Let’s talk about my biggest homesteading failure…Sheep.
For as long as I can remember, I have been in love with Soay sheep. They are a primitive breed of Scottish sheep, never having been improved for meat or wool. They are beautiful creatures who’s wool is roo’d, pulled off by hand, and have a taste unlike any other lamb or mutton.
But…they are wild. They are the kind of sheep you leave on an island and come back for at harvest. And they can climb. As the farm is built on a rock, we have dry stone walls as fencing. Even with electric wire, my sheep could clear it in one leap.
I spent 2 years chasing these sheep. I would start panicking anyone came down the road, for fear my sheep were out. I walked hundreds of miles hunting them down in fields all over the estate. Even though we trained them to bucket and they were the most tame Soays I’ve ever seen, handling and moving were difficult.
We made the decision earlier this year to sell them. It was the right move. I simply couldn’t have the stress of them escaping and upsetting my neighbouring farmer, but I still feel so sad we couldn’t make it work.
We still have a handful of sheep. Mostly Soay crosses and a few Gotlands, but we are winding down our sheep keeping for now until we can find a different field. Even with the best will in the world, something’s just don’t ‘fit’, you know?
I began my homesteading journey from the perspective of a Nutritional Therapist, closet herbalist, and beekeeper. This mentally gave me a few barriers to diving into the conventionally accepted tools for animal health such as antibiotics, injectable vitamins, generic minerals and mass produced bagged feeds…
I am not well traveled. I’ve never flown on a plane. I’ve never been north of Ohio or west of Texas.I’m not as well traveled as some may say one should be, but this piece of land has housed all of my fondest memories…
Do you ever worry that your kids will miss out because of this homesteading lifestyle choice? This fear crosses my mind time to time. I’m sure many, if not most of you, could agree that it can be extremely difficult to get extended time away from the homestead for more than a full day, especially in the busy summer months when daily chores demand our regular attention…
“In some Native languages the term for plants translates to ‘those who take care of us’ … the land knows you, even when you are lost.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass…
I kept our sheep a secret. After mentioning to a friend that I was thinking about getting a small flock, she looked at me with crazy eyes as if I had said I was going to burn my house down. I had just that day committed to buying my first two goats…
Babies, Business, and Bumper Crops: How I am Learning to Homestead with Babies in Tow
Have you ever had one of those days? You know the days when you are cleaning the baby’s diaper, milking the cow, scooping poop in the barn, wiping noses, and cleaning more poop off of kids’ shoes…
Hey there, Homesteading Mama’s!
I’m Rachel from @frontier_homesteading. My husband Ryan, three children and I have been homesteading for about 10 years now, first in Wyoming and now in Alaska.
We currently have milk goats, pack goats, sheep, a pig, a cow, chickens, rabbits, bees and a dog. Seasonally, we also have more pigs, meat chickens and turkeys….
Stained glass windows date back to the 7th century. With the earliest known reference dating
from 675 AD when workmen were imported from France to Britain to Glaze the windows of a
monastery…
