COMPANY COMIN'

We're getting ready for shearing day here at Drumcliffe Farm this Saturday. I spent some time cleaning up the barn, spreading clean bedding, rebuilding a few of the gates so that we can sort the animals as needed, setting up the skirting table, making sure we have the best possible lighting, bringing out chairs and a coffee percolator. We're expecting quite a crowd and I realized that so much of my preparations were being done for our guests, not so much for the function of gathering fleece. In addition to shearing we'll be skirting the wool, trimming hooves, obtaining fleece samples for registration purposes, giving vaccination boosters, drenching for worms, trimming some horns, and applying a few ear tags. My goal, and probably biggest challenge, will be to give everyone that shows up, a job to do. Some would question (and some actually have questioned) why we go to so much trouble for what could be a pretty straight-forward process. Given our farm's business plan to provide a sustainable local source for lamb meat and wool products, I don't doubt for a moment that all this effort is not only worth it, but is exactly what defines us here at Drumcliffe Farm. If we truly intend to do business with our local community, we better be ready and willing to open our farm gate to our local community. And it goes beyond that. I realize that in addition to selling lamb meat or fleece, here at Drumcliffe Farm we're selling an idea. The idea that the small farm is still a viable business model and legitimate lifestyle in America. To sell that idea we need to share that idea, and what better way than to invite our friends and neighbors to roll up their sleeves, get a little dirty, and actually touch the product. Of course this is a single well-defined, fairly interesting, event and I realize that inviting this same audience out to the farm on a day-to-day basis to help with all the mundane would not work. But it sure seems to work on shearing day. Stay tuned for a full report on our successes in my next post.

Jan and I ventured over the mountain to Dancing Wolf Ranch the other day to pick up three tons of eastern Oregon grass hay. This should last us until Spring when our natural pastures will meet our needs.