Time Flies...

So once again I have failed to keep up with posts on this blog. I'll try to do a quick recap of the past two months and then hopefully I can keep an updated blog. The past two months have flown by so fast, with final exams and my summer job (unrelated to the farm but partially sheep related), selling lambs and wool, and shows and sales. I guess the best way to tackle all of this is chronological order.

The first thing was the Maryland sheep and Wool Festival at the beginning of May which was a a lot of fun. It was great to help show some romneys and catch up with the breeders. Unfortunately immediately after the show I had to head back up to school in order to study for my final exams.

The ewes on summer pasture.

The next thing was the selling of most of this years lamb crop. We sold most our lambs soon after they were weaned making it easier for us to transition to the summer season. This is the least intensive season of being a shepherd, since most of the lambs are sold and the sheep are just regaining body weight lost during lactation and relaxing for most of the summer. It's also the time of the cheapest feed bill since the ewes will be getting most of their energy requirements from the grass instead of a concentrate feed or hay. The ewes will enjoy all of the pasture to themselves until the fall when we introduce the rams for breeding.

There was also the National Romney Sale in Wooster, Ohio at the Great Lakes Fiber Show during Memorial Day weekend. This was another great opportunity to meet up with new and old breeders and help during both the show and sale. It was also nice to have a dinner with the breeders at a local restaurant where we could catch up and chat over good tasting food. 

Yearling ewes at the National Sale

Each year most of the wool I shear goes to the Bucks-Montgomery County Wool Pool just across the river in Pennsylvania. A wool pool is where shepherds from a region gather all of their wool together and sell it to a large commercial buyer to get a better price due to the higher volume of wool. Each year at least 20,000 pounds of wool goes through the wool pool from shepherds in Eastern PA, and NJ (since NJ no longer has their own pool). 

I think that briefly covers whats been happening over the past several weeks. I'll strive to post more often in the coming weeks.