LAMBMOWERS.

Mid-summer every year, our neighbor's at Bugtussle take the rams out of their flock of ewes to avoid having sheep born from December through February––a harsh time to be a baby on the farm. And every year this is an issue. Finding a place to keep them, then having to move the rams separately from the other animals, can be a headache. Luckily for everyone, however, this year Hannah and I not only had plenty of room to keep the rams, but plenty of need for them, too.We don't own any sort of mower––unless you're generous enough to call our scythe a mower, and our hand scythe a weed-whacker––and we'd like to keep it that way, but it's a lot of work keeping up with the grass with our antique tools alone. Since we don't yet own any ruminants, when Eric said he'd be taking the rams out in July, we happily volunteered to take them in: lawnmowers!This is a beautiful concept to me. I read an article last year in the New York Times about a guy who went to neighborhoods and mowed lawns with his sheep and I've been captivated by that idea ever since. Ruminants like sheep eat grass by nature, fertilize while doing so, then subsequently turn that grass into meat (or wool, respectfully). They might do a clean job, but obviously lawnmowers cannot offer the same payback––cannot turn your lawn into dinner or clothing.Anyway, we've greatly enjoyed having these rams around to clean up in places we never get to. In fact, they're further inspiring us to start thinking about getting ruminants of our own next year because honestly, they cost about as much as a small mower, and they not only take care of the lawn and turn it into meat, milk or clothing, but do a quite the number on our poison ivy problem as well. Just ask Hannah how much she appreciates the rams.- Jesse.