Oct 26, 20223 min read

The Little Shepherd Girl

Jolee Rae was only one, but even then, she loved animals. When I look at this picture I can still hear her saying Baaaahhhhhhhh Baaaaahhhhhh!!! I bet you can hear her saying it too. Apparently, some of the sheep understood her to say "look over there!" while others were mystified that she spoke their language. These old pictures always make me smile.

It's hard to imagine the brushy area of this sheep pen because it is now all clean. Initially, the sheep ate up a lot of the edible underbrush, and then Dustin Faske and Brett Lamont neatly cleaned up the rest. Dustin is the owner of 5D Land Services. You can see more of his beautiful land work here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100077786040452

Lamb is not a common protein on the average dinner plate. But it is so delicious. It is a sweet meat. Many people who say they don't like lamb are those who have once tasted wool sheep, which seems to leave an oily aftertaste because of the lanolin. Or perhaps it is because they tasted mutton.

The difference between lamb and mutton is age. Lamb is usually around a year or less, and mutton is from older, more mature sheep. Mutton is from sheep that are two years old or more.

Dorper sheep do not have wool. For the most part, they do not need shearing. Instead, they shed. And because of this, it doesn't leave that funny aftertaste that some may remember. Dorper lamb also tastes great as a leftover.

Curried Lamb is one of my favorite recipes. But I also like chicken-fried lamb cutlets, grilled lamb chops, and lamb with mint jelly. There are so many great lamb recipes out there. I'd love to hear your favorite lamb recipes! Please email weisefarms@gmail.com if you have a good one!

Some delightful additions to curried lamb are carrots, potatoes, coconut milk, and even bananas. Yes, bananas! One of my lamb friends served curried lamb with all of these things to try, and it was so delicious. The flavor was a huge factor in our decision to get sheep and raise lamb.

Our little shepherd girl is a few years older than she was in the picture. She grew up knowing that we love and care for our animals and we also give thanks for them as our food. The farm is a constant reminder of where our food comes from. Three lambs were born at the beginning of this year. Jolee was here the day they were born. They will be going to freezer camp in November.

If you feel like expanding your pallet from beef, pork, fish and chicken, give lamb a try. Weise Farms will have a variety of cuts available. And with Christmas coming up, it would be a great time to serve a little something different to enjoy with your holiday guests.

Speaking of Christmas, it is time to start thinking about it. Weise Farms has gift certificates available. We think good food should be top of the Christmas shopping list this year. These gift certificates never expire and they can be used toward anything we have in stock at Weise Farms. We also have gift baskets available right now. Give the gift of food and they will think of you with every bite. Our mission is to bring healthy and delicious locally grown foods from our Farm to your table. When you buy from us, you are investing in the future of the local American food supply chain. It's food from "the country" just down the road. Thank you for letting us be your farmer.