Sunday, July 17, 2011

Work, Work, Work ......

Lot's of work going on here at Wild Rose Farm!   The barn has gotten a seal coat of linseed oil & the trim is painted white.  We may paint just below the roof line drip edge on the front ..... The other white is bold enough to balance more white on top, right? 
The WRF sign was turned over and we have a bright looking farm sign again.  The sheep & background in the center of the sign was handpainted by Campbell Signs & Apparel  over 12 years ago.  I'd recommend them to anyone looking for original art, not just computer generated clip art signs!
Here's Glenda standing near us as we look over the area that was cleared last winter.  We've seeded it with rye & orchard grass, but we really do need some rain.  The locust tree roots are sending up sprouts everywhere.  We had just finished trimming Glenda's hooves.  Here's an interesting tidbit.  We collect the hoof trimmings & give them to the dogs.  They like them better than pig ears and rawhide chews!  Life on the farm ......  :) 

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Weekend Activites

Last weekend was the weekend to trim feet & deworm the sheep at Wild Rose Farm.  This time of year is when the parasite load seems to take hold & we don't want to lose any of the ewes or lambs.  This weekend, the humidity is down & the sheep are spread out a little grazing just before sunset.
Fawn In Pasture With Sheep
 As I walked back to check on the sheep, I spotted a fawn in the pasture with them.  The fawn was curious & stood frozen watching my approach.  I got pretty close before it panicked, took off all the way along the fenceline behind the sheep, ran up over the hill, and disappeared out of sight! 
This weekend we started the process of working on the barn.  The plan is to seal the wood with linseed oil & then paint the accent trim with white paint.  Here's the first coat of primer going on the trim.  The siding has already the clear seal, so it just has a slightly wet appearance.
Painting Barn Trim

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Neighboring Farmers

WRF went on a quick drive to the nearby McElhaney Family Farm - they've been raising Shorthorn beef cattle for 3 generations.  We wanted to check out a piece of hay handling equipment that we might like to buy for our farm.  Well, in true farm style community generosity, the equipment was at someone else's farm being used, so we'll have to wait to see it. 
The McElhaneys sell their dry aged freezer beef at several farmers' markets including the Sewickley Farmers' Market on Saturday from 9AM to 1PM and the Ambridge Farmers' Market on Thursday from 4PM to 7PM. 
They were moving some cows and calves when we arrived so we snapped a couple of pictures of their cattle as the sun was setting .......