Sheep!

So, I was going to write another depressing blog about this past week of incredibly stressful weather. I mean, look at these sad, sad, tomatoes :( 

BUT not even frozen tomatoes can totally ruin spring. SO, in honor of the delightful aspects of running a farm, I wanted to record the incredible adventure mom and I had to SamNana last weekend. 

SamNana is a small farm in Sinks Grove, West Virginia. It is run by the amazing Tom and Debbie Gentry. They raise grass-fed St Croix heritage sheep, beef cattle and chickens. The Gentrys are very talented and compassionate farmers. If you have not had the chance to visit their farm stand at the Grandin Community Market, please do so—I promise you will not be disappointed. 

Hanging out with Tom, Debbie, and their sheep I fell in love. St Croix are good-natured and calm sheep. They are also excellent mothers. And, I happen to know from much first-hand experience, they taste delicious :). St Croix are a small heritage breed, and therefore not very popular for most commercial farming. This also makes them unique and well suited for a small farm like ours. Their size and temperament make them easy to handle and they seem to lamb easily. St Croix is a hair sheep variety. This means they naturally shed in the spring and do not need to be sheared. 

So, call me crazy, but I went ahead and bought eight of them (pregnant :). They'll show up on the farm in the fall so we can care for them and get them settled into their new barn (yet to be built :) in time for lambing next spring!! Can you imagine how cute they are going to be? (and how delicious??). 

We have a lot of learning to do. 

A lot of learning. 

But, this is the thing that I love most about this farm—the possibilities are endless. Who knows what we'll come up with next :)