Jacobs sheep are a consistent theme here at Star Light. If you talk with some locals in Durham they were under the impression it was a sheep farm at one time. These days though Durham is without its former sheep and chicken residents the air in Middlefield at SLGNW is filled with that familiar sheep baah and the proclamations of a rooster. We’ve had our 5 Jacobs sheep Betty, Bo, Kenga, Sunny and Willard since December 2021(actually Sunny was born April 2022). Currently mostly pets and mediocre landscapers, we are beginning to work grazing them into our growing practices. Its part of a more holistic approach which we have long term goals of transitioning to. The fact of the matter is that there is a lot of new (to us) ground to be managed and sometimes we wonder what the sheep are even eating. The answer then did seem easy enough and seeing as J and J had recently moved into their home, what better house warming present for a couple of farmers than 2 more sheep. Jen’s grandparents, Charlie and Kathy had this idea when they first came to visit the new homestead. Growing up on his family farm instilled a love for animals in Grampy and he was excited about the idea of there being more to love at SLGNW, and we certainly welcomed the idea. So, just over a month ago Charlie and Kathy the sheep were added to the flock just 8 weeks old and cuter than you could imagine. We are still in the process of integrating them into the flock, in addition to shoring up fencing but so far these two are quite the veracious grazers. In fact don’t mention it to their brothers and sisters but the new sheep on the block are grazing circles around their older siblings.
In other farm news tomorrow is being honored in the name of tubers, with the first installment of the 2023 Spud Tuesday Potato Harvest ’23STPH for short. We have been really pleased with how the plants have looked so far this year. Over half of the areas planted have a good standing of Fall planted peas and oats or peas, oats and vetch and the benefit to the plants is apparent. Our early August cover cropping has had around 50% success getting established so far and its now time to switch to cool weather cover crops, likely this week or next. The real questions on everyone’s mind is what is going on with the lawn in Middlefield and the wash station in Durham. Though it is confirmed that our overly generous neighbor in Middlefield has retired from mowing, rumors of Fathers and Fathers in law are circulating throughout both locales, demanding a deeper investigation. Stay tuned for deep dive into just what is going on.
Lastly, our kitchen was turning into a canning dept last week with the help of our friend EmPower. Those of you pickle fans will be happy to know we’ve got about 5 cases in reserve so far. Also having a killer season this summer is our Cherokee Green Heirloom tomatoes, so we thought Salsa “Verde.” Instead of tomatillos we used our green heirlooms and let me tell you it’s taking a lot of self control to not crack open a jar. But don’t take our word for it here’s the recipe: SLG Salsa Verde. Preserve some of that summer goodness for yourself, all the ingredients except for the salt and vinegars are available on our site or at the markets!
Have a great week