sheep and over 100 cows, and the sheep were way easier to handle (you can get professionals to cut the wool). I would vote for chicken too, they are rather easy to care for as well. Goats can be stubborn and sometimes they are difficult to catch. Geese can be pretty agressive in groups.

Thanks for your blog, I've been reading it for a while, but commented today for the first time. I'm looking forward to hearing from you farm (and other creative stuff)!

[amanda]

Hello- I just wanted to comment on the last post, about the cameras? When I was a kid I really enjoyed making pinhole cameras. They really help to teach about photography and are a pretty exciting way to take pictures. There's an excellent site about making them here-- http://users.rcn.com/stewoody/. It seems like a lot of work, but it's worth it!

[kendra]

Our family has the same dream. And since we already have chickens, sheep are at the top of my list. They are just so adorable and gentle.

[Rachel]

That is so exciting to read about your farm. I too grew up reading the Laura Ingalls books...they were so influential. We did end up having a farm begin to form when I was about 12. Chickens, ducks, horses, pigs, geese and a burro! I am sure you know about the James Herriot books: All Creatures Great and Small and many more. I don't know at what age they are appropriate but they too are so inspiring and exciting. My brother and I had to save 400$ before we could buy a horse...that was a great lesson. Best wishes on your new adventure!

[Jessie Earth Momma]

My daughter and I are reading Little House on the Prairie. Its great you mentioned 'super hero'. Little Laura Ingalls Wilder is my DD's super hero.

[Stacy]

We have the SAME conversations at our house!

What I love is this: even when there are seasons when I feel rather doubtful about it (land is too expensive), my children will throw in something like, "When we have a farm, we'll get a cow, mama!" ~smile~ When. It's a for-sure thing to them, because I planted that dream in their minds, years ago, and they don't fuss about all the details.

In the meantime we're gardening and do have chickens on our city lot, so we're doing our tiny version of a farm already.

Blessings to you and yours!
~Stacy

[Vintage-at-Heart]

There is nothing cuter than lambs and baby goats. We have all of your choices on our farm and they are a joy....and work. But, I wouldn't trade my country life.

[Lori]

I love your blog and I read it all the time. It's inspired me to make one of my own. I'm not as good at it as you are but it's fun!
Thanks for your inspiration on both blogging and crafting!
Congratulations on your new book!
Blessings,
Lori

[Julie Roth]

lots of farm dreaming going on out there! Here too!
I heard Catherine Friend speak recently. (sensitive, hilarious, wise)
Her recent children's book THE PERFECT NEST is one to check out, as well.
lovely post Amanda!, and for another look at sheep....
I loved this book (and her others):

The BARN AT THE END OF THE WORLD: THE APPRENTICESHIP OF A QUAKER, BUDDHIST SHEPHERD
by Mary Rose O'Reilley (MN author)
http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/bookreview/item_2194.html

[Mary Ann]

I've never left a comment on your lovely blog, though I have read it for some time now. But I am compelled to say, now, that I am 1,000% behind Ezra on the donkey. They are surprisingly wise and loving beasties and bring the right kind of rootedness to any family farm.

[SpiderWomanKnits]

I grew up just outside of NYC but the farm life was always a dream of mine. I would cringe every time someone would say to me, even as a child, "Keep dreaming!" in a derogatory way. But you know what? I DID keep dreaming and last year we bought a farmhouse in VT and just welcomed our first flock of chickens/baby chicks. Next on the list is to fence in some pasture for horses, pigs, and probably goats.

Dreams are the stuff that life is made of! So, Keep Dreaming and I mean that in the most positive way!

[melissa s.]

We 'farm talk' around here alot, too. A goat is on the top of my list and my son wants a cow (and a dinosaur, he's 4). Happy day to you!

[Annika]

Nothing is ever above your skill level, it's just more complex than you have yet attempted. You can do it!

[Stacie Smith]

I'm just dreaming about being a part of a CSA. Sounds like Denver has critical mass in the CSA department. A friend of mine said she called the day it opened and the line was busy. When she did through the CSA was full. It sounded a lot like the days of calling to win tickets from the radio. Crazy. I guess we should have all camped out at the ticket, um.. farm gate. Ha!

[shelle]

funny! our dream farm is in new zealand, we want goats and chickens, but we are now also happy visiting.

[Bethany]

I grew up in an Ag College town and visiting the sheep department when the ewes were lambing was a yearly pilgrimage. Over the years I saw a lot of lambs being born for someone not raised a country mouse. It was pretty awe-some.

You'll have to get a donkey to protect the sheep :-) I hear it is good for deterring wandering coyotes or whatever large predators you may have in Maine to have a donkey hanging out with the sheep.

Who looks after your sheep when you go on vacation, though? Do you get a sheep-sitter?

[Abigail Davenport]

I am also waiting for my someday farm. Sheep are definitely a good addition and I support the other posts that are weighing in favor of goats over a cow. Goats are great. Someday...

[Tameson O'Brien]

Amanda, you don't have to wait 'til you get sheep to start...NH sheep and wool is coming up on May 10th in Hopkinton, the Maine fiber frolic is June 7th in Windsor and if you can wait that long the Common Ground Fair this fall in Unity will have a wicked huge tent of fleeces for sale.
I have 4 crosses and they are just such lovely creatures. I go park myself out in the pasture and they'll come munch around me and come up for a scratch on the china and a kiss on the firehead, and my heart rate slows and blood pressure decreasesand no matter what happened that day I am at peace with the world.
I hope your dreams come true.

[kosenrufu mama]

a farm, it's one of my dreams.....

[Wendy]

Have you read Gaia Girls? It might be a good read-aloud, especially if everyone has farms on the mind.

[beverley]

I couldn't help noticing your throw on your table (under the knitting books) I have the same one!!
HE heeehe!

[Leah]

I'm also dreaming of a farm someday. I belong in the country. On the top of my list is chickens, bees, and goats. Oh, and of course a huge, massive veggie garden and fruit trees. Can't wait!!

[Claudia]

That's funny! We are negotiating about a couple of sheeps in our "dream farm", too!

I finally got your book and it is as good as I thought... thank you for inspiring us all!

[MatchMomma]

LOL! I was just on youtube checking out kick spindles... ohhhhh I want one! It looks like so much fun... plus if you had the sheep then you would cut one expense!
Go for it!!
:-)

[avery]

I vote for honey bees! I keep three hives right in the city of Seattle, so you'll not have a problem with them on your farm, no matter the size or location. Kids and adults alike get sucked in to the very purposeful lives of bees. Opening the hives to watch "the girls" at work is as close as I get to a religious practice. Amazing.

[Geertrude]

I love the farm dreaming. We have never thought about it seriously (a farm would be way to expensive for us and we have also dreams of traveling, which is a bit hard when you have lots of animals to take care of), but we have secondhand farmjoys now. Across the road where we live there is a field where sheep are kept by a farmer down the road. They come out as soon as the weather gets warmer and we enjoy them all summer. Yesterday we saw there were really young lambs this time (the farmer usually keeps those on fields closer to his home). One black and two white. So cute!

[Lisa]

Hi Amanda! I didn't realize until this post that you have these wonderful, realizable farm dreams! I came to farming a couple years ago from a very different, very urban life ... we'll be starting our own family soon and one of the things I love most is daydreaming about how wonderful, and formative, it will be for our kiddos to grow up on our farm - to feel connected to the land and what it can provide in that way, and, gosh, all the ready lessons there will be about work and life and death and nourishment ... I'm so happy for you!

[Sally McEntire]

My kids dream of having a farm too. We do have backyard chickens, which are a lot of fun. I would love a goat, so I can make cheese. You have inspired me to go farm visiting!

[Brandy]

My man and I have been having that same conversation on a weekly basis for years..I'm all about the goats so I can try my hand at cheese making, then some fancy chickens, then some geese. and of course a horse. I go batty like a 10 year old girl for horses! Whenever I see the police horses our for their strolls I HAVE to meet them and I love them so much I feel close to tears! I'm probably the only city girl who loves the smell of horses!

[Carrie]

How perfect, The Soule Family Farm, Yes you must do it! It is perfect!!!!!