Circle M Farm

Yippee! We had a wonderful time this weekend at The Lambs and Lettuces Festival, our first ever farm open house. We owe a huge thanks to the many terrific folks who came out to play and the talented friends who kept things running.

Friends from Chicago, Solomon, Vivian and Zane Onimowore were visiting for the weekend and chipped in with kitchen tidying and cooking as we prepared for the day. Vivian made a fabulous Nigerian Pepper Soup with Goat Leg to serve for the potluck and did a million dishes. Friend and WorkShare Member Sonia Olivier came early to work on an Irish Lamb Stew and various other tasks I was desperate to accomplish before the party started. Her husband, Esteban, a fabulous art welder, made a terrific Peruvian Pork Roast.

Local painter, my friend Lyric Ozburn, spent several hours taking kids for rides on Shakespeare and then organized them into a horse-bathing team. Not only did our retired parade Arabian get to do the kind of work he thrives on, he got brushed by dozens of little hands and finished with shampoo and conditioner! What a gentleman. He was tired by the end of the day, but is now prancing around the pasture like I’ve never seen him. Shakespeare is 20 and suffered an injury in his previous career, so he can’t handle adult riders for more than 20 minutes. But he really enjoys carrying children and seeing him so energized today, I realize I need to keep him a bit more busy with work he can do.

Lyric then went right into the summer kitchen and helped kids and adults card colorful wool into batts for felted pouches we made on the back porch. A little soapy slime, a little elbow grease, some water and fluffy wool turns to magical felt! I do hope Lyric also had time to take some pictures of the day, because she is a terrific photographer and has already turned some adorable pictures of Circle M critters into greeting cards.

Meanwhile, my 16-year-old, Eli, took guests on multiple tours to visit animals in different pastures, and down to our wooded pond to search for frogs, turtles and the wood duck family. He should know the path better than any of us, having been asked to clear it out with a nipper just that morning in the rain. After storming all day Friday and then Saturday morning (tornadoes touched down in neighboring towns), the weather cleared up just in time for the festival, leaving us with puddles and sunshine.

Some of the kids enjoyed the puddles as much as they enjoyed the animals, which is delightful. There really is so much to enjoy here, and that’s why we so love to share the farm with like-minded guests! We were happy to see one little boy following Howie our Great Pyranees around all day with a brush, and Howie was happy, too. Though he’s probably 4 times that child’s weight, he sat like a statue for the grooming and by the end of the afternoon he looked like a new dog. One little girl was similarly enthralled with our big goose, Toulouse. Between activities she headed out to the chicken house to find the goose and start a honking chase.

Another young man took multiple turns milking the goats and got pretty good at it, too. He turned to me when he was done and said, “Can I work for you?” What a cutie! The kids all worked for me, actually, feeding the baby lambs and goats their bottles and letting them nibble grain from their hands. Others enjoyed herding chickens, petting chicks and cuddling the newborn kittens, who all started to open their eyes just that afternoon! They must have wanted to see what all the excitement was about.

The adults jumped right in with the woolcraft pouches, which we felted over rocks. Many helped the tinier kids along. Then we stepped out to Pasture 2 where I did a little bit of hand-shearing and hoof trimming on my angora buck, Oreo, and my fluffiest white sheep, Piglet. I remember thinking how amazing it was the first time I saw a shearer sit a sheep on it’s rump and have it just go still. I still find it pretty cool and think it’s fun to let people see the real nuts and bolts and hooves of what we might do here in any given day.

Some of the tasks I most relish on this farm involve the preparation of the wool that I shear so carefully – the washing, dyeing, carding and spinning of the fibers are just pure joy to me. My good friend and fellow spinner Chris Hulet spent most of the day in the summer kitchen washing and dyeing some of her flock’s wool, educating lots of guests about the process, then later in the afternoon teaching several adults and kids how to use a drop spindle. She is a wonderful drop spindler. I got a few people going on my spinning wheel, and hopefully between the two of us we passed on some of what possesses us to toil away at such a time-consuming hobby. It’s mesmerizing and addictive!

I could definitely get addicted to having pot luck dinners every night. The group really pulled off a fabulous spread, with pork, lamb, goat and beef dishes, two rhubarb desserts, fresh chocolate dipped strawberries picked that day, brownies, muffins and, of course, lots of lettuces from the back garden. We also had an array of local beers show up, which was wonderful after such a full day.

I never did get to teach needle-felting, or take kids to my potting bench to plant pumpkin seeds. We also forgot to do the Thistle Stomp ‘til after dinner, but one stalwart guest and Shannon did make a clean sweep of the front chicken pasture in the twilight. After we made the bonfire, we realized our family had already eaten all the marshmallows and chocolate for s’mores, but Emma improvised and brought the kids some of the freeze-pops we always have. The day concluded with kids swinging in the big maple and adults sitting by the fire under the wild cherry. A wonderful day, a beautiful night and a fabulous first Circle M festival. Thanks so much to all who came. See you for the Pumpkin Pick October 27th.