THIS MAKES ME SO HAPPY!
I had the honor and pleasure of joining a podcast with one of my most favorite internet influencers and you-tuber the other day, the Shepherdess from Harmony Farms. Besides the fact that her primary focus is promoting sheep and helping newbies navigate the ins and outs of sheep...we have a lot in common.  I mean, how ironic is it that her name is my middle name and the name of my first sheep, and her farm name is almost identical to ours.  I just admire her gift for communicating so much.   The podcast isn't out yet, but I have been enjoying what she's published over the last couple of years on Spotify, and I think you would, too!  Very inspiring.  Very encouraging! You should definitely tune in here
She recently interviewed a young woman who is writing a book on dairy sheep, and OH MY GOSH I was blown away by some of the information!  I'm feel like I am sort of your hands-on shepherdess gal, we had the opportunities to farm thrown at us at a very early age, and keeping up with it all has surely stretched us in a lot of good ways.  All that to say, I don't have a lot of time to research and study, and this interview with Whoopsie Daisy farms was eye opening even for someone who has been mildly twitter-pated with dairy sheep for 20 years. So be sure to check that one out! 
This is just one of those seasons where I am feeling so thankful and encouraged at seeing my generation step up to the plate with solutions, innovation, and management tools for success with agriculture.  Communicating to our friends and neighbors the importance of farming and regenerative practices for our farms is paramount to preserving the freedom, independence, and stability that we all love and enjoy here in the states.  We could all use a little leg up and encouragement when it comes to farming and homesteading, since this is almost an art that has been generationally forgotten.  Just thankful for all of the resources at our fingertips, and excited to see the determination and passion for agriculture being ignited all around me, especially toward raising dairy sheep, or any sheep, for that matter!
 More to come soon...we're busy getting the last few big batches of soap made before we dry up the dairy ewes for the year, baling hay, and getting going on thousands of dryer balls for Ibex wool before the holiday season!   May you all be blessed! 

What is the most important animal to have on a Homestead?
So glad you asked!!!
As someone who grew up with an unexplained obsession with sheep, I’m prepared to give my 100% professional and unbiased opinion. But hear me out.  Unfortunately, as with much of the small-scale agricultural industry in the US, sheep production and breeding is in a sad state of decline.  Year after year as I visit our State fair and local County fair, I am saddened by the lack of interest and the dwindling breeds presented.  My mind is blown that such a spectacular creature is so underappreciated. 
And so I wonder…why is this?  With all of the benefits and advantages to the environment and potential for multiple streams of revenue that dairy sheep provide in one small easy-to-manage package, it just surprises me they aren’t more popular here in the states. 
Perhaps their reputation for a strong flight instinct has us feeling a little disenchanted with the idea…like…who wants to chase psychotic wild animals around all day.  Why are they so skittish, anyway? 
 I do believe the better question in this case is this…why don’t WE understand sheep better?
  Did you know that making eye contact with sheep is body language for “I am going to eat you if you don’t run?”

Or, how about this:  Patting a sheep on the head means “I am the boss, get away from me!” 

And we wonder why they don’t like us very much!

But back to our original question.  Why are sheep so widely misunderstood and unappreciated on the agricultural landscape and in backyards of homesteaders today? When it comes to husbandry, why do we lack understanding for this lovely and complex little creature, which humans in most regions of the world--formerly and to this day--continue to depend upon for life? 

I could point fingers in a lot of directions (like at our public education system for failing to instill ambition, critical thinking, and impart actual skills to our children.  But please, just pull me off that soapbox right now.)  Do you know what I really think? It’s the commercialization of agriculture.  That great opportunity, once touted for innovation and solutions to feed a growing population, now imploding and destabilizing communities after years of taking without giving back.  Friends, it’s not God’s way.  Oops, soap box again.

But, I hope you can wade through the mire of my personal opinions to see the point…sheep are one of the few “farm animals” which are not easily incorporated into massive scale farms because they need an attentive shepherd. And who has time for that these days?
How does this affect the sheep industry in the US, you ask?  I’ll explain.  If corporations with all of the purchase and lobbying power in our country fail to fund and approve importation of new genetics and promote the species with advertising, (think Black Angus marketing vs. Hereford) eventually they become obsolete.   Fade into "Bolivian."   And that is just the tip of the iceburg, if you want to know more about the role the government plays in all this, read the book "Mad Sheep" By Linda Fallace. 
Ever since Mad Cow disease in the US, Big Beef controls the law.   Be that as it may, what about the small folks like us?  There isn’t much holding us back from improving genentics and working with the fantastic breeds we already have available here. 

I wonder if the thought of shearing every year and difficulty in obtaining decent blood for gentle and productive sheep who don’t die constantly sort of put the final nail in the coffin for our fluffy friends.

I’m doing my best to change that, to promote what I truly believe to be THE best choice for homesteaders on the wonderfully blossoming landscape of smallholder farms in the US currently.  No other animal can provide such value for both the environment and us.  They are one of the best tools for regeneration of fields, ours are a prime example.  Sheep nourish us well with their outstanding milk and meat production, and with their small size and grazing habits impact the environment in very positive ways.  The versatile income stream and food security they provide their shepherds is unmatched in any other similar species...they deserve a second look.  I’ve been working toward this goal for almost 19 years now and am profoundly grateful for the way God has allowed us to keep this project going even through multiple moves and seasons of life.  Sheep are such gentle animals, and tougher than they are given credit for.  In general, low drama compared to goats.  I love goats, their antics crack me up.  But something about the way a sheep reveals a glimpse of my own personality and emotions draws me in and leaves me in awe.  How they come running when I call but give little more than a blank stare when my husband or a friend does the same.  Sheep get a bad rap for being stupid, but really, when they are not being driven by fear and adrenalin and are surrounded by a safe and stable environment, are surprisingly intelligent and quite capable of learning how to behave properly.
Guess they are a little more like us than we would care to admit. (Cringe)
It’s hard to put my finger on it, but something compels me to know them and understand them like no other creature has.  And I’ve certainly tried all the things that go quack and moo and oink, let me tell you!
Well, that’s all I have time for tonight, I’m holding my eyelids open with toothpicks.  But look forward to pt. 2…all the reasons why we love sheep so much…coming soon!

One of the coolest things I notice as a shepherd is that sheep respond drastically differently to my call...their level of interest and attachment isn't the same across the board.  A particularly special ewe (like Blossom) might see me and come running before I even say a word.  At the other end of the spectrum are those who present a bit more of a challenge--it might take violently shaking a bucket of grain and lots of happy screaming "Come 'er, sheep!!" before I even get looked at skeptically.  ​

Blossom was born with a birth defect.  She had severe deficiency and needed quite a lot of attention before she could walk on her own.   We gently bandaged her painful swollen joints and tube fed her until she was strong enough to suck.  It was a couple of weeks before she could walk, so we carried her everywhere we went.  She wasn't born on our farm, but the bond we created with her from birth was very different from the bond I have with a lamb who is born fully functional and strong.

Blossom is now a very large and happy sheep.  Large, because she is always the first one to the afore mentioned pail of grain.  Happy because she knows she is special.  Bomb-proof means unruffled, unafraid, assertive, and confident when stressful or shocking things happen.   Because she knows her place as a cherished and loved member of our family, she knows she doesn't have to worry about anything.  She knows this because she has spent countless hours with me. 
​ In the same way, a relationship with our Shepherd is empowering.  Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (biblehub.com)

It goes without saying that God pursues us with a love so much deeper than I have for Blossom.  To be known and loved might be one of the best feelings we can experience as human beings.  Whenever I log into social media, I see a crowd of love and acceptance-starved people trying to prove their worth. We may patch our desperate soul through relationship with a spouse, our kids, or friends, perhaps we try to sew it together with fame or success.  It's all good, we need each other and doing well in life is awesome, FO SHO.  But let me tell you, it will never fully satisfy, because we were created to live in relationship with God, a relationship that is marked by unmerited, never-ending unconditional love without partiality.  This is the missing patch in our quilt, and no matter how hard we try, we cannot be that patch for another person.  Jesus is someone who isn't looking at our abilities or tracking our accomplishments.  He doesn't measure us by our performance or success and is not deciding whether his investment into our lives is paying back enough to make the relationship worthwhile.  He doesn't call us his own because we have a pretty face or a striking resume. 
He just, loves us. 
​John 10:14 I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, (biblehub.com)

The offer is on the table, and we all have the choice and opportunity to respond.
  Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (biblehub.com) 
Some of us respond to the call like Blossom, because we know our shepherd.  In striking contrast, some will respond like my sheep who don't know their shepherd. 
And dude. It shows. Physically and emotionally.  
Eyes bulging and muscles tense, ready to flee at the drop of a needle.  They live their lives in spookish terror of what might happen next. I can almost see 3000 plans of how to avoid their coming doom fly through their little brains as their hearts begin to pump overtime to support this shocking serge of electric brain activity.

It kind of breaks my heart when I have spent countless hours trying to connect, assuring them that I have a plan and that my intentions are for their good.  "But hey, if you want to run around like frickin' terrified nutcases instead of coming with me for a greener pasture and a smidgen of grain, ya'll  just have fun."  (My actual words this week.) lol
Well, I may have sacrificed a bit of time and money on those crazy sheep, but Jesus sacrificed himself, even while we wanted ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with him. ​Romans 5:8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (biblehub.com)
​If that doesn't GET YOU.  ​

I don't know what you all are going through, but this I do know.  His heart is full of kindness and compassion...and he is WAAAYY more patient than I am as a shepherd. Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (biblehub.com).  He is Jehovah Jireh, provider of all our needs.  He leads us beside still waters and restores our souls. 
Just trust him.
 I know for a fact that relying on Him and resting in his power will renew your joy and give your life purpose, even if it is completely the opposite of what you hoped or dreamed.  As a once very broken lamb, I have tasted and seen the goodness of our Shepherd.  
  Blossom's secret to success and satisfaction is a vibrant relationship with her shepherd.  Is your faith built on a solid relationship with yours?  Are you spending time with Him, and bomb-proofing your life against fear?  What do you spend most of your time thinking about, talking about, and worrying about?  Are your eyes bulging, or are you standing at the feet of the Shepherd, enjoying his provision and peace?

Spring is just around the corner; I can feel it!  The excitement and anticipation for this next year is almost more than we can stand!  HOPE.  It's what gets us out of bed in the morning and enables our hearts to rejoice in every season, even the dark wintery ones. 
​
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year, and have started this 2022 season ready to kick honeybuns!  For me January began with prayer and fasting, seeking to know what God has for us in the new year and opening my heart to hear from him.  It was FOR SURE a challenge to eat only fruits and veggies for a month, but I feel so refreshed.

Psalm 199:133 "Establish my footsteps in your word, and do not let iniquity have dominion over me!" 

This is my prayer for 2022, that God would establish our footsteps in his word, our lifeline and hope in all circumstances.  Trying to pass on hope that we don't have, compassion that we haven't experienced, and forgiveness that we haven't understood for ourselves is like trying to water parched soil from an empty well. Stressful, tiring, and very sadly ineffective. I have been there more than I'd like to admit.  Boy, there is a lot of parched soil out there right now, am I right?!!! I so desperately need reminders of God's deep and unfailing love in order to refresh the parched and weary souls around me, or I'll just get heat stroke myself.  Thank goodness, his mercies are new every morning. 

Ugh, laundry!  Everyone’s favorite chore.  Even though it’s not always loads of fun (ha, ha.) having perfectly clean laundry isn't as much of an art as it was just a few years back thanks to modern commercialized products and machines.  Unfortunately, with these time-saving solutions come a few disadvantages, like harsh chemicals, dyes, fragrances, and non-recyclable plastics for packaging up all that wonderful blue slimy wonderfulness.  

 Finding a detergent that's frugal, safe for us, safe for the environment, waste-free and that actually works on grungy farm garb can be rather errmmm...impossible to find.  So we did a bit of research, and after a few years of trial and error, came up with seems to be the perfect solution to a major issue I've always had.  As they say, I have more than the National Geographic...but bam!  Laundry is no longer one! 

So today, lets delve into each of the ingredients in our laundry soap, and the science behind how they work to give us the cleanest,  freshest, whitest laundry ever.  

Borax
(Sodium Tetraborate) is a natural mineral with a pH of 8.  This slight acidity boosts the cleaning power of your soap.  The sodium component of borax is also helpful to soften your water, making soap cleanse more effectively.  Borate works to keep soap distributed throughout the load, which ensures no soapy residue in your laundry.  Borax removes odors and inhibits fungi, mold, and bacteria.  It packs a punch for cleaning cloth diapers, workout gear, and anything else immensely odiferous.

Washing Soda
 (Sodium Carbonate) works by lifting soil from fabrics and suspending them in the wash water.  Like borax, it is a water softener and enables your soap to do its job.  Because of its high alkalinity, it is highly effective for removing tough stains like coffee, blood, and tea, yet harmless enough to use on plants to treat a variety of fungal and other pests.  

Vinegar
White distilled vinegar is a WONERFUL addition to your wash load for several reasons.  It helps fight odors and bacteria, brightens, softens, and prevents cling from fuzzies and hair.  I use it in the last rinse to ensure my line-dried laundry remains soft. Nothing is worse than crispy jeans or towels that stand up in a corner by themselves. 
 By the way, I came across this cool explanation of why air-dried clothes sometimes come out crispy.  If you're interested in that sort of thing, here's a short and sweet scoop on the matter. www.scienceabc.com/eyeopeners/why-do-clothes-feel-soft-coming-out-of-the-dryer-but-crunchy-when-theyre-air-dried.html

Soap
Whoo hoo!  My favorite subject!!!!
Many home-made laundry detergent recipes call for Fels-Naptha soap.  I was never super enthused with it since this product contains palm oil and it smells weird.  It didn’t clean laundry as well as I hoped, and if anything, it seemed to leave a grey dingy residue over time.  Therefore, I started making my own pure coconut oil soap for laundry since coconut oil soap is known for its extreme cleansing qualities and is not a rare and diminishing natural resource.  The recipe has both a low water % as well as a low super fat, which basically means there is extremely little (5%) actual water or oil remaining in the soap after saponification and cure.  This surfactant isn’t super “sudsy” and won’t overflow your machine.  

If you’re interested in the recipe for laundry soap DIY, you can find that here.   It is a tricky recipe to deal with, you must be so careful to keep the mixture at a low temperature to avoid a burning hot soap “volcano.”  Yeah, not cool!  For this reason, I do not highly recommend it for beginning soap makers, but the results are well worth the trouble for me!  It is extremely effective for removing grime, grease, and everything in between.  Its alkaline properties makes it a great stain remover as well! 

Hydrogen Peroxide
This household sanitizing product is wonderful for removing stains and brightening whites.  Please do be careful not to combine with vinegar, as the reaction can cause damage to skin.  If you like to use both, use it for your beginning laundry cycle and add vinegar to the final rinse.  Or just pick one or the other. 😉  

Tabs Vs. Powder
We’ve decided to add a laundry powder option to our webstore, as the powdered mix may be more suited to HE machines or when using cold water.  I highly recommend using either a bit of peroxide or vinegar in your load and using no more than a TB of powder detergent per load.  The tabs are wonderful for saving time and they do dissolve quite readily with water and agitation.  

I hope this list has helped answer some of your questions regarding natural laundry detergents, and how to use them most effectively.  Now, ya'll go out and conquer the pile with gusto this week ;-)

​ I have heard that shepherding is one of the most stable professions in the homesteading world, and I can see why!  Sheep are like the swiss-army-knife of livestock, they provide a plethora of options and avenues for income and in an easily manageable package.  I genuinely believe dairy sheep are the cream of the crop, and here is why:

Personality.  You cannot beat the personality, gentleness, and relational bond that dairy sheep have offer their shepherd or shepherdess.  On a homestead or small dairy operation, having docile and fun livestock to work with will make a world of difference and may determine whether you stay in the business for 2 weeks or 40 years.  I am not joking.  It's hard enough trying to be a mom-of-all-trades on the farm, and the last thing you need is a big, wild, mean, skittish, angry creature from hell to try and tame while you're backpacking a baby and trying to cook from scratch sourdough on a wood stove. I said it because its true. 

​Options. If you search out the proper genetics, your flock can supply you with meat, milk, and wool.  There are not any animals I know of that offer so many wonderful options for living self-sufficiently.  A good dairy ewe can produce upwards of a gallon per day of the richest and most wonderful milk you’ve ever tasted, give you strong triplet lambs, and a luxurious 8-12lb wool coat to craft with all in a year.  This means you will be get up in the morning and take a shower with a wonderful bar of sheep milk soap, have a snack of cheese, yogurt, butter, or ice cream, a hearty lamb supper, and knit a sweater for yourself all winter long.  Dude.

Heartiness.  Again, proper genetics is key, and you’ll want to do the research and find which breeds thrive in your particular climate.  After many years trying out a number of purebreds and even registered stock, I decided my favorite for all-around multipurpose excellence is a Finn X Rideau Arcott cross.  I also have some Border Leicester EF crosses that would give any light-boned purebred dairy sheep a serious run for her money.  The muscle, the heartiness, the incredibly soft wool, the milk production…UGH. It’s a dream.

 Acuna Matata.  It means no worries, for the rest of your days.  This problem-free philosophy of dairy sheep might just save your homestead.  Particularly if you are a woman, or a beginner without a lot of livestock experience, there is no better animal to start with.  Except maybe chickens.  They respect fences, they love you, they follow you, they stand nicely for milking, they out-produce any other animal, and they do not require a lot of heavy lifting.  If they do get a wild hair or have a bad day, you won’t be headed for the hospital, so that’s always a plus.

Affordability.  This one.  The cool thing about dairy sheep is that they don’t require much to sustain themselves. If you have ample pasture and a mineral, they are going to be happy and healthy 99% of the time.  HOWEVER, you will notice on your shepherding journey that to get above average production, you’ll have to put in above average care.  I SO want you to understand that you cannot get out what you don’t put in.  An animal who puts so much energy into growing baby animals, beautiful fleece, and wonderful milk needs serious nutrition and careful attention. If you are interested, you can find more on sheep nutrition in other blog posts under “Dairy Sheep!”

When it comes to the environment, I have a big question.  Is there intentionality and relationship between a healthy system and someone or something who makes it that way?  Is there design behind so many wonderfully functioning natural systems?  If so, is it possible to learn and understand this design,  (knowledge) and apply this knowledge rightly (wisdom) to benefit the earth?

Co-dependent
In our zeal for a healthy environment, I wonder if we often cancel out or try to remove an important factor.  The human factor.  The positive relationship of man with earth, the biblical principal of gratitude, stewardship, and dominion.  There may be increasing environmental challenges we face in this fallen world, but elimination of the human factor from the equation is surely not the answer for a better-balanced ecosystem, and neither is severing thousands of years of human dependency on animal products and the natural fruits of the earth.  The truth is, we ALL have an important role to play, and monopolizing the food chain, messing with the ages-old symbiotic relationship of man and animal, is only further removing us from the benefits of a grateful and sacrificial relationship with each other and the earth.  I believe it is moving us in a dangerous direction.
A "Beyond-Dangerous" direction. 
(You smelling what I'm stepping in?)​​

​What is the solution?
When was the last time you were told that you matter? That you are precious?  Not by a company trying to buy you, but by a human who actually cares? 
I wonder if our greatest need is a change of heart, a soul-deep, course-altering, worldview that causes us to pause and consider the ethics of every move we make, every penny we spend, and especially, the intrinsic value of human beings. (Rom 12:2) If we are sincere in our belief that every person is imperishable and made in the image of God—and I do believe we are—it matters how we nurture the earth, our bodies, our livestock, and each other.  YOU are unfathomably valuable and loved as an individual, imperishable soul.  Only when we realize this, can we move on to other ethical and environmental  issues.

Slow progress = lasting resilience
Here at the farm, we wrestle daily with the contrast between get-rich-quick farming and slow legacy building.  We are the generation standing in the gap.  As we walk the fields and see beautifully rich ag land around us being split into residential areas and bought up at an alarming rate by centralizing, monopolizing entities run by millionaires like Bill Gates, it is quite easy to see two hugely contrasting worldviews.  And it is not hard to imagine the multi-generational consequences they will likely have.

Put your fields in order, then build your house.
Agriculture and human development can either “rape” the land or “regenerate” it.  We must be continually testing of our methods and ideas.  Instantly gratifying solutions, while tempting, may give one generation stability while exhausting natural resources for the next.  This is the case in almost every arena, not just farming!  Regenerative farms and homes should build, make resilient, de-centralize, stabilize, and sustain for generations to come. 

Ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is.
The concept of taking barren dirt and transforming it into carbon-capturing, solar energy converting, biodynamic, symbiotic-relationship-fostering soil is—to say the least—challenging. We have so much to learn!   But I also cannot think of many professions so thrilling and full of hope!  Regenerative agriculture is just a beautiful glimpse of that perfect garden that we were literally made for tending…I do believe, as they say, “It’s in our blood!”

Just a little discount for our faithful followers :-)  We ship fast, so order deadline for Mother's Day arrivals is May 4th!