Grace Valley Farms Orchard Gets Underway!

Before we started planting our orchard we did quite a bit of planning and preparation. We researched different varieties of fruit trees so we'd be sure and plant types that would survive our cold winters and late spring freezes.

The site for the fruit trees was graded in order to form a wide ditch for irrigating the trees.

The planting area was accurately measured so the trees would be appropriately spaced.

 

We carefully marked and numbered spots for the new trees. There are 25 places for fruit trees along our driveway!

Ben digging out a hole for a pear tree.

Support posts were driven into the ground to hold the trees up straight until they can get rooted (1 to 2 years).

The trees were loaded in our ATV wagon and driven to the planting area.

We plan to plant apple, pear, plum, apricot, and cherry trees. So far we've planted three Comice pear trees, three Honeycrisp apple trees, two Sweet 16 apple trees, two Zestar apple trees, and one Haralred apple tree.

Ben and Doug after planting a pear tree.

We put 5' tall fencing around each tree to keep deer, sheep, and llamas from sampling the buds. 

Each day the trees are watered. The trees were purchased as bareroot and need plenty of moisture until established.

Ruger, our little helper!

Corinna's 2010 Coated Romney Lamb Wool

Corinna is one of our full-blood Romney ewe lambs who was born last year to Rachel. As soon as she was born we could tell there was something different about Corinna! Her fleece color (gray with charcoal spots) was considerably different than we typically see Romney lambs displaying at birth.

The majority of our colored lambs are black when they are born. As the colored lambs age, their fleece typically gradually lightens into silvers and grays. Corinna already manifests the gray colors as a lamb.

This is Corinna's lamb fleece. The many shades of gray in this beautiful fleece are very appealing!

Corinna's staple length reached 7 inches in places and her fleece weighed 3.5 pounds.

Dempsey

Baby Dempsey and Mama Cinnamon

One month ago, our last lamb of the year was born. Dempsey made his arrival late at night on April 6th. His mother, Cinnamon, was a first-time mommy! She did a great job caring for him! Dempsey weighed 13lbs. 2 oz. and is all white except for a little black spot behind one of his front hooves!

Dempsey, one month old.

Snow? In May?

This morning we awoke to a fresh layer of snow at Grace Valley Farms! May snow storms are quite rare in our part of Montana. In fact, our neighbors said it hasn't snowed in the month of May for 27 years!

The view from our front porch.

May I come in?

The barn was quite crowded with sheep this morning! Almost all of the mamas and babies where inside seeking shelter from the snow storm.

Doolittle & Dusty

Duke

Some of the lambs ventured out into the snow.

Foreman

Edison

Our dogs always enjoy playing in the snow. They run around like crazy, chasing each other through the snow banks!

Cutest Lamb Contest

Each year at our farm, we select the cutest lamb! The lamb maintains the title for that specific year. In previous years, our family has selected the winner; however, this year we allowed our readers to vote on the cutest lamb! The contest ran for one month and ended on April 30. Here are the results of the 2010 competition as well as the results from previous years! Thanks to all of you who voted and helped us pick the cutest lamb!

2010

And the winner is ... DONARD !!

Runner up winner is ... DonnaLisa!

2009

Cordelia was our "cutest lamb" in 2009!

Clover was the runner up.

2008

 

Bluebell took top honors in 2008.

Bubba came in second.

2007

 

Amanda was the champion in 2007!

Astro was a very close second!

Angel was an honorable mention!

2006

Our very first year of raising sheep...

 

Roy Rogers took first place!

Dale Evans took second!

Carolyn's 2010 Coated Romney-Cross Fleece

 

Carolyn is one of our sweetest ewes. She is very affectionate and loves to be around us. This trait was passed down to her from her mother, Heather, who is also very friendly and lovable.

Carolyn is one of our Romney-Hampshire cross ewes. She produced this beautiful 2010 fleece as a lamb. Her father is Edison and her mother is Heather. She has inherited wool qualities from both of her parents: the 4-5 inch staple length and natural color reminds us of Romney wool while the softness and crimp reminds us of Hampshire.

The outside tips are heather and gray.

Here is the fleece on the skirting table displaying the bulk color: light gray to medium gray and gives an impression of a lavender hue in bright light.

This sample displays the high-frequency crimp.

Weekend Projects

This past weekend was a busy one for the Meyer Family! With spring in full swing, we have lots of projects awaiting us!

Our hay field is greening up and the grass is really starting to grow!

Ruger, our 6 month-old Lab puppy, came with us as we did our projects.

We loaded our supplies and tools on our 4-wheelers and drove out to our work sites.

One of our big irrigation ditches needed to be dug out by hand. We use this ditch to water our fields during the summer months. Doug and Ben made good progress on the ditch digging!

Ruger took a nap on the cool soil that had just been dug out of the ditch!

Ben takes a break from digging to pet his dog, Bullet.

Fixing an electric fence gate that was in disrepair.

Coming soon... The Meyer Family starts their own apple orchard!

Who needs a lawnmower?

Last Saturday we decided that the grass along our driveway was getting a little long. To remedy the problem, we employed our able flock of sheep (aka. lawnmowers) to graze along the driveway!

The mamas and babies did a nice job of eating down the grass and other plants.

We are grateful for our crew of 89 lawnmowers!

Farewell, Dooley

On April 13th, Dooley left our farm and went to his new home at the Rettig Ranch. Dooley will be there for several weeks while he is weaned. Then he will be purchased by a youngster in 4-H.

Before Dooley left our farm, we had to weigh him one last time and get pictures. He wasn't too happy about being caught!

Dooley weighed a whopping 90 pounds!

So long, Dooley!

Annie's 2010 Coated Romney Fleece

Annie produced another stunning fleece at this year's shearing. Her fleece is dense and lustrous with an even crimp! Annie's wool ranges in color from charcoal around the edges of her fleece to silver-white in the center.

Annie's wool staple reached almost 8 inches in some places! Her final skirted fleece weighed in at 7.75 pounds. Annie's fleece is one of our best from the 2010 shearing.

DonnaLisa !

Cute DonnaLisa