Hello Lamb Friends:
It’s so wonderful that the days are getting warmer and the grass is growing. The sheep sure are happy to be getting some fresh grass.
It’s our second newsletter of the new Amherst Farmers Market Season. Today I’m so excited to announce that we have just published an updated website. You can find it at www.leydenglenlamb.com. Here’s a sneak peek at the opening page.
It was time for an update for sure as our first website was developed back in 2010. We have been fortunate that we have had help with both iterations of our website. This version was facilitated by Montague WebWorks through a Grant we received from Massachusetts Department of Agriculture.
We hope you will find time to check it out. Here’s the link……
www.leydenglenlamb.com
We were busy this winter planning some big things that are now coming to fruition here on the farm. We were accepted into the Farm Viability Equity Program through the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture. This is our second time working with the State of Massachusetts with this excellent program for farmers. The first time was in 2010. This year, in exchange for placing 227 acres into an Agricultural Covenant for ten years, the State is investing in our farm with funds to build some much needed infrastructure at our farm. We worked with MDAR and outside consultants to devise a plan that will help us to keep farming into the future as we age.
This week, the work started. The major part of this project is the construction of a new 34’ x 96’ greenhouse barn to house our sheep. Currently, we have a 30’ x 100’ greenhouse barn that we had built back in the late 1980’s. It is still a functioning barn but we needed more room for the sheep and lambs during the winter lambing season. We desperately needed a facility that was safer and less crowded for the farmer and the sheep and lambs. This week the site work and drainage work started. Here are some photos and a 45 second video of this week’s work. We are fortunate to have Bob Deane Excavating doing the site work and drainage. Eddo is an amazing skid steer operator.
That’s a lot of news for today. Next week, I hope to share more progress.
Our sincere thanks to MDAR, Laura Barley, Erin Pirro, Ashley Randall, and our state legislators - Senator Jo Comerford and Representaive Natalie Blais, who continue to value agriculture as a vital part of the Massachusetts economy. Farming isn’t an easy occupation and we appreciate the help we get from the State.
And thank you to you for reading and supporting our farm by purchasing our farm-raised lamb.
See you tomorrow in Amherst on the Common from 8 to 1:30 at the AMHERST FARMERS MARKET. I will have plenty of our delicious lamb with us to feed your family.
Your Sheep Farmers,
Mark and Kristin
Leyden Glen Lamb