Tuesday, June 9

Tuesday Dose of Cute: Stop, Look, and Listen


One of BB's Twin Ewe Lambs On the Way Out to Breakfast in the Front Field

© Copyright 2009 FarmgirlFare.com, the black is always in fashion foodie farm blog where one of the questions I'm most frequently asked (which will definitely be included in the Frequently Asked Farmgirl Questions page I'm diligently working on) is whether our black lambs stay black. The answer? Sometimes and sort of. It usually depends on if their mother is a true black sheep, and even then their wool usually bleaches in the sun to brown or grey. Most of the black Suffolk lambs fade to white and only keep their black faces and legs. But the Katahdin hair sheep (if they aren't bright white) retain their color and spots better, and since this lamb is half Katahdin and her mother is a true black sheep, there's a good chance she's going to stay that way (yay!). You can read more about black sheep and how much I love them
here.

5 comments:

  1. Having been one myself - I have an affection for black sheep also! The introduction of the Katahdin into your flock really is making a difference - will be interesting to see if you like the results - certainly beautiful so far!

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  2. Hi----I love your blog, and check in quite often to learn/hear about what you do on your farm.
    I have a naive question for you about your lambs---what do you raise them for? I saw that you originally were going to use the wool for spinning, but do you sell it? also, do you raise the lambs for meat? Or are they pets?
    Thanks,
    Tommy

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  3. Hi LindaSue,
    It's been pretty wild adding a whole new type of sheep to our operation—especially ones that don't have wool! So far we're really liking them, but the deciding factor will be next month when we see how they taste. ; )

    Hi Tommy,
    Thanks for the reminder that I really need to get that page of Frequently Asked Farmgirl Questions up—yours are some of the ones at the top of the list! : )

    While I did originally hope to have a flock of colored wool sheep that would provide beautiful wool for spinning, what we ended up doing is raising them strictly for meat.

    Because they're 'meat' breeds, the wool is coarse and not prized by spinners, though I have seen some of it spun and it was nice. The other thing is that most 'wool' sheep spend their lives wearing little cotton coats in order to keep their wool clean. We don't do that, so the wool ends up being fairly dirty and full of little weed seeds—again, not something prized by spinners (and fairly pricey to have it cleaned professionally).

    While some of the sheep (like the 13-year-old Chippers and my baby Cary) are definitely pets, we do raise our own lamb and beef. We also sell whole butcher weight lambs to local individuals who have them custom cut to their specifications. And we sell starter flocks and replacement ewes.

    You'll find more about my meat eating philosophy—as well as a scrumptious lamb burger recipe—here. I love to share new and interesting (and simple) recipes for lamb, including my new favorite way of cooking it: this Slow Roasted Greek Style Leg of Lamb with Lemon, Oregano, Potatoes, and Swiss Chard. Bon appetit!

    Hi FJ,
    The black lambs always look so classy to me. :)

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December 2015 update: Hi! For some reason I can't figure out, Blogger hasn't been letting me leave comments on my own blog (!) for the last several months, so I've been unable to respond to your comments and questions. My apologies for any inconvenience! You're always welcome to email me: farmgirlfare AT gmail DOT com.

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