Archive for April 2011

It has been a long time coming but it has finally begun. We have managed to get our store up and going. So far we have some wool items up there. Soon we will have some buttons and some grow kits. One of the items that we think is neat are our Needle Felted Acorn Pins. Jennifer makes these with wool from Itchy, one of our sheep and the acorn caps from our black oak tree.To see what else we have been making please visit our store: www.allsortsacre.ca/store

Acorn Pin

By Olivier De Schutter

GENEVA – Small-scale farmers can double food production within 10 years in critical regions by using ecological methods, a new UN report shows. Based on an extensive review of the recent scientific literature, the study calls for a fundamental shift towards agroecology as a way to boost food production and improve the situation of the poorest.

“To feed 9 billion people in 2050, we urgently need to adopt the most efficient farmingtechniques available,” says Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and author of the report. “Today’s scientific evidence demonstrates that agroecological methods outperform the use of chemical fertilizers in boosting food production where the hungry live -- especially in unfavorable environments.” MORE...

First minute of the ram lamb's life. Izzy is cleaning him.

Spring is the season for babies. First it was kids, now it is lambs. Izzy had two lambs a couple of weeks ago. The boy and girl are both are black with a bit of white. Izzy's bundles of wool arrived at around 12pm on March 29.   were done in the morning Izzy appeared to be in labour. She was pawing at the ground and not eating. She didn't even eat her grain, which for Izzy is unheard of. I put her in the barn and shut her in. I did chores and kept an eye n her hoping that she would have the lamb soon. I needed to go out.

At around ten to 12 I went down to check on her. The baby was showing. From what I could see it looked like a normal birth. I ran up to the house to get some warm water and by the time I returned Izzy had given birth to a little boy. I then cleaned out his mouth and gave him back to her. Wih a huge sign of relief I then went off to mt internship.

Lambs at a week and a half old. They are testing a branch.

When I arrived home I found another baby with Izzy. She had had another while I was out. Luckily there were no complications and the little family was just fine. Izzy is a good mother, and an easy birther. I was amazed at the speed which which the babies literally popped out.

At two weeks old they are all doing well and the babies are out and running around. So far they don't have names. The ram lamb is well on his way to become a whether and the ewe lamb will either be kept or sold on.

Now we are waiting on Itchy!