SHEEP! In early March, we saw the arrival of a small flock of seventeen all-white Dorset sheep. Eight ewes, one ram, and eight adorable lambs now call Inglewood their new home. Two of the ewes were pregnant and we had three cute lambs in April! The ram has been hanging out with the ewes and we are hoping for more babies this Fall.

The sheep help us to mow the grass in the fields the old-fashioned way - a green alternative to gas-powered mowers.  They also fertilize the grass and hay fields organically and- hooray! - do not eat lavender. 

RELAXING MINI MASSAGE SESSIONS

in the Lavender Fields with Patty McGuire

Get sent into a state of lavender bliss! 

June 19 and 29th 2-5pm

$20 for a 15-minute session

Call 434-907-3917 to schedule.

Clothed relaxation massage.

Patty McGuire is a licensed massage therapist and truly does amazing work.  If any of you have ever been disappointed by a weak/bad massage as I have been, Patty will renew your faith in the wonders of massage therapy!

MAREMMA PUPPIES! Poppy and Elle are our two Maremma puppies that will guard our new sheep from predators.  They are fluffy and white snowballs and love to lick our faces. We have many foxes, bears, wild dogs, bobcats, and coyotes out here so they will be an important part of our sheep breeding success.  They are growing fast and it won't be long before they are big enough to get to work!  We are tossing around the idea of breeding them.  If you are interested in a Maremma puppy for yourself, please let us know!  

MOBILE CHICKEN COOP!  Due to our many problems with predators and our desire to organically fertize the hayfields with free range chickens, Shannon has created a beautiful white mobile chicken house.  The chicken mobile will allow us to move the chickens around the farm on a weekly basis, giving the chickens a new patch of fresh grass to forage while simultaneously fertilizing our pastures for improved hay production.  Another green alternative to chemical fertilizers. 

It sports a solar powered automatic door that opens and closes at dawn and dusk.  The chickens naturally enter the house before the door closes to bed down for the night.

Another cool feature is the portable electric netting, also solar powered.  The chickens are capable of flying out and roaming wherever they choose, but they mostly prefer to stay within the safety of the netting.  Dogs and foxes, the worst predators, can't get through.  Hawks are another large threat, and the chickens typically move to safety underneath the house if they see one overhead.

BLUEBIRD NESTING BOXES! Ten new bluebird nesting boxes are now installed around the farm!  These innovative boxes are designed specially to keep out predators that prey on the eggs and vulnerable fledglings.  With most nesting boxes, snakes and racoons can easily climb the mounting posts.  These new boxes are similar to the barriers on ship anchor chains to keep out rats - the skinny pole has a baffle that is extremely difficult for the predators to  pass.  

My master naturalist mother-in-law has been instrumental in our obtaining and installing these awesome boxes so we can give those birds a fighting chance and increase the bluebird population on our farm.  

May update:  Our boxes are full of bluebird families!  On the downside, one of our extra-agile cats is able to outmaneuver the barriers and climb to the top of the box, reaching her paw toward the hole!  Ugh.  Our bluebirds are doing great despite our sneaky cat, and bluebird "gifts" haven't been bestowed on us by any proud kitties.  Seeing the many bluebirds flitting around the farm has been a joy, they are so brilliant in color!

STEAM DISTILLATION UNIT!  Caldwell Mountain Copper of Fincastle custom-made a large still for us.  We will use it to extract our own essential oil from our lavender plants. We successfully ran a test batch in the Fall, and look forward to the upcoming blooming season to make lots more lavender essence!  We plan to make other essences as well, maybe some cedar, rosemary and peppermint to start. 

The still, housed in our barn, will now be part of group tours.