Monday, May 29, 2006

new lawnmowers


By the way, there are three of them in the picture. I just noticed the front one looks like it has a head growing out of its butt!

I can now add "shepherd" to my resume. We've been talking about getting sheep for years, thinking they would be quieter than a lawn mower and fresh wool to boot. Well, last week The Hermit found these three lambs who needed a new home; their previous owner had gone to a nursing home and the family was anxious to get rid of them. When The Hermit picked them up they were in a small dirt enclosure, with no access to fresh grass. They won't have that problem here!

This is the "fortress" we built for them yesterday. We added a tarp for shade at one end. When all the grass is grazed down, The Hermit will just hook up the tractor and pull the fortress, sheep and all, to a new patch. Right now they're working on the side yard of the new house.

I'm off to look up carding and spinning equipment on Ebay! Okay, maybe that's a ways off in the future, but it's something to think about!

6 comments:

R.Powers said...

You weren't kidding when you called it a fortress.

Pam in Tucson said...

That's some far out lawnmower! Aren't the sheep just beautiful. Great colours for spinning.

Anonymous said...

Great. Now I need a sheep fortress!

LauraHinNJ said...

Wow - sounds like fun! Don't some people make *moveable* chicken coops like that? I'd be interested to know how long it takes them to cut each patch of lawn.

arcolaura said...

I know someone with a "chicken tractor." He has wheels on one end of it, and a lever at the other that allows him to just pry it ahead a couple of feet each day. The chickens, he says, get all excited at his approach, and rush for their "fresh salad."

gtr said...

Yay! Looks very fun! Love the "sheep tractor" idea. We did the chicken tractor idea last year, and it worked great. The hens would definitely get excited for the fresh grass, and just happily walk along as we pushed it on skids.

Enjoy the wool, too!! (Just watch out for, ah, moths if you store it for long after shearing!!)