US sheep industry report

Bill and I were just talking about a potential 10 year plan to becoming sheep farmers. I like that sheep seem to be profitable on a small scale. They seem to be a great option for local, sustainable farming.

This report (though it's 3 years old) just popped up on the Purdue Cooperative Extension Sheep and Goats blog.

During the past 60 years, the number of sheep and lamb in the United States have been declining, a fact that has been attributed to a confluence of forces. Despite the downward trend, the domestic sheep industry has taken steps toward transforming itself into a more efficient and competitive industry. This report examines the current and future challenges and opportunities that the sheep industry faces and concludes that, with a concerted industry effort and focus on new technologies, products, and markets, the downward trend can be stopped and possibly reversed.

Also popping up in my Reader this morning...the newest collection of yummy, yummy patterns from Brooklyn Tweed. Brooklyn Tweed also has yarn lines that are US grown wool spun in a US factory - and his yummy, yummy patterns all use that wool. I'm not sure how rare the US grown and spun wool is, but the sheep report says "from 1995 to 2005, wool accounted for only about 0.6 percent of all fiber use in the U.S. mills," and that doesn't sound like much. I haven't tried his yarn yet (pricey, very pricey), but it's on my list. It is spun woolen, so it's fluffier, warmer, and a bit more prickly than most yarn I typically use or spin.

Go sheep!

Wool Takes Cashmere's Crown

The results are in, according to the Australia based Cooperative Research Center for Sheep Industry Innovation (Sheep CRC), and wool is the winner. Objective testing has shown ultrafine wool garments can outperform 100 percent cashmere and high quality cotton for comfort and softness.

Sheep CRC commissioned the manufacture of select ultrafine wool fabrics to provide a set of benchmarks for the measurement of next to skin comfort and handle.

"It is the first time that ultrafine wool knitwear has been shown, using objective testing, to be superior to other natural fibers in terms of functional qualities valued by consumers," Sheep CRC chief executive officer professor James Rowe said. "Wools in the ultrafine micron category, used for the manufacture of these test garments, represent about two percent of the Australian wool clip and, therefore, constitute a very rare and valuable fiber resource."

more here.

I am always torn on how to respond to people who make faces about wool. Yes, I want to help them expand their horizons and convert them to wool lovers (really, who doesn't like merino?)...but sometimes I just want to roll my eyes and walk away. Demand for wool is increasing and it's getting more expensive. Less people to have to share with, ya know?

Look who's here

In the last month or so our barn has come a long way... and so has the soon-to-be barnyard and pasture. Chris has put in a bunch of fence posts - cut from the black locust stand in the back of

our property, hauled up the hill, debarked, sharpened to a point, and dug/driven into the ground. (more photos of that process to come...)

But we have also cleaned up the barn, put more posts in, and built stalls. It went from this...

To this...

And tonight we introduced three pygmy goats to their new home. Meet Cocoa, Dusty, and Finch.

Beer Wars...

Has anyone seen Beer Wars? Review here: Pajiba.

Indiana is not good for syruping...

Our weather has been thus:

Last week - not a degree above freezing
Today and tomorrow - lows between 25-35, highs around 40 (pretty good!)
Next few days - lows in the 40s

Makes for pretty icky sap. Any plans for syrup in NY?

New Year's 2008-2009

Beaver Creek Lodge

New Year's 2010-2011

More pics can be viewed here: http://picasaweb.google.com/csomerlot/NewYears20102011?authkey=Gv1sRgCKjW4NryrY-nyQE&feat=directlink

New Years 2009-2010

New Years 2007-2008

New Years 2006-2007

Any pictures?

Had to bust out the scanner for this one...

New Years 2005-2006

New Years 2004-2005

New Years 2003-2004

Pocono Pictures?

The only one I have:

New Years 2002-2003

Who has a group photo?

I thought more JoBi attended but they're not in this photo, which is the only group shot I have:

New Years 2001-2002

And for one that sums up the event...

Beware the Yule Cat

Is all your autumn spinning done???

I was doing some reading about old solstice and yule celebrations and came across the Icelandic Yule cat. Apparently, if you don't get all your autumn wool spinning done by the winter solstice, the Yule Cat eats you in the middle of the night.


So, you've got about 20 days...

You all know the Yule Cat
And that Cat was huge indeed.
People didn't know where he came from
Or where he went.

He opened his glaring eyes wide,
The two of them glowing bright.
It took a really brave man
To look straight into them.

His whiskers, sharp as bristles,
His back arched up high.
And the claws of his hairy paws
Were a terrible sight.

(More here)

Bill and I are off to purchase a spinning wheel this morning, so we can avoid this freaky feline.

This sounds like New Years

...but with more goat.

The 36-Hour Dinner Party

Turkeys!

Getting bigger...

 

 

Chickens are cuter than snakes

Milk Snakes

Guess what I found in a pile of slate? A gaggle (5) of milk snakes, about 6" long! The kids, mostly Thomas, thought they were pretty cool. He is still looking for them. They are pretty cool, once you look them up to make sure that they are not massaqua rattlesnakes. Kelly did not appreciate a tangle of snakes so close to her kids, poisonous or no, so we relocated them to the neighbors yard. And no more piles of slate in direct sun exposure next to the house. And no more compost heap within 300 yds of the house.

I can't wait to tell my mom, she won't come near our house until Christmas.