Rain soaked ground = fence down = movin’ on to greener pastures!
Posts Tagged ‘sheep’
Crafty Sheep
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged nonsensical fun, sheep on March 18, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Great Lamb, Great Wine
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged sheep on February 27, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
You could say the delicious symphony of a complex wine and flavorful lamb starts here. By “here,” we mean in the vineyard at Heart Arrow Ranch. This past Friday, we continued through the sheep cycle at our farm and herded the flock into the vineyard, starting at the far end in the cabernet sauvignon. Until then, they had been spending the relatively dry winter in the rangeland. In between the rangeland and vineyard, we had them in the corral for a couple days where we could check on new lambs, like this spunky guy:
He was one of the quicker ones. A couple lambs were not agile or big enough to keep up with the herd when we moved them, but luckily, they did not have to go very far, and Adam was kind enough to give a couple a lift on his ATV.
Needless to say, it took a bit of encouragement to get the flock all the way to where we wanted them at the far end of the vineyard. There was so much to taste along the way.
It is relatively simple to keep the sheep in where they are right now. Since the vineyard is fenced on 3 sides by deer fence, we just needed to put up electric netting on the 4th side. Four of the guardian dogs are with them.
The vineyard crew already pruned the canes in this section. While they went ahead and mowed the canes on the ground, they only mowed alternate rows that were not cover cropped. Some of the food value of the vineyard, particularly the sub clover, was lost because of that, but there is still plenty for the ovines to enjoy. We expect them to stay in this section for about a week before we need to move them to where there’s more food – the adjacent section of the vineyard.
Just today, when we went to check on everyone and feed the guardian dogs, we spotted the flock doing what they do best – eating, ruminating, and being generally peaceful in the shade and amongst the vines. Once again, for about a month and a half (until bud break), we get to experience the interconnected relationship of our sheep and the Goldens’ wine grapes. At dinner with good wine and good lamb, wouldn’t you want a gastronomic experience just as complementary?
Farm Fact of the Week
A couple years ago, we participated in a UC Davis research project to try to teach sheep to not eat the grapevines after bud break. This “aversion training” did not work for our sheep and our farm system; management-wise it was not practical. We found that even though the sheep may have “learned” that eating the vines was a negative experience, if there was not enough lush feed for them on the ground, they would want to eat the grapevines. Raising sheep requires some level of management, and when there isn’t enough fresh food in an area for the flock, they will try to look for more. So, it’s always better to have enough fresh pasture available. That’s also why we lease irrigated pasture for them during the dry months.
August Hustle
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged grain, lamb, local food, pigs, potatoes, Potter Valley, sheep, tomatoes on August 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Farming is like dancing – there are slow dances and fast jigs and every pace in between. We’re at another hurried hustle this time of year. Summer crops like tomatoes, eggplant, and cucumbers are giving bloated harvests that call for routine attention.
Making tomato sauce with black plum tomatoes.
Yet under the guise of bounty, nature is slowly inching toward the quieter time of the year – fall and eventually winter – when crops slow down and the land lays still. So we are simultaneously prepping the ground and planting cool weather crops (those biennials like broccoli, lettuce and carrots) and preserving summer’s warm wealth in curing, pickling, making sauce and making sauerkraut.
Romanze potatoes that supplemented Live Power Community Farm CSA shares a few weeks ago.
With the higher food output this year, we’re also striving to consistently provide for markets we haven’t worked with regularly in the past, like Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op and Ukiah Brewing Company and Restaurant. We’re also finding that the markets and nearby restaurants can’t absorb all that we are producing, and CSAs are not in high demand here, so much of our food is shipping to the Bay Area. Hopefully, we are serving our community not just with our food but by bringing outside revenue in during these challenging economic times.
The pick-up truck loaded with an evening harvest of Riverside onions and Russian Banana fingerling potatoes.
As busy as we have been expanding farm production this year, we haven’t had much time to write about the process here. But, we’ve been striving to document with photos the daily work we do to grow as much nutritious, flavorful food as possible. Part of the process has been spending money. As they say, you have to spend money to make money. This season alone, we’ve acquired many tools to help us grow more food so it’s more affordable to buy and so that we don’t strain our bodies:
- three-bottom plow
- flail mower
- Farmall 100 cultivating tractor
- toolbar & flex planters
- 5.5 HP water pump
- hog panels
- poultry netting
- 30′ x 70′ high tunnel
- sunblocker shade structure
One of the flex planters on a toolbar we purchased in the Delta.
The shopping list goes on, and that’s only major capital investments. Fortunately, we don’t always have to buy things outright. Other farmers are lending us equipment or letting us make payments. A community of growers is so essential particularly when when you start out with nothing.
Berkshire pigs enjoying cucumbers
We’re also raising another round of pigs that will be ready in time for the holidays. Not only is pork really tasty, but our pigs will happily eat vegetable culls or whatever does not sell at the farmers market. Heritage Berkshire pork is delicious, so we’re definitely raising those pigs again!
The sheep grazing on irrigate pasture in Potter Valley.
We also bought a few more ewes and lambs to increase our sheep flock. Hopefully by the end of this season, we’ll have about 100 ewes. Our new Shropshire ram, Macho, should be getting familiar with the ladies now…
So, we continue to refine our farming system – doing trials of different crops to see what we can grow well, trying new feed rations and growing better hay and pasture for cost-effective yet delicious meat, fine-tuning all the mechanical processes, and improving relationships with all our customers. We’re very excited to be growing a lot more food this year. It’s a challenge, but the hard work is rewarding when we are able to partner with nature and people to nourish ourselves and our community.
About 1/3 of the onions
The durum wheat should be harvested soon.
Newsletter 3.15
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged brassicas, lettuce, Newsletters, onions, sheep on May 10, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
IN YOUR BASKET
- Skyphos Butter Lettuce
- Ripbor or Red Russian Kale
- Perfection Fennel or Hon Tsai Tai
- Tyee or Tarpy Spinach
NOTES FROM THE FIELD
Welcome back to the “winter” vegetable CSA. We hope everyone is enjoying the spring greens that were missed over the rainy winter. The spinach – two varieties called Tarpy and Tyee – are rapidly maturing in this warm weather, so expect to see quite a bit more in the next couple weeks. To keep your greens fresh for a few days in the refrigerator, we recommend you wrap them in damp dishtowels. This will keep them a tad moist, just like the misters in the produce case do at the grocery store.
One section of the Coyote Field is planted with brassicas (cabbage family crops).
The first planting of broccoli is just barely starting to go to head (flower), so expect some later this month. We are growing a lot of cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage at Heart Arrow Ranch and in Potter Valley. This past week alone, the kales have really taken off. Our chard is still quite small, but you can still expect some before the end of the CSA. Also, the beets have amazing greens and the roots should be sizing up this month. So, there’s a lot to look forward to. This week, it’s all greens, and we will have more harvests of arugula and radishes in the weeks ahead.
Here we are transplanting onions in Potter Valley
This week, the change to warm weather was marked by moving our sheep from the rangeland at Heart Arrow to irrigated bottomland in Potter Valley. We have them munching down the grass in a field where we plan to grow about 4 acres of melons and winter squash. The “natural lawn mowers” are quite happy helping us to remove all the organic matter so we can plant there on time.
Eat well,
Adam & Paula
A view of the sheep enjoying the rangeland at Heart Arrow Ranch a few days before moving to pasture in Potter Valley.
Spring Butter Lettuce & Parsley Soup
Adapted from PressDemocrat.com, 5/12/10
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 big head of butter lettuce, cored, washed and dried
- Salt & pepper
- 1 cup, loosely packed, Italian parsley leaves
- 4 cups homemade chicken broth or stock, hot
- 4 tablespoons plain whole milk yogurt (optional)
- 2 tablespoons fresh snipped chives
- Heat olive oil in a medium soup pot set over medium-low heat, add the onion and sauté until soft (about 15 min.) Stack the lettuce leaves and cut them into ¼-inch wide slices.
- Add the cut lettuce to the cooked onions and stir gently until the lettuce wilts (about 2 min.). Season with salt and pepper, add the parsley and pour in the chicken stock.
- Increase the heat to high and when the stock boils, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 4 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and cool just slightly. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup thoroughly. If the soup seems too thick, add water to reach your preferred consistency. Taste and correct for salt and pepper.
- Ladle into soup plates and top each portion with a spoonful of yogurt, if using, and a sprinkling of herbs. Serve immediately.
And you think your kid sounds whiny?
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged lamb, nonsensical fun, sheep, video on February 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Try this for about 5 minutes.
Harvest Time!
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged chicken, grain, hay, lamb, pasture, Potter Valley, sheep, squash on October 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
We have not posted news in a while, but it is no wonder – we are so very busy! And this week is no exception. As all the vineyards in Mendo are bustling with harvest, we have been assisting with the grape harvest at Golden Vineyards. It’s always exciting to collaborate with the Goldens, and although we’re doing a lot, we enjoy taking part in the grape harvest madness that has taken over the region. In some ways, the success of our farm depends on the success of the agriculture around us.
In terms of our own harvest,
we have been doing a lot of it. Since September, we have been supplying the five NCO Head Start centers in Ukiah with weekly CSA produce shares. Some of the summer’s bounty have been melons, sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, summer squash, sweet peppers, chard, and more. Periodically, we have supplemented the Live Power CSA produce shares with our vegetables as well.
Since mid-August, we have been supplying produce to the bar and restaurant, Bar Agricole. This week, we are sending some lamb their way. It required us driving down to Occidental and back on a Sunday night to drop off the lamb for processing, but that is what we have to do as there is no place for us to do that in Mendo…
Speaking of lamb, our sheep still reside at 3WG in Potter Valley. They have been very happy there thus far, and we’re still putting in time and labor to rehabilitate a couple of the fields there. Growing hay and pasture is still somewhat new for us, so we are going to try growing a specific mix in one field and see how it compares with the other fields. There is still some tractor work to be done so that the irrigation water flows across the fields correctly. Many of the ewes are bagging up (their udders are becoming full of milk) meaning we will have more lambs soon. If you are interested in buying our lamb for your freezer, let us know. We may have some available right now.
Also, we are in the home stretch of the meat chicken CSA. This Saturday, October 23, we will have the 5th batch of chicken shares available for pick-up at the Ukiah Farmers Market. We also plan to have extras for market sale as well.
Earlier this week, we also got together with Doug from the Mendocino Grain Project to get some of our grain cleaned. Some grain we will be reseeding and some wheat will go toward the grain CSA.
This week, we have also been harvesting and curing the winter squash for the Winter CSA. So far, we’ve harvested a couple varieties of acorn, lots of spaghetti, and delicata. The butternut, kabocha, and other plantings are still maturing.
One truckload of many!
You may not have heard, but we finally got a 4-wheel tractor in August. Fall planting has been happening much faster with the large disk and shovels for bed-shaping!
With it being autumn now, we are following the weather forecast closely; we must plan for the first substantial rain. While we are doing all this harvesting, fall is when we plant our hay/pasture and grain. This year, we will be growing barley at the south Ukiah property.
Perhaps when the days are super short and we’re inside more, we will have more blog posts for you 
Update on Sheep in Potter Valley
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged lamb, pasture, Potter Valley, sheep on September 1, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Let us first say that we are happy to be farming irrigated pasture in Potter Valley.
hi, we are happy farmers
The sheep seem very content as well.
'crunch chew nom nom'
Today was the third time we have moved the sheep around at 3WG Ranch. There are basically three fields we are leasing for pasture, one of which is divided into two areas. Today, we moved the sheep into the largest area which never got cut for hay this spring. We will soon actually separate the lambs that we want to gain more weight and put them into a different field which we mowed and irrigated earlier in August.
This field is greening up and will be ready for the lambs. The sheep were here a while ago before we mowed, baled the hay, and irrigated the field.
This is all known as ‘rotational grazing’!
Then there is another field which we hope to use in the future, but we are having to rehabilitate it to a good pasture. Right now, we are discing it so we can seed it.
For now, the sheep are all happy together.
who wouldn't be happy with this view and fresh summer air?
Sheep Shearing
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged nonsensical fun, sheep on May 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Today at the Ovine Beauty Salon, Matt and Mike were our stylists.
What do you think of their new ‘dos?
Rainy April Day
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged brassicas, broccoli, chicken, chicory, cows, crazy weather, egg laying hens, lettuce, peas, sheep on April 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Sometimes, people ask us, “What do you do when it’s raining?” As a matter of fact, we work! Regardless of what Nature feels like, there is some farmin’ to do.
Today was no exception. We knew the big downpour was coming, so the day before, we did as much vegetable transplanting as possible and dug out the trenches/culverts on the hillside to ensure no veg beds would wash away. We also had to make sure the equipment and tools were covered or put away so as not to get wet and rust.
It rained a lot! This morning, Adam and Alder dug some culverts to stop the erosion in the recently cultivated Pond Field. I harvested produce (cauliflower, lettuce, sugar snap peas, broccoli shoots, and green chard) for Head Start and made the delivery in Ukiah. While in town, I purchased 6 bales of wheat straw for mulch. The guys up-sized some summer seedlings in the greenhouse and cut seed potato in preparation for planting later. There was some lunch where we discussed techniques for growing potatoes and how to find more shareholders for the Live Power CSA (which you should join!).
After some administrative computer stuff, I joined Adam and Alder in moving the sheep and cows into a new pasture area in the rangeland. Herding the animals has gotten easier with three of us instead of just two. Cell phones help too. We took down the fence, put it up in the new place, and herded the ovines and bovines – all pretty much at the same time. It went pretty smoothly. No cows went wild, no sheep scattered. I think we are getting better at herding.
Later, Adam and I threw straw down in the gullies in the Pond Field to prevent any more erosion. So, we got a lot done despite the rain, some wind, and a short spell of hail. We did see the sun a couple times, as well as some rainbows! And of course, the daily chores – checking the meat chickens and egg layers, feeding the livestock guardian dogs, and watering the greenhouse – were taken care of.
I was able to take a few pictures of the spring vegetables when it was not raining.
We have a couple beds of broccoli and cauliflower flourishing at the Pond Field.
These are some beds of different lettuce varieties growing in the north section of the Coyote Field.
This is radicchio under the floating row cover. The birds like to eat it if they can get to it.
These are beets we transplanted a while ago. We usually sow beet seeds directly into the vegetable bed, but because the soil has been so wet these past couple months, we had to start them as seedlings in the greenhouse.
Cabbage! - up close and still growing in the south section of the Coyote Field. Many other brassicas and lettuce are growing in this section.
Here is more lettuce (left) and one of our plantings of peas (right), ready for trellising.
Driving down the hill at the ranch, I spotted a rainbow over the vineyard. You can sort of see the grapes to the right.
Herding the Sheep & Cows
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged cows, sheep on April 9, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
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Buy The Greenhorns co-edited by Paula Manalo Gaska. Email paula@mendocinoorganics.com to order one from the farm. Tags
What are we doing?
- Vegetable CSA distribution has begun! (Photo from Head Start pick-up site.) Thank you, CSA farm members, for... fb.me/Jslj39kx*** 3 hours ago
- This seems like the wrong message. fb.me/C3ZlTPUu*** 1 day ago
- Our Berkshire sow had her first litter this morning. What an adorable, healthy bunch! fb.me/zYpCuSzx*** 2 days ago
