Desert Weyr Blog
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More on Sorting Sheep
Yesterday, we gave all the ewe lambs their second shots. All of them were evaluated. I managed to get coats on most of them, but I still need to make 11 more coats, as I ran out of some sizes. The uncoated sheep went back to the orchard on pasture, while the rest are here… Continue reading
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Farm Tour Tomorrow!
Anyone in western Colorado is welcome to come visit us at the Paonia Harvest Festival’s Self-Guided Farm Tour tomorrow between 11 AM and 4 PM. We’ll be here all day talking about our sheep, geese, and chickens. I’ll have meat, wool, and yarn for sale. They’ll also be for sale all day Sunday at the… Continue reading
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US Organic Is Cruel and Inhumane for Livestock
US Organic is cruel and inhumane to livestock. This statement will shock many and be denied by others. US standards for organic production of livestock are cruel and inhumane. They are a travesty of what “organic” should be. In an ideal world, buying organic would mean the products you purchase were produced in a fair… Continue reading
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Wine, Mutton, and Cheese
This past weekend, the three main agricultural businesses on our mesa held a wine, cheese, and mutton tasting. Our farm had slow-cooked mutton shoulder roasts and two Welsh cheeses to taste. Terror Creek Winery brought lovely fondue to go with their Swiss-style wines. Stone Cottage Cellars had a selection of cheeses paired with their wines,… Continue reading
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Escape!
Unfortunately, no pictures for this one – sorry! Things were too chaotic in the heat of the moment. Needless to say, today was a bit more exciting than I wanted. The morning started with the contractor laying out our new shop. The backhoe operator was moving rock piles and getting ready to level the pad.… Continue reading
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Construction Starts!
Construction started today on the replacement for the old bunkhouse building. all the old stumps were removed, and the rocks were screened from the dirt. We saved the good dirt – we always need fill dirt for things, so we’ll use it somewhere eventually. We grow great rocks on Gavin Mesa, but good dirt is… Continue reading
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Hay, Rain, and Sheep Selection
We’ve been busy! We just got a huge shipment of hay in – fortunately, it was right before over an inch of rainfall. Last year, our entire second cutting was destroyed by rain. We buy hay from a neighbor, and we’d already contracted for it, so we were out the entire cost. This year, we… Continue reading
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Ovine Haute Couture
It’s fall, and time once again for the latest in ovine fashions to be unveiled. Fashionable sheep will be sporting the latest in ovine coats for winter, as designer and manufacturer Oogie M feverishly works on her new line for debut later this week. The most fashion-forward ewes will be wearing coats this season to… Continue reading
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Local Food Dinner with Zephyros Farm
One of our local farms, Zephyros Farm, hosted a farm dinner yesterday evening. About 125 people attended the event celebrating local foods. Each course was prepared by a local top chef, and the menu included the sources of all ingredients. Ryan Hardy from Montangna (The Little Nell, Aspen) did the appetizer course. Eleni Stelter (Eleni’s… Continue reading
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Labor Day Musings
On a farm, every day includes at least some labor. Today was no exception. We started the ewe sorting process today. Any that were marked for sale or butcher went into the winter corrals for further evaluation. While this may seem like it’s just physical labor, it’s actually a skill that’s rife with subjective judgments.… Continue reading