Sheep keep eating pasture; shepherds must keep it available for them. For us, it has been a great growing season. (We know a sheep farmer east of here who hasn’t had measurable rain in over two months who has to start selling some of the flock.) We own land, and we lease a great deal […]

A maverick hen likes to lay her egg in this windowledge – we’re all individuals at Topsy Farms:

Mike and Ian and a giant sunflower in the garden.  Lots of compost and aged sheep manure work wonders.

3 1/2 inches of rain this morning – over 2 inches in an hour. The photos show Ian bailing water out of the Wool Shed entrance. (Click on the photos for larger versions.) Nothing was ruined in the Wool Shed, but it was a bit close. I was in the Shed with 2 visitors when […]

Today we found a gorgeous, prehistoric-looking, less than welcome visitor in the garden: a green tomato hornworm.

In the spring of 2009, Sherri (an avid knitter) came to see us just after the lambs were born and took some photos of her visit. Her Topsy Farms flickr album can be found here. Our pure wool yarn is soap-washed only to retain lanolin and to avoid chemicals. It is available at the Wool […]

When Jacob was three years old, I took him out in my lovely canoe along the shore of Lake Ontario. He wore his life jacket and his hat, and was eager and interested and already showing his great knack for balance. We went out a few times that summer, and he gained a sense of […]

Farmers need flexibility. They plan constantly, but a tree limb down on a fence, an unpredicted brief rain, a tractor breakdown, An Emergency First Response call for Jacob, will put crimps in what appeared to be a clear plan for a day. Take a recent day for example; Friday July 8th. The 3 full time […]

When the farm was first started in the early 70′s, the members had very little money and no credit. We had to learn to make do. We developed the skills needed to repair, patch our patches – both figuratively and literally – and that was a useful pattern to establish. We are still in that […]

It is still a challenging time at Topsy. The lambing is winding down, although the flock groups still have to be checked twice a day for problems. The regular chores include a visual check of each ewe and lamb (it’s hard to see back ends, where most problems occur), as they are always curious, wanting […]