We're Growing Wool!

The sheep at our farm have been busy these days... eating green grass and growing beautiful wool! We've had very pleasant fall weather this year so the grass is still quite green.

Autumn (foreground) and her friends take a break from grazing to get their picture taken.

Clarabelle (L) and Corinna (R) both have outstanding wool. Clarabelle is uniquely colored (silver-gray wool with honey-colored tips) and has a very long staple length.

Clover, one of our Romney-Hampshire cross ewes.

Brooke and Cathy

Murphy, one of our guardian llamas, keeps watch over his flock of sheep. His job is to protect his girls from a dog or coyote attack.

Murphy is devoted to his sheep and they look to him as their leader.

It is breeding time at Grace Valley Farms and this is Foreman, our white ram, with his group of girls.

Foreman has around 25 girls this year so he is a happy ram these days!

Happy Fall from our farm to you!

A Bountiful Harvest!

The garden at Grace Valley Farms grew well and prospered this year! We were able to harvest large quantities of cucumbers, zucchini, sweet corn, and green beans earlier in the year. Now that beautiful fall days are here, we are harvesting other garden goodies in great abundance. Even though it frosted on September 7th, we have had many days in the 70s and 80s since then. These warmer days have extended our growing season and the garden continues to mature and produce for us.

The cantaloupe plants produced well over 150 fruit! We were able to sell a number of them to a nearby store specializing in locally produced goods. The store sold out in one day! As well as selling the cantaloupes, we ate many ourselves, and gave lots away. We even shared them with our sheep friends!

Montana has a relatively short growing season; as a result,  it is difficult to grow full-sized watermelon. We planted a special variety of watermelon this year. We were excited to get several large, ripe watermelons! Yum-Yum!

Our winter squash patch yielded numerous types of squash. Above are the Heart of Gold squash. They are our favorite as they are sweet and mellow.

We harvested a few Blue Hubbard squash, too! They are our largest squash with the larger ones weighing over 10 pounds.

Heart of Gold and Butter Cup squash are picture above.

Delicata squash are another family favorite. They are very tasty when cut in half length-wise and filled with butter and brown sugar!

We also grew decorative gourds; most were sold to the same store that bought the cantaloupe .

These colorful gourds are called Autumn Wing.

Our Turk's Turban squash thrived this year; we picked numerous beautifully colored specimens.

Here is an early sampling of our yellow, red, and orange tomatoes. We had an abundance of tomatoes this year, as you will see in a future post!

Sheep and Turkeys

Grace Valley Farms and the surrounding farms are home to a flock of around 30 wild turkeys. One evening after we brought the sheep in from pasture, we noticed some visitors in their corral. A few of the turkeys had meandered into the corral and the sheep were watching them closely.

Hazel and Hattie, two of our Hampshire ewes, don't seem to mind the new visitors.

Bernie keeps an eye on two turkeys.

Darcy, our youngest lamb, watches out for danger too.

The Love of Heather and Carolyn

Heather and her daughter Carolyn are two very lovable sheep! They both enjoy sheep massages from their shepherds!

Heather starts to fall asleep as she enjoys a relaxing massage from Ben.

Carolyn loves hugs!

She thanks her shepherds by giving kisses and setting her head on your shoulder!

Heather rests her head on her daughter's back while waiting for a massage.

Ben has a word with Heather while giving Carolyn a sheep-massage!



Garden Thyme In Montana

The Meyer Family garden has been abounding with produce the past couple weeks! Here is a glimpse of the tasty bounty!

Pole beans, carrots, and zucchini

Forono beets

Personal-sized cantaloupe

Large cantaloupe

Sweet corn

Cabbage

Carrots

Bush beans

Yellow squash

Cilantro

Pickling cucumbers

Cucumbers

Cherry tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes

Some of our tomato plants have grown up to 5 1/2 feet tall!

Purple peppers

Sugar-snap peas

Pole beans, potatoes, cabbage, and Swiss chard

The winter squash and gourd plants have put on so much growth, we can't even walk down the rows!

Honeydew

Yellow watermelon

Can you spot the seven watermelon hiding in this picture?

Watermelon

This gigantic zucchini weighed in at 6.5 pounds!

Feedback from Clarabelle and Annie's Fleeces!

"I received my fleeces Sat.--and they are Spectacular!--I had to fight the urge to start spinning them right away --and wait until I get back ... I truly will have something to look forward to upon return. Give Clarabelle and Annie special attention today--(and tell them they are VERY, VERY, GOOD GIRLS and to GROW ME MORE!)"

See previous posts on Clarabelle's fleece and Annie's fleece.

Grace Valley Farms' Canine Unit!

Rocket (Border Collie/ Blue Heeler Cross), Bullet (German Shepherd), and Ruger (White Lab).

Clarabelle's 2010 Coated Romney Lamb Wool

Clarabelle, one of our Romney lambs grew this beautiful fleece. The color of her wool started out at a dark charcoal when she was a lamb;  it has gradually lightened, and now ranges between silver-gray and charcoal-gray. The outside tips of Clarabelle's fleece are a moorit-brown color. She inherited this moorit tendency from her mother, Autumn, and her grandmother, Carrie.

The staple length of her fleece was between 6 and 7.5 inches. Her wool has a nice crimp and softness. Her skirted fleece weighed well over 5 pounds.

In addition to having outstanding wool, Clarabelle is also a model ewe! She has a large body frame, a gentle personality, and a cute face with a big white spot on the end of her nose! Clarabelle's wool has continued to lighten this year and we are looking forward with great anticipation to her 2011 fleece!

Hello From Foreman!

"Don't I have a handsome nose?"