Landscaping with the SGL

Walnuts and oaks provided sprawling shade through last week’s heat wave. With heat indices reaching 109 F, it was a reassuring sight to see the sheep, goats, and llamas resting under the trees through the late morning and into the early evening. When the sun set, it grew pink as it reached the treeline, with burnt orange horizons spreading outward.

Now that it’s cooled off, we’ve moved the SGL across the Hillside Pasture to a paddock adjacent to the barn. There, sassafras has sprouted extensively where Jeff had cleared trees last autumn.

As soon as they arrived amongst the new trees, the SGL dove in to the main course: sassafras leaves.

The animals went in before lunch, and by supper time, half of the lot was already cleaned up, making a big job of clearing out foliage much easier.

Thanks for Reading!

And I hope you feel refreshed and rejuvenated for the week ahead with this moment preserved in picture and prose. Consider:

• How can you work smarter, not harder, this week?

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This Week on the Farm

Last Monday was National Dog Day, and Mia celebrated with some sheep work.

She helped me move sheep by standing in a gap in the netting while I worked to bring the two pieces together. Sometimes, I open up a new paddock, but the two sets of netting are too far apart at first. I pick up posts, reconfigure the netting, and step the posts back in the ground until the netting joins.

Mia is a Big Helper when that happens. Thank you, Mia, and hope you had a good National Dog Day!

This week, she’ll have Sheepdog School!

Farm Shop

Now is the perfect time to pick up natural fibers for winter projects and Christmas presents! Wool is a great gift: it’s warm, breathable, and natural!

Check out our Etsy shop for fleeces from our Shetlands. We also have locks of llama fiber available that can be used for a smaller project or for scattering in the yard for birds!