Wool

Happy September! Always seems like the summer goes by so fast. It is nice to have a little cooler evenings. Great weather to sit out on the porch and enjoy. My Shetland lambs are growing nicely. Their color patterns are really starting to be vibrant.

As I write this column, I am looking out over our county fair. The Boone County Fair has been a family tradition since I was a child. The fair is special for a lot of families. I really enjoy seeing all the livestock shows and catching up with friends.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. We have sure been busy with a lot of projects around the farm. The hay cutting went well with 11 big square bales in the barn. With the rain we have had in the last couple weeks, I am hopeful to get another good cutting.

The Make It With Wool Competition will return to the Indiana State Fair on July 31. The competition will be at the Indiana Arts Building, with judging check-in at 9 a.m. and the public fashion show at 2 p.m.

Here in northern Illinois there has been a lot of rain. I am not complaining, especially since my son-in-law in Georgia is very dry. All the rain does make it difficult to cut hay. Looks like there is a break next week. Crossing my fingers for a window of a couple days.

Interesting how short spring can be in northern Illinois. This week the weather has jumped right into summer. I do not mind. Nice to see the grass and pasture turn green.

March is always an up and down month for weather. Nice one day and then cold and snowy the next. I am choosing to be positive and know it will not be long until spring. March is a good time to plan for projects when the weather turns nice.

Hopefully the groundhog is not correct and spring is closer than six weeks away. It has been cold the last few days and nights. The sheep are doing well, but stay in the barn most of the time. The north side of our barn has three doors.

Happy New Year! I usually do not make very many New Year’s resolutions, but this year I did try to think of some for the farm and fiber mill business. I would like to attend — probably virtually — at least one educational seminar on improving flock health.

The rain in late October and early November is not a favorite of farmers. For my pastures, the rain has given them extra life. The sheep should be able to get enough grass until the end of November with only a little supplement.

What a week! As I am write this column, I have just arrived home from the Boone County Fair, our local fair. The weather was a little wet and stormy at the beginning of the week, but perfect for the weekend.

Summer is certainly here with the hot weather. We like to say that we are having Georgia weather in northern Illinois. Luckily we had a lot of rain this spring and the pasture did grow well. In the last two weeks it has been dry.

Following a year of holding the contest virtually, the Indiana Make It With Wool Competition will return at the Indiana State Fair on Aug. 1.

Spring is my favorite season of the year. It brings the warmer weather and anticipation of new life. There are flowers already blooming in our yard and others pushing their way through the ground. The pasture is turning green and will be growing soon. I keep the sheep in until about May 1 to give the pasture time to recover from winter. Now that we do not have any horses, our pasture feeds the few sheep we have all summer and into the fall. We have several big bales of hay left from last year. Maybe this year we can sell our cutting of hay.

I sure enjoyed the warmer weather while it lasted. Another batch of snow is forecasted for the coming week. Good thing about March is that the snow will not last long. My son-in-law in Georgia has his spring planting equipment out and has been cleaning it. He is getting ready to plant his sweet corn in about two weeks. This will be right around Easter.