Stillpoint Farm Notes
June is about making hay. The first half of the first cutting is done and, in the barn, (or sold). We actually were able to get 49 round bales done before memorial Day due to a welcome break in the rain. Tom and Chuckie will be waiting on a good stretch of 4 dry days to get the rest of the first cutting done. Hopefully it will get dry enough to make square bales as we get a better price for these. If not, it will go into round bales. It takes that long to be sure the hay is completely dry. If it is not dry enough it will mold. If you have heard about spontaneous combustion in hay barns – it really is a thing. The damp hay ferments and can create enough heat to ignite.
In the hop yard the hops are all strung and growing away. We put in about 50 starts of the new Monocay hop. Tom is being diligent about being sure these get water daily as they begin to get established. He is also cultivating some cuttings to see if we can get more started. Hops require a lot of Nitrogen so they will get fertilized just before it rains. This helps to ensure the nutrients go into the soil and do not just vaporize away. Towards the end of the month, we will put the sheep back in the hop yard. They will eat the lower leaves but not the scratchy, woody bines. Removing the leaves helps to increase the air flow thus controlling fungal diseases.
The lambs are all growing well and are all eating grain by this time. As the weather gets hotter and the grass dries up the ewes begin to produce less milk. This helps to transition the lambs gradually to a diet of grass and grain. They got their first round of vaccinations the end May 9 so will be getting the booster vaccines in June. (Sound familiar?). We will also shear the lambs in June – this helps them to grow better as they are less heat stressed. Getting rid of the ‘lamb fuzzies’ also makes for a nicer fleece. The rest of the sheep were recently shorn so we are still sorting through and cleaning up or ‘skirting’ those fleeces. We do have some nice raw fleeces available for any spinners out there! We were proud to have the best Leicester Longwool fleece at the MD Sheep and Wool Festival.