Autumn has truly entered our little realm, and the geese and the sheep have been grazing mightily. With the rains of early autumn came a second growth of grass, which has been a delight to them. Also a delight to us, as it's meant they require a little less hay, for now.

We've lost a number of the cull flock, which is regrettable in that they didn't end up in our freezer for winter, but there are still a number left, and even have found a customer or two interested in meat. All in all, a happy run through fall.




The winery grows apace. A lucky find meant we got an excellent deal on apples and pears - as we are now fully licensed both with the state and federal government, this means that we have been able to make batches of apple & honey wine and pear & honey wine, using Granny Smiths and Bartletts respectively.

With much work, we have realized that our equipment may be a trifle under-muscular for the job at hand, and have taken steps to add to our arsenal of fruit-crushing and pressing tools. The obtaining of a bottler has been achieved, and an order placed for bottles; next will be things such as labels and label design.

We had one bad bout of pinkeye with a ram in our bachelor flock, but fortunately isolating him for a few weeks let him get through it safely without it being transmitted to the rest of the flock. We did lose one of the culls to it, however.

More equipment is on its way - both for wine-making and sheep-tending - and we gear up for a long winter of living off the fat of the land until spring thaw. In the meantime, the harvest-time is busy, but rewarding, with fat apples on the oldest trees and sheep grazing under them.