March Goes Out Like A Lion!

Where did all of the sunshine go?  Western PA & Wild Rose Farm looked a little different early this evening with the snow swirling all around the sheep.  The donkey came up to the barn, but the sheep are mostly oblivious to the wet snow ..... this won't stick around very long!

Wild Rose Mountain!

We've had 3 beautiful cold & sunny days in a row here in Western PA.  Wandering over to where the ewes were enjoying the sunshine, I got this photo.  It looks like it was taken on a West Virginia mountaintop!  Trust me, it's not that steep here, but the camera angle made for an interesting perspective .........

Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest Coming!

WS&FF Committee Members Hashing It Out!

Wild Rose Farm was at the committee meeting for the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Festival today at Hot Rod's in Waynesburg.  Music acts are lined up & regional chefs are scheduled for demos and lamb tastings- keep your eyes open for the info in the April/May issue of Edible Allegheny magazine.  We're working on food vendors and our Sheep Breeds Pavillion will have over a dozen breeds of sheep on display. 
It's still not too late to contact us about applying for a spot as a juried fiber or craft vendor - see the festival web-site for the application & call or email if you'd still like to get in! 
We hope to post the Fiber Arts Contest guidelines soon on the web-site and the 2011 vendor list is almost ready to go ...... things are getting busy!

The Rams



PA Performance Tested Rambouillet Ram

 It's getting close to lambing time when we feature the ewes and lambs at Wild Rose Farm.  Of course to have lambs, the rams are needed, but most of the time they are separated out and kept close to the barn. 
To the left is our PA Performance Tested Rambouillet ram ---- he'll be the sire of all of the lambs that we'll have this spring.  This was his second breeding season here, so we are considering selling him, but may keep him to breed the older ewes.  It just depends ..... you never know what's going to happen on a farm!  He is looking out of his pen towards this next "little fellow" below, a ram lamb that we kept from last year.  He's still young and skittish around people.  That changes when they get older.  You don't get in the pen with the big ram and you don't turn your back on any ram. 
Wild Rose Farm blog followers will remember our ram lamb from this picture last summer with his dam, our 12 year old matriarch, #802.  He has grown quite a bit since that time.  He's in the barn paddock with "U" for companionship.  We'll have a look at them to compare size in our next post. 

Rambouillet Ram Lamb

Signs of Spring

Species Crocus @ Farmhouse

No lambs yet at Wild Rose Farm, but there are signs of spring!

Tete-a-Tete - 1st To Bloom!

Frost Seeding .....

We were up & out early this morning to do a little frost seeding.  We spun on some red clover in the paddock just below the driveway & will follow up with some orchard grass the next chance we get.  We also did several hours of cut & drag work in the pine trees at the far end of this field.  It was time to cut out several dead trees and limb up the rest of them.  These trees provide a nice area of shade, shelter, & windbreak for the sheep depending on the season.  They look nice & neat now ..... nothing like a sense of accomplishment!

It turned out to be a beautiful day to work outside.  Here's one of the Wild Rose Farm barn cats enjoying the afternoon sun!

Vendor Applications Coming In!

2010 Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest - Yummy!

Here's a quick post to give Wild Rose Farm fiber followers a "secret preview" of some of the vendors coming to the Waynesburg Sheep & Fiber Fest on May 21st & 22nd.  Tonight we're sending out our latest round of acceptance letters:
Beth's Beads, Etc. of Holbrook, PA --- Folklore Fibers & Zipty Acres of Holtwood, PA --- Honeysuckle Pottery of Keymar, MD --- Temple Ridge Llamas of Waynesburg, PA --- Lizzie Weaves of Fairchance, PA --- Cobun Creek Farm of Morgantown, WV --- From Many Threads of Leetsdale, PA -and - Lunar ReCycle of North Huntingdon, PA.

WRF will get links up to vendor web-sites when we get a few more free minutes ........ :)

Another Sunny Day

Not much to say ..... just a sunny, dry day at Wild Rose Farm! 

Sheep Out!

It was a bright sunny day - finally - at Wild Rose Farm & we came home after lunch to find a wooly breakout!  The heavy wet snow yesterday must have caused the electric net fence to lean over.  You can see it leaning behind the water tank.  The sheep will always find a breech in the electric fence within hours.  Off they scampered to the wet areas that are greening up.  Much tastier than hay ..... 
You can also tell that the ewes are due to lamb in about 5 weeks by looking at their profiles. 

Notes From The Conference

Beef Evaluation Component - Question @ Rib Eye Comparison

It's a week to the day that Wild Rose Farm attended the 2011 Appalachian Grazing Conference in Morgantown, WV.  Those folks in West Virginia sure know how to hold a conference!   We only made it for the 1st day, but we came home with a bag of goodies & info.  The goodies in the logo bag that we all got at registration?

• A wonderful new glossy full color book included in the registration; "Identification & Adaptation - Common Grasses, Legumes, & Non-leguminous Forbs of the Eastern United States" by Dr. A. Ozzie Abaye of Virginia Tech.  (For $55.00 includes shipping payable by check to Virginia Tech Foundation. Order the book via: Kimberly C. McCoy Administrative & Office Specialist Crop & Soil Environmental SciencesVirginia Tech 424 Smyth Hall (0403)Blacksburg, VA 24061 Phone: (540) 231-5797 Fax: (540) 231-3075).  
•  Found a DVD "Silvopasturing in the Northeast - How Land Owners Can Maximize The Use Of Their Land" by Christine O'Dell for $5.  Still need to watch this, but it should fit in with our tree thinning project!
• A 2011 - 2012 "Pennsylvania Conservation Planner" calendar included in the registration.  Our friend Laurel from the  Greene County Conservation District was part ot the team that created this calendar. 

If you get a chance to go, this conference is held every two years & there was some talk of PA Project Grass & other PA ag organizations putting on a conference in alternate years ....



Felt Like I Was Back @ Penn State!



Another Topic - Marketing Info For Producers

AND THE FOOD WAS GREAT TOO!

Seen At The Conference

Wild Rose Farm is always impressed with the adult leaders and volunteers that make things like 4-H, Girl Scouts, and Boy Scouts possible.  This First Class Scout and sibling of an Eagle Scout can be counted on to buy Girl Scout Cookies & support local youth.

I spotted this gentleman at the Appalachian Grazing Conference  and asked him to stop to take a picture of his team jacket.  He was the proud team coach.  How many of you knew that soil judging existed? 
I remember a class in Soil Science at Penn State.  "IT'S NOT DIRT!" said the professor ..... it was a combination of biology, chemistry, classification, & management.  It really was one of the "building block" science classes in the College of Ag. 
Anyway, hat's off to the leaders & coaches who mentor, take time, & travel with their teams to compete!

Long Weekend

Got a chance to spend some time away over a long weekend.  I attended the Applachian Grazing Conference in Morgantown, WV on Friday - info & pictures to follow on this blog - and then headed down to Maryland for the weekend.  The weather went from sunshine to wind to rain, but we got out before the rain.  Here are a couple of pics ......

It looks like this grove of trees have been pretty popular ........

George Washington Did Not Sleep Here!

On the way out, this posting got our attention ..... 

Time to get out of the woods before the Northern Goshawk returns to nest!

Heading For The Safety Of The Car ...... 



Sunny Sheep

This sunny picture comes to you from Wild Rose Farm on a vacation day from work.  The ewes are enjoying the day and actually seem to be smiling.  :) 
Meanwhile, the lambs are split up between their hay bale & munching on some pine trees that we cut down.  The sheep always enjoy a different taste .... hard to explain, but it doesn't hurt them to eat it.

Ewe Lambs Munching on Pine Trees