I'm a month into my little project of documenting my year of working with sheep with photography (with the hashtag #sheep365). I've enjoyed thinking about how to tell a story about raising sheep through photographs - I hope you've enjoyed the photos, too! Only 331 more days of this left (as somebody pointed out early on, I should have called this project #sheep366 because 2016 is a leap year).
Another fun aspect of this project has been that other sheep-raisers are already using the hashtag, or have started since I picked it up. If you go to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and search for #sheep365, you'll see sheep from other parts of the world - pretty cool! If you raise sheep, I hope you'll start sharing photos with this hashtag, too!
Finally, I've been contemplating what it means to be a shepherd. If you haven't read
The Flock by Mary Austin, you should (and I highly recommend the University of Nevada Press edition, which includes an outstanding afterword by Barney Nelson). Here's how Mary Austin defines a shepherd: "A shepherd is an owner who travels with the flock, with or without herders, overseeing and directing...." She contrasts this with an "owner or wool grower [who] sits at home...seldom seeing his flocks." While shepherd isn't a term that's used much in the U.S., I like this description - I suppose a shepherd is what I am!
At the end of each month during the duration of this project, I'll post a blog entry with my favorite photos. I'm finding that the photos aren't staying in chronological order (thank you Google) - sorry for the confusing layout! Thanks for following along!
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| A sheepherder selfie (shelfie?!) while moving irrigation! |
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In early October, I took a day off from my shepherding
responsibilities and went deer hunting - successfully, I might add! |
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| Wondering where the pea crisps are! |
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| Kate supervised the end of irrigation season! |
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| October in Placer County - grazing sheep under the persimmon trees! |
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| Rosie - director of security. |
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| Red sky at night - no rain in sight. |
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| Love this pasture - and the sheep do, too. |
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| Waiting to get started - not one of Ernie's strong suits. |
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| Moving up the road to Amber Oaks Farm - easier than hauling with the trailer. |
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Integrated pest management - we get green feed, and Amber Oaks Berry farm gets
pest control! Works well for both of us! |
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| Sorting our breeding groups on October 1 - with Roger Ingram. |
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Fred, our new Shropshire ram. We've put him with the mule and Shropshire
breeding group. |
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| My second deer hunting trip in October - in the High Sierra! |
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| The rams enjoy their work! |
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| In the berries... |
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| The ewes like dog food - and so does Reno! |
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The rams must be in good body condition going into the breeding season -
they kinda forget to eat for about 6 weeks cuz there's too much to do! |
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Sometimes a border collie is required to keep the sheep
away from the guard dog's dinner. |
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About midway through the month, I discovered that Instagram
allows me to combine photos - what a nerd I am! |
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| What a goofball! |
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Taff is retired, but he still loves to nap in
the back of my truck! |
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| The first heavy dew of the fall - and the first wet feet! |
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| Nothing better to a shepherd than seeing sheep with their heads down, grazing! |
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Had chores and homework to do on the night of our county fair
lamb carcass awards dinner, but I was able to drop off some reusable
shopping bags for the kids, courtesy of the American Lamb Board! |
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| Another shelfie.... |
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| Sheep, sheep and more sheep.... |
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Both the Macon girls play soccer, so it's part of every October. Emma's team,
the 49er United Ambush, was third at the Roseville Ghosts and Goals tournament -
and they won the costume contest! |
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| Nice pasture! |
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| Always a curious ewe in the bunch.... |
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We put bells on about 10% of the flock -
nice to be able to hear them if they get out
in the dark! |
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| These girls were happy that I'd re-filled their mineral tub! |
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| Waiting for rain.... |
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| Love this tree! |
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Raccoons are only a threat during lambing, but
Reno doesn't like them in his sheep any time
of the year. |
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Towards the end of October, we moved the mule/shrop breeding group into a stand of johnsongrass - a weed that's related
to Sudan grass. We watch the weather this time of year - this grass becomes toxic after it freezes. |
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We're part of an informal group (the Foothill Grazing Geeks) of
ranchers who meet for pasture walks from time to time - we hosted
this month's meeting. |
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| Any question why this particular crossbreed (sired by a Blueface Leicester ram out of a Cheviot ewe) is called a "mule"!? |
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Our irrigation water shut off on October 15.
Now we hope for rain.... |
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As the days grow shorter, sometimes I don't see the sheep
in daylight hours. |
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Plenty of dog power! Mo (L) and Ernie (R) are my everyday dogs. Kate (C) belongs to a friend - we tried her out
for another friend, who is going to purchase her. Kate will fly to Tennessee next week! |
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| Halloween morning at Flying Mule Farm - hopefully the last warm and dry day for awhile. Supposed to rain tomorrow - we'll see! |
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We had showers in early October - wish we'd had more! This is our mule and
Shropshire breeding group.
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