An Introduction for 2026

Each January 1, several of Indiana’s state parks host First Day Hikes. On Thursday, Jeff, Mia Dog, and I celebrated the start of the New Year with a rejuvenating hike at Shades State Park.

As we walked along the bottom of a canyon, we marveled at the steep rock faces rising from the creek; icicles hanging as daggers from the layers of shale and sandstone; and hemlock trees hanging by threaded roots to the cliffs.

With this refreshing start for us, we also wanted to re-introduce ourselves and say hi for a New Year.

We are Jeff and Elise Koning of Sylvanmore, and we raise sheep and Christmas trees in west central Indiana. Goats keep the sheep company, and llamas try to keep both sheep and goats from getting into too much mischief.

We sell wool to fiber artists who then turn the fleeces into scarves, hats, and even bookmarks. We also sell breeding sheep, and our customers have experienced great success with our lambs at local, regional, and international competitions (scroll down to “Farm Shop” for a special photo!). When our firs are full-grown in a few years, we’ll provide trees for Christmas celebrations.

Both of us work off-farm (as do many farmers), and so we find ways to solve challenges with time and labor, such as grazing Shropshire sheep between our Christmas trees. (The link will take you to a podcast episode in which we talk about our research project with the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.)

Sylvan Sundays began in June 2022 with the goal to provide a peaceful, uplifting start to the week with photos and news from the farm. While our missives may sometimes step off the farm to share a wider view of the rhythm of life, the goal remains the same: to help you start your week with a smile.

We had a fantastic 2025, and we’re excited for all the possibilities of 2026! Thanks for joining us each week for Sylvan Sundays! 🌲 🐏 🐎 🐐 🦙 

Happy New Year!

What are you looking forward to this year? Let us know with a reply to this email. We’d love to hear from you!

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This Week on the Farm

Sometimes on the farm, you need a little help with certain tasks.

In this case, it was backing our hay wagon into the barn. With the way a wagon’s front axle is made, it can be hard to reverse. Jeff and I avoid backing wagons as much as possible.

However, my uncle is talented in knowing exactly how to turn the steering wheel so that a wagon in reverse goes exactly where it needs to. So he jumped on the tractor and positioned the wagon right where we needed it.

It is now neatly parked, and we can easily pull hay from it.

This wagon holds bales from the second cutting of the season, baled in mid-summer. These second-cutting bales often are more dense nutritionally than bales cut in late spring or early summer, the first cutting. We feed second cutting as we near the start of lambing season so the ewes can prepare for caring for their newborns.

Farm Shop

We’ve had several shepherds and fiber artists interested in our 2026 lambs and fleeces. If you would like to be added to the wait list for one or the other, reply to this email and let me know what you’d be interested in. Lambs are due to start arriving in February!