parrybaysheepfarm.com

Photos from Chantal and John

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:21:18 +0000

Over the past few weeks our friends Chantal and John have been sending us some amazing photos Chantal has been taking on and around our farm. I think she should become a professional photographer – they are outstanding! Hope you enjoy them too.

Here are some great shots of hummingbirds as well:

Photos From Friends

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:37:25 +0000

Chantal Jacques photographed all except the bear photos, which were taken by Dean Sheridan in the Taylor Road orchard last fall, and the cougar photos which were taken up above our top field here at Lindholm by a young friend, Andrew Simmonds, who climbed up Mount Blinkhorn and was followed home by this particular cat.

Build a fence and our ewes will come.

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 07:10:11 +0000

Today we moved some of our sheep to some pasture out on the Saanich Peninsula. The owners of the property wanted it grazed and built a fence so we could keep some sheep there. We think it’s a win-win situation. They get greatly reduced land taxes and a beautiful pastoral view of grazing sheep and we get access to more grazing land which allows us to keep more ewes. We also have sheep at Marley Farm Winery on Mt. Newton Crossroad, some more at some chicken barns on John Road near Sidney, and a few more at a nursery on the north end of the Peninsula. It’s a good thing our sheep like truck rides!

I haven’t quite figured out how to post photos on this website, but if you visit our Facebook page, I hope to post some shots from today there.

Why grazing is an important way to decrease global warming.

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:09:59 +0000

What?!? “Everybody knows cows are bad – they produce methane, which increases global warming!” If you think this, you might be interested in hearing this TED talk. I often hear people say that land and the crops grown on it shouldn’t be used for feeding animals – that that is an inefficient way to produce food. I would probably agree if one is talking about farming flat, sub-irrigated land that could be used for vegetable production. However, there are 5 billion hectares of grassland in the world that is unsuitable for tillage, that can also be used to produce food in the form of animal protein. Here is the link to this very interesting talk:

website email up and running again.

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 06:26:25 +0000

We seem to have fixed our email woes – thanks, Brian! – so are again reachable at contact@parrybaysheepfarm.com and johnbuchanan@parrybaysheepfarm.com. Thanks for your patience if you’ve been trying to get through to us!

A day at the farm

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:33:47 +0000

A day at the farm – The riding ring where the pregnant moms are fed and closely watched and the barn where they give birth and spend the first day with their lambs before returning to the fields the next day.

Thanks to Bruce and Denise who visited the farm and took this wonderful video!
Video starts at 6 seconds.

Updated farm store and “where can our products be found?” information.

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 02:47:06 +0000

Here is a copy of our new rack card listing what we sell and where it is available:

PARRY BAY SHEEP FARM

& STILLMEADOW FARM

FARM STORE NOW OPEN

Every Sunday from 11-1

4198 Stillmeadow Road

Together with our friends and co-farmers Tom and Vio at Stillmeadow Farm, Parry Bay Sheep farm is selling home-grown wheat and flour (milled from our wheat), free-range chicken, lamb, and mutton. Stillmeadow adds pork to the list as well, including delicious ham, bacon and sausages. We also offer Metchosin-grown eggs and a selection of Fry’s Red Wheat Bread most Sundays.

Come visit us!

If you want to support local food and farming but can’t make it to the farm store, here are some stores that sell our meat and grain products :

Glenwood Meats

Wildfire Bakery

The Village Butcher

Slater’s First Class Meats

Food Forum

Orr’s Family Butchers

Peppers Market

The Markets on Millstream and Yates

For Good Measure

Wellburn’s Market

Niagara Grocery

Want to try our meat, cooked to perfection, but would like a break from the kitchen? Try these amazing restaurants which feature our products:

The Noodle Box

Café Brio

The Pink Bicycle

The Broken Paddle Coffee Shop

Daidoko

The Tibetan Kitchen

Point No Point

Devour

MyChosen Cafe

To see what happens on the farm throughout the year, visit our website at

www.parrybaysheepfarm.com

or “friend” Parry Bay Sheep Farm on Facebook.

Open Barn Day at the farm, this Saturday, February 18th.

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:37:20 +0000

For anybody who would like to come and experience lambing time, we’d like to invite you to our farm this Saturday, February 18th, between 10:30 and 12:30. We can’t guarantee it, but you may see lambs born and you will certainly be able to see new lambs with their moms in our maaaaaaaternity ward, (s0rry, couldn’t resist!) and perhaps even get to feed one a bottle. Bring your cameras and wear boots, as it’s muddy. If you’d like to be able to hold lambs, it’s best to wear old clothes as well, as baby lambs can be a bit grubby.

For those who might prefer to drive around and see our sheep out in the fields with their lambs, there are now ewes with lambs in the field at the bottom of Taylor Road, and further up Taylor Road between William Head Road and Rocky Point Road, as well as in the big field off William Head Road, just beyond Devonian Park. Some are also at “Ben Acre”, the field on the left of William Head Road directly before 4645 William Head Road and in the field at 4659 William Head Road as well. If you a sheep with a number painted on its side, it’s one of ours.

Holstein cross lambs??

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:04:43 +0000

Holstein crosses for Valentine’s Day?

More photos and lambing updates on our Facebook.

Another interesting article by Michael Pollan and some lambing news.

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:05:33 +0000

Many of you who have read my comments on this website will know that I am a Michael Pollan fan. His letter to the “Farmer In Chief”, published in the New York Times in 2008, is required reading for our farm apprentices. In case you missed that and would like to read it, here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html?_r=1 For anybody interested in food security and ethical and sustainable agriculture I would also highly recommend his book, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma”. More recently he wrote another article for the New York Times in which he answers questions readers have asked him about his views on food and farming. It’s a quick read and very informative: http://michaelpollan.com/articles-archive/michael-pollan-answers-readers-questions/
Hope you enjoy it!
Now I’m heading out to the barn to deal with some new lambs, and I’m taking my camera so hopefully will have some photos up soon. If you use Facebook, I already have some photos there, of this year’s lambing, so check them out under Parry Bay Sheep Farm. If you “like” us while you’re at it, you will probably get more frequent updates and photos than you will here, as I’ve been much more diligent about posting on Facebook than on the website!