We started our first ever attempt at processing wool. I can’t guarantee the results will be pretty, correct, or that we did things the way it should have been done. We did read a book, a web-site, and talk to some people. It seems to be one of those things you just have jump in and try. So here goes a journaling of our attempts.

We had the sheep sheared in March. It has taken us until this week to get started. For the first few days we let the wool air so that the extra moisture would evaporate. Then we stored the wool in 30 gallon plastic trash sacks. We kept the tops open for another couple of weeks and then folded the bags over. It stayed in those bags until Monday.

Monday we sat on the front deck and opened the bags. Whew . . . the smell was still a bit strong. We dumped the wool on the porch and picked out the big stuff. There was a lot. I suppose if we were “high tech” homesteaders we could have used special sheep blankets, but not us. Therefore, there was a lot of burrs, twigs, and dirt in that wool. By the way, lanolin can make you really itchy. It is like rolling in a tub of cheap, oil-based, crap!

Today we washed the wool. We used three buckets with warmish water. The first bucket was for washing, the other two for rinsing. The water immediately turned brown. It was not pretty. The rinse water did stay pretty clean. We used a sheet and an old dishwasher tray to dry the wool. Right now it is dripping away. When it is done, we’ll spread it out on a clean sheet and let it dry a little longer.

I’ve learned three things already today. 1. I don’t like slimy stuff on my hands. 2. Wool is dirty and smells when it is wet. 3. Next time we’ll sort the wool into smaller sections prior to washing.

Coming up in a few day . . . . carding!

***I wrote this post Tuesday, but couldn’t get the pictures uploaded. Wednesday morning we washed the next batch and I sorted it into smaller sections. It was much easier to handle that way.

2. Harvested: arugula, lettuce, spinach, chard, basil, blueberries, cherries

3. Preserved: canned cherries, canned blueberries, dehydrated blueberries, banana chips

4. Stored: first aid supplies, alfalfa pellets,

5. Prepped: first aid kit

6. Managed: Cleaned out project room to make room for home canned veggies. Cleaned bunny barn and chicken coop. All gardens and orchard weeded.

7. Local: milk pick up

Whew . . . I’m tired.  Exhausted is more accurate.  This week HM and I have put up 24 pints of cherries and 79 pints of blueberries.  Of course, neither one of us wants to look at either fruit again.  Maybe next week when we’re doing plums the blueberries will look good.

Last night for dinner we had the first of the raspberries made into a yogurt dough torte.  Yummy!  Cool and refreshing, light and easy to do.

Yogurt Dough:

Cream together 1 cup butter and  1 cup yogurt.  Add 1 tsp salt and 3 1/2 cups flour.  Mix well and shape into a ball.  Let sit 1-12 hours. (It depends on how tangy you want the dough or how quickly you want to eat!)

Roll out and place in pie pan or torte pan.  ( I just use my fingers and mush it all around the pan)

Bake 400 for 15 minutes.

Next up in the seasonal parade of fruit:  plums, then blackberries, then early peaches.  July is going to be busy!  Hopefully less busy than June.

We never did get started on the wool.  Next week, I promise.

August 28, 1915-June 18, 2008

An inspiration for beauty in my garden and life has died.  Tasha Tudor left this world surrounded by family and friends in her own home.

More pictures. This time the older grape vines, little bitty grapes, the strawberry bed, the herb/flower bed, and lavender.

Our little bantams are all grown up now.  They are about 80% grown and could begin laying eggs in 6 more weeks.  They are so fun to watch.  Some of them are quite the looker!

Next a view of the pasture where the bunny barn is located.  You’re looking at the back of the garden too.  The tall plants (with white flowers) are the seed carrots.  They are almost ready.    The next picture is the middle part of the garden.    Then the front of the garden with the asparagus all ferned up.  In a month the asparagus will look like miniature Christmas trees with little red berries all over them.  The final picture is the woods.  These are the trees that the goats girdled last fall.  They seem to have survived and even have new growth.

Kim

Here are our rabbits.  Mr Hazel is at the very bottom, Miss Maggy is all stretched out in the dirt box.  Sally, Jessy, and Katy are sort of scrunched up together.  Eric, the spare buck, is also scrunched up there with them.  He isn’t old enough to pose a threat to Mr Hazel’s manhood, so he is tolerated by the older buck.  Soon he’ll have to be removed to his own pen.  The rabbits love to lie in the dirt box.   They scratch at the dirt and take a siesta.  They also love the concrete floors on these warm days.

Here is a shot taken from inside their concrete run.  That is the open doorway into the actual hutch.

Finally a shot from the back door looking at the bunny barn.  It has a 4×6 hutch with an attached 6×6 run.  The whole thing has a concrete floor so that the rabbits don’t dig their way out (and into my garden!).

We hope to build a matching barn for raising the bunnies from weaning to butchering size.  We’ll divide it into two sides so that there is no unplanned breedings!  You know how rabbits are . . .

HM turns 18 on June 17. Since family was in town to celebrate her graduation, we decided to go ahead and do her birthday celebration on Friday night. We cooked out and visited with my Mom and Dad, younger sister (KA) , her husband, and my two nephews! It was blast!

We did miss my middle sister and her husband, but they are enjoying a well-deserved rest and writing a book in Sante Fe. A bit too far to make the trip! They have sent some beautiful pictures though.

Your’s truly is in the bottom picture. White capris with a dark blue shirt.