Sheep on the Vine

Sheep as vineyard mowers are becoming popular out in Napa Valley and now our own Aries Crossing Sheep are giving it a go as well.  Some friends approached us about trying out our sheep in their vineyard.    We brought part of our flock up to their beautiful hilltop vineyard and fenced them into a small area to see how they would do.

flock's first evening in the vineyard

grapes on the vine

Sheep have been used successfully in Australia and California as vineyard trimmers.   They can be used in place of tractors, human laborers, and herbicides to control the undergrowth beneath the vines. They also provide fertilizer and even irrigation as they go.   It's a very sustainable method of growing grapes.  It reduces the need for irrigation and saves fuel that would be used on multiple tractor passes.  Sheep are self propelled and run on solar in the form of grass.  Even the electric fencing runs on a solar charger.

We were thrilled with the opportunity to participate in such a symbiotic relationship with another local farmer.  

Of course we have to be careful to make sure the sheep don't eat the grape leaves that are needed to protect the grapes on the upper vines.  They will eat anything they can reach so as long as the grapes are up high enough, they should leave them alone and go for the easier pickings lower down.   They will have to be moved often so they don't start to eye those tasty leaves.

We shall see how our experiment goes.   There may be some other tricks required to get this to work really well but we love the idea and hope we can make it work.

Perhaps in the future we will be able to offer a nice pairing of our sheep cheese and the local wine they helped make.

For more about the use of sheep in vineyards, here are some interesting articles:

Sheep Trained to Weed Vinyards

sheep grazing the vines

Wines and Vines

Grass Farmer

Shearing Day!

Giovanna getting her hoof trimmed

We got our shearing team to come shear our sheep on Sunday.  This mother daughter shearing team is amazing.  They got all 45 of our adult sheep sheared and hooves trimmed in just under 6 hours!  There was one small sheep escape that required some quick thinking and running.  Luckily we have gotten pretty good at acting like sheep dogs and got them back in the small penned area without losing too much time.

Our sheep are currently housed at three separate locations in town, all near each other.  We started the day at our house with our small group of new moms and lambs, moved on to the bachelor pad where we keep our males, and then to our ladies over at another field.  

The wool was skirted and bagged for later processing with the help of some great friends.

Our black fleeces

I was so filthy by the end of the day covered in a mix of wool, lanolin, dirt, and sweat - yum!   But we all got the shepherd's special hand treatment from touching all that lanolin and my hands have never been so soft.  Once the dirt washed off of course - you couldn't have gotten better from a fancy spa.  Days later, my hands are still buttery soft.   I might just keep one fleece in a box to stick my hands in instead of using hand lotion.  That or next winter, I really need to remember to take my gloves off and really get my hands in the sheep's wool each day during feeding time.  
After the long day shearing, we laid out all the wool our on a tarp in the yard to get all the way dry before going into storage bags until we can send it off for processing.  We are thinking of having it made into blankets this year.

Fleeces laid to dry

Mutton for Sale

Sadly, we have our first round of cull sheep that can't stay with us any longer.  They  are simply not destined to be valuable members of our flock.   We do not want any of our animals to go to waste however and are hoping we will be able to get some good quality mutton for dog food along with organ meats and bones.

Feeding your pet a natural raw diet is one of the best things to do for his health.  It is easy and very cost effective.  Our dog lives on a diet primarily composed of white rice, raw mutton, eggs, and steamed or grated veggies.  A few supplements help round out the diet to ensure optimal nutrition. His coat has never been shinier.

I cook up a batch of dog food about twice a week and pack it up in single day portions.  The whole process is pretty quick.  It saves money and is great for pet health.

If you are interested in improving your dog or cat's health - please contact us to arrange to get some good quality mutton with or without organs along with bones for doggie chewing heaven.