[Previous Rural Farmgirl, June 2010 – January 2012]
The time has finally come for shearing the sheep. Come on over with me to the corrals and let’s see what our shearing operation looks like this year. Bring your muck boots and good humor!
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Debbie Bosworth
is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”
“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”
Rebekah Teal
is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.
“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.
Cathi Belcher
an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.
“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”
Dori Troutman
Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!
Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.
Mary Murray
describes herself as a goat charmer, chicken whisperer, bee maven, and farmers’ market baker renovating an 1864 farmhouse on an Ohio farm. With a degree in Design, Mary says small-town auctions and country road barn sales "always make my heart skip a beat thinking about what I could create or design out of what I’ve seen.”
Rooted in the countryside, she likes simple things and old ways … gardening, preserving the harvest, cooking, baking, and all things home. While you might find her selling baked goods from the farm’s milkhouse, teaching herself to play the fiddle, or sprucing up a vintage camper named Maizy, you will always find her in an apron!
Mary says, “I’m happiest with the simple country pleasures … an old farmhouse, too many animals, a crackling fire, books to read, and the sound of laughter … these make life just perfect.”
Alexandra Wilson
is a budding rural farmgirl living in Palmer, the agricultural seat of Alaska. Alex is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University pursuing an M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education. She lives and works on the university’s 700 acre environmental education center, Spring Creek Farm. When Alex has time outside of school, she loves to rock climb, repurpose found objects, cross-country ski on the hay fields, travel, practice yoga, and cook with new-fangled ingredients.
Alex grew up near the Twin Cities and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin—both places where perfectly painted barns and rolling green farmland are just a short drive away. After college, she taught at a rural middle school in South Korea where she biked past verdant rice paddies and old women selling home-grown produce from sidewalk stoops. She was introduced to MaryJanesFarm after returning, and found in it what she’d been searching for—a group of incredible women living their lives in ways that benefit their families, their communities, and the greater environment. What an amazing group of farmgirls to be a part of!
Nicole Christensen
Suburban Farmgirl Nicole Christensen calls herself a “vintage enthusiast”. Born and raised in Texas, she has lived most of her life in the picturesque New England suburbs of Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York State. An Advanced Master Gardener, she has gardened since childhood, in several states and across numerous planting zones. In addition, she teaches knitting classes, loves to preserve, and raises backyard chickens.
Married over thirty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields, been a world-traveler, an entrepreneur and a homemaker, but considers being mom to her now-adult daughter her greatest accomplishment. Loving all things creative, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “Bloom where you are planted”.
What a wonderful "event"! I live in the mountains of NC and we have a small "farm" with 25 chickens and 2 horses. We also tend lots of gardens for flowers, veggies and herbs. I sell my extra eggs to a few neighbors, and 4 dozen a week go to a small catering company for which I work 3 days a week. Having spent my middle life in the city in Florida, I love our retirement in the country. Enjoy reading your blogs every month, and wish I had the time, land & energy to really get into farming!
The first picture is delightful. They can be such characters! I love the smell of fresh washed wool. Your story and pictures make me want to do some felting! Thank you for sharing
Wow, you sure shear your sheep early! We don`t do ours until June here in the Salt Lake Valley, and that is well past lambing season (which is just about over here). Still waiting for my friend`s Tunis sheep to lamb, any day now. We had lots of twins this year, no triplets like last year. Now you must tell the readers about banding the tails and about Little Boy Blue, the nursery rhyme “leaving their tails behind them” (originally) vs. “wagging” or “bringing their tails behind them (modern version). Hugs, Cathy K in Murray, UT
Every Mothers’ Day weekend my small New Hampshire town hosts the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival. Folks from all over New England bring their sheep, goats, alpacas and rabbits–anything with a fleecy coat–to our State fairgrounds to display, compete, exchange ideas and make connections.
Shearing demos are always well attended. All the newest equipment and techniques for animal care are presented. There are spinners, weavers and knitters working away through the whole weekend.
My favorite is always the sheepherding competition, known here as the Dog Trials. There are generally about 20 to 30 dogs, mostly border collies, competing for ribbons, small cash prizes and the admiration of a hundred or so fans.
Shepherds and dogs work together to gather and corral small flocks of very nervous sheep. With whistles, clicks and voice commands the shepherds communicate to the dogs which way to go, when to stop, creep, chase, block and crowd the stock. Some of the dogs need barely any direction at all. They know their jobs and how to get them done!
One year, for fun, the shepherds’ association challenged the onlookers to corral 3 sheep without the dog. Three women volunteered. How hard could it be? If a dog can do this, surely 3 smart, strong women can succeed!
Those gals right smartly managed to get 2 of the 3 sheep into the pen. The third was not so cooperative. They chased and bluffed that ewe all over the field. It appeared the lone sheep actually wanted to be with the others, but wanted to do it her own way. Meanwhile, naturally, the other 2 escaped and the fun started all over again. The contest continued for another 10 minutes or so and all but the sheep were exhausted. Two sheep were now back in the pen but the last was still on the loose.
Not to be defeated, one solidly-built lady grabbed the final sheep around the middle, carried her to the pen and hoisted her over the stile. That sheep couldn’t have weighed less than 60 lbs. and squirmed and kicked all the way. The applause was explosive!
Then the shepherd sent his oldest dog into the ring and Shep had those 3 woolies in the pen and secure in about 2 minutes and 10 seconds! And no heavy lifting!
The Humane Society won’t let us hold Greased Pig Contests at the State Fair anymore. The Women Wooly Wrestlers may be the wave of the future!
Many thanks for sharing the experience of Shearing Day. Happy Lambing!
Thanks so much for all the great pictures. I love sheep. I am getting my front pasture ready for some sheep. My friend has Suffolk ewes about ready to lamb. I will get some for meat. Then another friend has Shetland-Cheviot that I want for the wool. I hope to be getting some in the next few months. I can hardly wait.
My heifer just had her 1st calf, a bull, a few days ago. That was very exciting. Glad it’s over and she had a nice healthy calf. I also have 2 does due in a few weeks. Also getting lots of chicken and turkey eggs now.
And a few pigs getting ready to go to market middle of April.
So busy days here at Outback Farm in North Georgia. I am loving all the new babies!
We are shearing right now too, but we have a tiny flock, so I get all the wool to spin! 🙂
Happy lambing!
hi very interesting how your sheep get sheared! i as a kid did 300 + sheep at easter time i sheared by hand the old way! hard work but i was a dummy–my dadsfriend from canada showed my dad how to shear sheep he was a old russian man so me being curoious i thought i should do this too–well it turned out the russian taught me very well and i was stuck shearing all the sheep every year during easter break growing up! :]
I thoroughly enjoyed your post. We have a friend who learned to shear her own sheep. But rather than sell the wool, she cards, washes and spins it. And, yes, she has the wool labeled as to which ships was the contributor. Also loved your photos.
Thanks for the shearing story – been a long time since last I was ‘there’. We are still having a bit of Winter so not much happening here on the mid-eastern plains of Colorado. Oh by the way I live in a ‘burb’ but my sons family lives on a 5 acreage just up the hill so I still get to enjoy his ‘farm’ – 4 horses, a flock of chickens, 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 of the most of the most grandchildren. For me I do my ‘farm girling’ in my back yard with a windmill, watering tank (which I use for tomatoes) and dream that I’m on a ‘real farm’. Keep up the good work on those boys – ah God’s blessings are many.
thanks for sharing, I too am in the midst of lambing seaon here in Diamond Lake,WA. I just love my little hobby farm and coming from city life this is a BIG change for me, but will not ever go to that hustle and bustle anymore. I wish we had some shearing professionals in my area as shearing for my husband and I is an all day affair for the few I have to shear and I am sure that if anyone saw us they would be having a good laugh sure. We really enoy the country life and the hard work really is gratifiying. Take care and have fun.
I have just begun breeding German Angoras for hand spnining and I would like to learn more. I have a new litter of kits, a buck and a doe. I am harvesting a humongous ammout of wool just from these two! I am interested in atending a shearing party. Will there be any near Minnesota in the near future? I have several friends who would also be very interested as well.