A BIT ABOUT BLOOMIN’ ACRES
2005 has been a
very busy one for us here on the farm.
We completed our 4th season with plants sales on ebay and
continue to grow that segment of our business.
We’ve been approved for the 2006 season at the Fayetteville Farmers
Market and hope to begin establishing a local client base for our flowers,
shrubs, fresh eggs and gourds through this wonderful market.
We also
completed our first lambing season with the last set of twins being born the
middle of June. As new shepherds, we
learned a lot! With most of the ewes
being first time mothers, we had to learn together, but we made it through and
have some lovely additions to the flock.
We purchased an additional 8 ewes in September, bringing the flock to a
total of 22. There are a few rams for
sale now and we hope to have ewe lambs for sale in the spring.
We’ve met many
wonderful people locally and across the United States with our involvement in
the Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America (ISBONA) and a Washington County
grazing group. There are numerous folks
out that willing to share their experiences and help us with our challenges
along the way.
We were blessed
to attend an artificial insemination seminar in New York during October. This event was sponsored by ISBONA and
taught by two very knowledgeable gentlemen from the Southram Station in
Iceland. This is a new vaginal
technique and we hope to begin AI with our flock during the 2006 breeding
season. While in New York, we attended
the Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck.
What a treat this was! It is
amazing to see all of the possibilities for our fleeces and yarns in the years
to come.
Shearing was
completed today and we have 22 lovely
fleeces. In addition, we are about to
send off fleece from the spring shearing to be processed into roving. Ultimately, we will process into yarns, but
that is still a few years away.
I’ve also been
trying my hand with a drop spindle and have just completed my first skein of
yarn. Many have suggested the
importance of understanding the fiber quality of the individual animals and
this has helped me learn what the spinners are seeking in a quality
fleece. Spinning is also a very
relaxing pass time and I hope to turn that yarn into some beautiful finished
products at some point.
Icelandic
chickens were introduced to the farm this year. We hatched out 3 birds and hope to add more next spring. Be sure to visit our web page on these
beautiful birds for more information.
Nine baby
ducklings were hatched out in the spring.
They bring us much enjoyment and are great fun to watch as they waddle
around the farm.
We enjoyed a
visit from the Greenland 4H club earlier in the year. We told them a bit about the differences in the Icelandic breed
of sheep and those that they are more familiar with. We also transplanted herbs for entry into the fair this
summer. It was a great group of kids
and I know we enjoyed the day as much if not more than they did! A sense of “giving back” for all that we
have learned this year is an added bonus for us with these new experiences.
We’re working frantically to get a new irrigation system installed in the green
house, complete a new working area for the sheep and improve our pasture
quality for the sheep. These projects
and 22 fleeces should keep us busy through the winter months ahead.
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