Desert Weyr Blog
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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
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We’ve Got Wool!
We just got back from our trip to the eastern slope to pick up wool. The bed of the pickup truck was filled with rovings! We also had two huge boxes of yarns inside the cab. Most of the wool is from our Black Welsh Mountain sheep, but we also blended some with Western Finewool… Continue reading
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Nitrates and Grazing
Typical farming news today. We planted oats in a new pasture to provide some grazing during the summer slump. We repeated that in the early fall for our sheep to enjoy as temperatures started to fall. We always do testing on our forages to balance the minerals we give our sheep. Before grazing the pasture,… Continue reading