Many farmers who are raising their animals out on pasture consider themselves grass farmers. I now consider myself a grass farmer and I can't tell you how exciting it is. I have never paid so much attention to each green blade or clover leaf as I do now. As I walk through our pasture and the pasture adjacent to our pasture, my eyes are drawn to each sprig of green. That blade or leaf will soon be food for the animals we are growing. Our sheep especially will relish every blade, effectively mowing it down and fertilizing it all at once. I look covetously at green pastures and lawns from my car or my bike and I imagine our sheep eating that grass. Our pasture has been neglected for many years so it is not nearly as green as other fields and pastures and lawns. But therein lies the excitement and the challenge. We will improve and change that pasture over the years with our hopefully careful management and our beloved ruminants. Grass farming has made me look at the ground so much more carefully and with a completely different perspective.

In other news: The sheep should be lambing any day now. Owen and I graduated from lambing class at Dancing Lamb Farm and are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the lambs. On Thursday we will begin camping out in the fields so that we can check on the sheep every three hours or so. Hopefully they will not need any assistance during lambing, but we want to be there just in case.

We moved one of our chicken coops out to the pasture. The coop houses egg layers. The chickens haven't exactly adapted to their new open space and freedom; most of them either stay inside or hide under the house. We hope they will begin exploring their area soon as there are lots of chicken treats to be had out there.

KayCee