Farming involves making decisions – lots of them: This seems to be especially true in November. Do we take that steer with the horns? What sheep to breed? How many? When do we shear? Which fields do we fertilize? How do we maximize standing forage for the winter? Where does the potato patch go next year?….
We will be breeding the same ram – Nate – this year. He did a good job last year and we have some of the nicest lambs we have ever had. He is a registered colored Leicester Longwool ram who will provide us with some different genetics and hopefully more colored lambs next fall. We will probably only be breeding around 5 ewes this year. Despite such a dry year again the sheep are looking good. This breed is known to be “easy keepers” and it certainly is true.
Despite the drought this year the potato harvest was a good one. However, our hay harvest was down about 40%. Our hay barn is fairly empty for this time of year and we have had to turn away many regular hay customers. We are strategizing on where to put which animals so as get the most use out of our grass without overly stressing the pastures. The weeds were certainly an extra challenge this year after last year’s drought so it looks like next year may be even worse in that regard.
We were able to harvest some of our own Monocacy hops this year though not as much as we hoped. They were growing well and then we got the stretch of 3 weeks of cloudy damp drizzle and they seemed to just stop growing with no sun. However, the ones we got were very potent and Harry has incorporated them in several brews.
Plans are underway for next year’s crops. We are considering adding a pumpkin patch and sunflower field to offer for pick-your-own for next year so stay tuned for more information on this.
In the meantime, Tom continues to be involved in local agriculture as he works with the county’s agritourism work group, serves on the Agriculture Business Council, and is now an elected director for the MD Farm Bureau. Carolann continues board duties with the Leicester Longwool Sheep Breeders Association.