The Work of Foliage Season

Though peek foliage has passed, we are still in the height of the work of foliage season. In Vermont, autumn ushers in a time of preparation for the 5 months of cold weather ahead. Both man and beast must be kept warm and fed through the winter months.  In the fall, life centers around putting the farm to rest, and gathering and storing. Anything left undone, will be buried and forgotten beneath snow for months on end.

Festival Season & Sheep Shows

For shepherds, fall is also festival season. We take our sheep and our wool to festivals throughout New England, to connect, learn, and share. Several of our ewe lambs have traveled with us this year. Festival goers love seeing and getting their hands on the different breeds of sheep.

Our season will culminate with a sheep show at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. All summer we have worked with our lambs to prepare them for the show ring. It has been a learning process for all of us, shepherd and sheep. This will be my first sheep show as well.  I have a couple of friends who have helped me and taught me so much about showing sheep, from halter training, to showmanship, to how to navigate the festival websites and entry forms.

With just one more week until the show in New York, yesterday the lambs went to the salon for a final trim and a bath. They seemed to love the entire process and are as ready for the show ring as they will ever be.

First I wet them down, then I lathered them up. After a few minutes of soaking, they were ready for the final rinse. By the time we were finished, I was soaking wet, but I had three squeaky clean Gotland lambs! All that was left was the shaking and drying off.

So if you find yourself at the New York Sheep and Wool Festival, October 20-22, I hope you will wander over to building number 37 to visit with us and our lambs. Do plan to linger on Sunday to cheer us on in the show ring! We’ll be the ones with the three shiny Gotland lambs.