Speaking of the farm, all the animals and the farmers seem to be settling in to their various roles. The llamas know their routine and the sheep theirs. At first we had to plan how we were going to trick the llamas into going to the barn when we wanted. Now we can get them to go to the catch in the barn without uttering a word. For good or for bad the sheep are quite easily attracted to us as well. They are all motivated by food—and specifically the knowledge that we bring it to them—but we don’t care if it gets them to do what we want. This is especially good for us now that the weather has started to get colder.

For the most part caring for the animals takes between ten and forty-five minutes a day of either of our time. In the morning after the dogs are fed, one of us walks down to the cabin and gets grain to give to the llamas. As soon as the animals see us enter the Magic Food Cabin^TM they gather as near as they can. When we eventually come out they walk the fence line to meet the food bringer at the gate. I usually put the metal coffee can full of grain under my sweatshirt or jacket to buy myself a few seconds and to help keep prying noses and mouths from getting a sneak taste.

The sheep are pushier even though they don’t get a daily ration like the llamas—who are still growing boys…err…geldings. I have to bop the sheep lightly on their foreheads with my fist to deter them, and they still persist. Once I manage to get into the paddock, I take a direct route to the gate that closes the catch. The llamas, knowing the procedure, make their way into the catch and leave it to me to attempt to keep the sheep at bay.

Once the llamas are isolated from the sheep, I give them each their allotment of grain in their individual feeding buckets, which we’ve mounted on separate walls of the barn. If the llamas weren’t isolated the sheep would stand on their hind legs and attempt to get to the grain with their noses or by knocking the feeder off the wall. This is exactly what they do when the llamas are done with their breakfast, and I have re-opened the gate to the catch. They push through the opening before the llamas can get out and while I am still opening the gate.

Lately, I have adjusted the process by throwing a bale of hay over the fence before I enter the paddock with the grain. The more aggressive sheep—Zinnia, Manta and Aretha—will still try to crash the llama’s breakfast, but it is still easier than when the six of them work together.

Once everyone is occupied with their breakfasts, I check on their water supply. Until recently we used a hose and a Coleman cooler for their water, but we knew this method wouldn’t work for the winter. A few weeks ago, on the advice of the president of the Hooved Animal Sanctuary in Chelsea, Vermont, we ordered a heated bucket that also has a thermostat. Now the water will not freeze, and the bucket will only turn on when the temperature falls below 35°F (1.7°C). The cord is tucked under the bucket and I was able to feed it under the barn to plug it in to an electrical outlet. The cord also has a spiral of wire around it to deter the animals from chewing on it. I made some small modifications to the barn so that the cord will not be an enticement for the curious crew.

After the water, I do a quick sweeping of the barn’s floor. On the advice of Marian White, we decided to use stall mats instead of straw bedding. Straw bedding makes for dirtier fleeces, and more work when it comes time to cleaning the fiber before it is processed. Some people simply throw more and more straw on the barn floor and then wait until mud season to muck all of the manure and straw in one back-breaking chore. Since we are shooting for clean fleeces that we don’t have to clean as much once it has been shorn, we prefer to sweep the barn every few days and take the manure to a pile just outside the paddock. The pile will make excellent compost for our gardens and pastures. Luckily, llamas prefer to do their business outside of the barn in a community pile. Every few days or so the piles can be removed with a shovel and wheelbarrow. One of the great things about llama manure is that it can be applied directly to a garden even during the growing season as it will not burn like other high-nitrogen manures. We figure if we don’t sell enough fiber we can go into the llama poo business.

At this point, during the warmer months, I normally open the gate to the upper pastures and allow the animals to graze; however, with our nascent pasture already a bit weak, we gave it the winter off starting in late September. In the spring we will begin to use the temporary fencing to allocate strips of grazing areas, and the animals’ manure will help enrich the soil and build a better pasture over time. Each week we move the fencing around to give the animals a fresh area to nosh. In the fall we would normally apply some outside source of manure (cow’s) to fertilize the soil, but we did that this past summer before the livestock arrived, so we’ll do that again next autumn.

As I make my way out of the paddock, I tick off the various completed chores in my head, and check that the electric fence is on—and strong—while I lock the paddock gate behind me. If the voltage has dropped for some reason, I check the fence to see if a plant is leaning against it, or if some other animal has broken a wire.

In the evenings, one of us goes down to the barn and checks on the animals again before leaving them for the night. If we hadn’t cleaned the barn in the morning, we do it at this time. Overall, the chores are rather invigorating, and I personally find that I can work through the things I have on my mind while doing them, making the time pass quickly.

This past weekend, we administered the deworming shots to the llamas by ourselves, which was interesting. We have had some experience giving shots to our dog Mickey, but it isn’t nearly the same. Llamas are pure muscle, and finding a fold of skin loose enough to administer the shot subcutaneously was difficult. Ultimately, I ended up pulling at the animals’ fiber to give me enough room to insert the needle, while Sarah calmed each animal and attempted to keep them still.

I think we are doing okay, so far. Now, if we can all survive the winter. Wish us luck.

I have to admit I was a little nervous about the switch. Though Marian had given us a chance to practice our sheep-wrangling skills on her flock, this was the first time we’d have to capture an individual on our farm. Sheep are crafty, slippery little buggers. They can jump like deer and squeeze through tiny openings, and I was concerned that if something went amiss we might be chasing sheep all morning.

We did our best to prepare. First, we lured all of the sheep into a catch pen that Rick had set up in the barn. Then Rick and Marian unloaded the large pet carrier that held Caramel, our remaining ewe lamb, and brought it over to the catch pen gate. We cracked the gate a tiny bit, then opened the carrier. After a moment and a little coaxing, Caramel jumped out of the crate to join the other sheep. Meanwhile, I had managed to grab the ram lamb while he and the others were distracted by grain. I was very careful to keep a grip on one of his horns so that he could not flail and jab me. He struggled for several seconds, then went completely limp as I tried to shuffle him over to the carrier. With a sigh of relief I shoved him in and we slammed the door. By this time, the females were all checking out the new arrival, and after the ram was safely loaded into Marian’s truck we let the sheep out.

Our guard llama Kuzco immediately sensed the new arrival and chased her a little, trying to get close for a good sniff. After a few minutes he too seemed to accept the new girl, so we turned the whole flock out on pasture. Marian departed and we turned our attention to other chores.

During the swap process I had been expecting Aretha to put up some sort of protest about what was going on. I’m not sure what I was anticipating, but I thought she might try to block my attempts to grab her lamb, if not aggressively at least by standing in the way or allowing the ram to hide behind her. But it had been very easy to nab him, and Aretha did not seem to notice that I had done so.  Soon, though, it became obvious that she had noticed.

Aretha is our flock matron, and quite vocal. She will “baaah” at me for grain, or to be let out to fresh grass. She will use the same short call to bring the other sheep to her if they are lagging at a distance.  But the call she made after the ram was gone was quite different. It was long, and loud, and persistent.  Periodically and throughout the afternoon, Aretha would launch into her calls, looking around the field for her “missing” lamb. She would graze, amble about, and chew cud as well, but whenever her maternal instinct was triggered (which often seemed to correspond to when her remaining ewe lamb would come over to nurse) she would let out a course of bellows.  At first I felt guilty for having taken away her baby and caused her such stress. But as the afternoon wore on I quickly understood why shepherds complained about weaning time.  Imagine having several, dozens, even hundreds of ewes carrying on like this! On Monday Aretha was still complaining but by Tuesday she had either forgotten about the ram or given up on finding him.  I was glad to see her back to her usual behavior, for my sake too.

We were pleased that the hand-off had gone smoothly, and also glad that Marian approved of our barn and pasture setup. We certainly couldn’t have pulled off the transition to being shepherds without all of her help. Having successful experiences boosts our confidence as well. We’re looking forward to our next challenge: the first sheering day, coming up in September.

Our small barn is located at the bottom of the driveway, and as I do every morning on my way out, on Thursday I slowed down as I passed to have a peek at the animals and make sure all was well. Alarmingly, I saw one of our grown ewes, Anisette, laying by herself at the edge of the barn in a very awkward position with one leg sticking up at a weird angle. My first thought was, “Oh, no, one of the sheep is dead!” This was immediately followed by “Marian is going to kill me!” Heart pounding, I hit my breaks, ready to leap out of the car, when the sound of gravel under the tires caught the flock’s attention. Anisette popped her head up, righted herself, then stood looking at me as if to say “What?” Though I was overjoyed to see she was OK, I was confounded by my misinterpretation.

After hearing this story, a coworker suggested that perhaps Anisette had been interrupted during her morning yoga routine. I thought the idea of a farmer freaking out over her yoga-practicing livestock would make a great one-panel cartoon (a la Gary Larson’s “The Far Side”). Too bad I can’t draw worth a dime, but if any of our readers can I encourage you to use the idea. Maybe it could even be printed on a t-shirt.

Our llamas did seem fairly comfortable right off: exploring the paddock, taking dust baths, lying down, and generally making themselves at home. But they were also humming quite a bit, which we took for uncertainty mixed with a bit of homesickness.  Over the next couple of days we adjusted to the new routine of feeding them their grain in the morning (at two years old they’re still growing), freshening their hay supply, and letting them out on pasture.

Then, on Tuesday, our Navajo-Churro sheep arrived.  We woke up early and met Marian at 7:15 for our third sheep-wrangling lesson. (We have been helping her with shearing and vaccinations to get a little handling experience before getting our own sheep).  This time, the whole flock was locked in her barn, and our mission was to find and capture the six sheep that we were taking without letting anyone escape. We grabbed Aretha (our flock matron) first, then her two lambs.  Next came two more ewe lambs: Zinnia and one of Sombrero’s triplets from this year, who Rick has decided to name “Manta” (”blanket” in Spanish). Lastly, we managed to capture wily Anisette (one of Sombrero’s daughters from last year). Aretha’s ram lamb will stay with us for a couple of weeks until he’s weaned, then we’ll trade him in (so to speak) for a lovely fawn-colored ewe lamb, and this will be our starter flock.

We drove Marian’s pickup truck to our place and Rick backed it through the barnyard gate skillfully. Then we threw open the tailgate with gusto and waited expectantly to see sheep come bounding out.  But there was no bounding, so Rick duck-walked into the covered cab to give the group some encouragement. Once the sheep had landed on the ground, they remained in a tight bunch while exploring their new digs. They quickly found some hay and grass and noticed the llamas but didn’t seem very interested in them (having been raised on a farm with a guard llama). The llamas however, were quite startled by the sheep.  The initial reaction seemed to be “What the hell are those things?” followed by the realization that at least they didn’t seem to be predators (seeing as how they had spindly legs, lacked sharp teeth, and enjoyed eating hay).

Rick and I watched the interaction for a bit, then decided to leave the animals to make their own introductions. By the time we had returned from dropping off Marian’s truck and grabbing a quick breakfast, Kuzco’s curiosity had gotten the better of him and he was approaching, sniffing, and even chasing the sheep. Guinness, being the more reserved llama, was still unsure of the new arrangement and kept his distance while observing and smelling his new barn-mates.

We wanted the sheep and llamas to get used to hanging out in close proximity with each other, so we limited them to the paddock for their first day in order to force the acquaintance a bit. When we let them onto pasture the next day, we were very pleased to see that the whole group stuck together, with either Kuzco or Aretha leading everyone around. Kuzco also practiced his new-found herding skills, guiding the occasional errant lamb back towards the adult ewes. It has been amazing to see an untrained animal’s natural instincts for protection and leadership come out in such a strong way.  And though it has taken Guinness a little longer to ease into the shepherding role, he is definitely adopting his new status as flock co-guardian. He and Kuzco even take turns lying down or acting as lookout. And once the sheep adjusted to being in a new space the flock noticeably relaxed and has been more spread out while grazing or taking an occasional nap.

So ready or not, we are farmers, and the first week has been a blast. Granted, we haven’t been presented with any complicated situations yet, and we have a miniscule number of animals compared to anyone who raises sheep for a living. But this is the start of yet another new adventure. Not only are the sheep and llamas fun and amusing, but we have met so many awesome people in the process of acquiring them. We are very lucky to live in such a supportive and close-knit community and only hope we can be good shepherds, good neighbors, and good stewards of this beautiful place.

It’s a funny thing when Rick and I start brainstorming about the projects we want to take on. Our ideas have a way of growing and expanding.

After our first winter living in Tunbridge, we decided that we really wanted to have a garage (so that we would not have to dig/chisel out our cars every time we had a snow/ice event). But why pay for just a garage when, by adding a rental unit on the second floor, we can make back the construction cost? So while we’re at it we asked Dick Robson to design in the perfect apartment for a law-school student, and asked George White & Company to build it. Rick hatched a brilliant scheme to document the project, so you too can follow along with the progress on the construction cam .

Of course one major building project was not enough for us. Oh no. When we cleared the invasive white pine trees from the front of our property, we had in mind that it was not only to improve the driveway but also to provide a sense of open space and an area for a big garden. Keeping land open in the self-reforesting climate of Vermont is no easy task, nor is converting the thin, acidic soil into a medium to support vegetables. So we started thinking of solutions to both of these problems. What would be the most economical, environmentally friendly way to keep the land open and improve the soil? Why, animals of course, specifically sheep. (Besides, I’ve become enamored of knitting and having wool producers would be an added benefit.) Fortunately we met Marian White of Land & Lamb and she introduced us to her Navajo-Churro sheep , a rare breed that is diminutive and hearty. We’ve raised rare and heirloom vegetables, so why not sheep while we’re at it?

Before getting our sheep, we realized we need to provide shelter and protection for them, so we enlisted the help of our friend Justin Ferro to build a small pole barn to shield the flock from summer sun and winter winds. We’ve also contracted with Gordon Barnaby of the Corner Rail Fence Company to install an electric fence for us. But, after further research, we weren’t sure if an electric fence would be enough protection for the sheep. Sure, it would keep them in the pasture, but would it keep predators out?

While we’re at it, we decided to enlist the help of a proven guard species: llamas. Llamas have demonstrated their ability to intimidate and literally stamp out livestock predators. They are naturally curious and instinctively move towards anything "new" or threatening. Their large size is a deterrent to coyotes, dogs, foxes, and even bear. Several shepherds I’ve talked to also said that their guard llama(s) move the flock into the barn at night, or herd them to different grazing areas during the day. And unlike sheep dogs who require months of training, llamas work purely on natural instinct. It took several weeks of searching before we found the right llamas for our situation, but thanks to Don and Sue Mellen of Autumn Mountain Farm , we found two males (Guinness and Kuzco ) who we think will be excellent guards for our starter flock. (They have excellent fleece to boot!)

When we moved to Vermont it took a while to find a small, well-built house on good property. It took longer for us to both find jobs that we enjoy. Now we’re looking forward to our new roles as landlords and farmers. There is a lot to learn, and sometimes we feel overwhelmed by all of the changes. But we moved here not just to escape city life, but to have new adventures.

Despite the size of our plot, we only mow a small portion of the yard immediately surrounding the house. Notice I used the word “yard” and not the term “grass,” and certainly not “lawn.” From a distance our yard may look like grass, but it is mostly made up of many grass-like plants. Not being a big fan of the work (or chemicals) involved in maintaining a real lawn, we are happy to let the yard go au natural. However, not so much that the house is obscured by the inevitable not-really-grass forest.

It doesn’t hurt that the “lawn” mower is incapable of the stamina required to mow more than we currently do. The mower we have was a housewarming gift from my father, leftover from our house in Maryland where we had a postage-sized plot which could easily be mowed in under 30 minutes on one charge.

Yes, charge.

Our mower is a cordless rechargeable, and—I assume—quite unusual in rural Vermont, even with a large hippie population fighting global warming. It suits our needs and has enough power to cut as much not-really-grass as we need.

In fact, the mower’s limited power has helped inspire the landscaping surrounding the house. Well, that, and I got a late start on the mowing this year due to the rainier spring. The result was that the areas I left to grow on their own produced nice patches of wild flowers. We still have to keep on the alert for aggressive and invasive species—and definitely thistle.

So, how’s the weather?

After not one, not two, but at least four April snow storms, the weather has finally warmed up enough to melt the snow and ice and turn the grass green. While we enjoyed winter, we’re more than ready for spring. It’s time to get outside, get grubby and sun-burnt, and finish a few projects we started last fall, like preparing an area for our first vegetable garden, and ripping out the last of the wild blackberries to make way for some creeping juniper in front of the house. If we’re industrious, we may be able to get a fall crop of greens in this year. Meanwhile, we’ll have our CSA subscription this summer for our supply of fresh vegetables.

Long-distance Visitors

Last week, Alison stopped by for a visit on her way around the country on an extended road trip. It was a lot of fun meeting her after reading her blog for years. Meeting Maude was also great, and introducing her to Haley was hilarious (for the humans). To Haley’s credit, she was generally respectful of Maude’s space and kept the obnoxiousness under control fairly well. Alison, Rick, Maude and I also got to enjoy the first fire of the season, under the benefit of a bright, clear night.

Decorating Dilemas

The sectional sofa we ordered in February arrived yesterday. We were overjoyed at the prospect of finally having something comfortable to sit on in the living room, especially something that holds two people and two dogs comfortably. So overjoyed were we that we got absolutely nothing done yesterday…no shopping, no errands, no cleaning, and no gardening. We did get a lot of talking about decorating done while we watched the NFL draft. No final decisions have been made about the living room, and it seems unlikely that we’ll be able to finalize a plan for the space until we put up a banister on the open-sided staircase, to replace the sideboard/bar that currently serves the purpose of keeping the dogs from jumping off the fifth step, and which I’d like to move into the living room, since it doesn’t really fit in the kitchen. It’s much more complicated than it needs to be, this decorating business.

We’re also having trouble deciding where to hang all of the art we have. I think this is left-over “renter’s syndrome.” I don’t think Rick or I have ever completely decorated a place before, and so making choices about paint colors, furniture arrangements and locations of artworks on walls is a bit overwhelming. The most “done”room is our bedroom, which still needs touch-up paint and new curtains, among other minor details. Still, we’ve at least chosen the colors in there and most of the furniture is either in place or on order.

Building Blog

In other news, we’re making slow progress on the garage/apartment building project. The next step is to test for and design a septic system for the apartment (an easier and more cost-effective choice than trying to get a permit to tie the apartment in to our existing septic system). We’ve been waiting until the end of mud season to get an excavator up our driveway, so that we can dig test pits, conduct percolation tests, and hopefully find a suitable place on the property for the new system. Once the septic is finalized and our permit is approved we’ll be able to move forward with the design of the building itself. The finished structure will most likely resemble a barn from the outside, except for the possibility of a second-story balcony off of the living room of the apartment. We’re also hoping that we will have enough room in the budget to convert our current electrical system over to solar (for both the main house and the garage/apartment). Much of such budgetary flexibility will have to do with the amount of sweat equity that Rick and I are able to put into the new building - tiling, laying floors, hanging drywall, installing trim, and other finishing work. Here’s hoping that all of the hours we’ve spent watching HGTV and the DIY Network will pay off!

That type of daydreaming is useful and fun, but the next step is a little more difficult: where do we put what? Some of the decisions are already made for us. We didn’t stump the area to the left of the driveway (as you look out from our front porch), so that will remain a wild meadow. We’ll throw down grass and let that compete with the ferns and other naturally occurring plants while keeping an eye out for saplings that might threaten to crowd the driveway again. I’ve dubbed this the “hippie garden,” a place where we can experiment with whimsical features like a gazing ball, yard art, or even a small pond. We might also use it for an area to put our chicken house, if or when we get to that stage.

To the right of the driveway is the much larger expanse of land that runs from the house to the cabin, with a second “field” further off to the right of the house. This second field was an unexpected but welcome outcome from having the area stumped and graded by our contractor, Bob, who really is “an artist with a bulldozer”, as our forester dubbed him. Bob opened up level, firm, rich soil in an area that I, for one, assumed would be too sloping and rocky to be usable. Turns out it was just a big pile of dirt waiting to be smoothed flat. We might use part of this space for a greenhouse or two, but there will be more room for planting as well.

Still a third area that we need to address is the steep slope directly in front of the house. Currently there are some wild blackberries growing there, along with some sumac and various other native…well, weeds. At first, I was trying to convince Rick that we should dig up the weeds and keep the berries, but after getting snagged in their sharp thorns while harvesting the small, somewhat bitter fruits I think it would be better to tear out all the plants and start fresh, either with a variety of cultivated berry with a better taste, or with an low-growing ornamental evergreen like juniper that wouldn’t get out of hand and crowd our amazing view.

Needless to say, we have some ideas but we’re not quite sure how to proceed. Where do we plant the various crops? How large of a vegetable patch should we carve out the first year? Where will the berries go? Do we have a good spot to grow our own hops? (We both have a keen interest in home-brewing.) Luckily, between Rick’s contacts that he’s developed through the Vermont Master Gardeners, our neighbors who have been gardening on a large scale here for over twenty years, and the knowledge we already have from other gardens, we have some good resources to tap into. It just may take a while before we really learn the quirks of our land and this new growing climate.

While it isn’t necessarily as exciting as the logging part of the project, if you are interested, you can watch the excavation on the webcam.

If you have sheep you want to graze in our field next Spring, contact us.

The picture here was taken early this morning as the crew was clearing the spaces necessary for the chipper truck, and other machinery. Since then the process has sped up considerably. We have taken the “before” photos, and Sarah has shot some video footage we hope to upload soon. We will document as much of the process as we can. This is only the first step. The next is for a bulldozer to come in to push all the stumps into a ravine, bury as much as possible, move the bigger rocks to create a retaining wall below the leach field, and finally level some of the land. After that it is up to us to start a cover crop to get us through the winter. In between, we will take a soil sample to see what we will need to do to make our new fields as fertile as possible.

Watch the webcam today if you can stand the carnage.

Update: We made a short Quicktime video (with music!) from the footage we shot.