NEW! Jalapeno Lamb Sausage

Now Available from Leyden Glen Lamb

Hello Friends of Leyden Glen Lamb,

There are only six more Saturday markets left in this 50th Anniversary Season of the Amherst Farmers Market. We hope you will come out and see the new configuration of the market. It’s people and dog friendly with picnic tables, new vendor choices, and gorgeous trees and color to enjoy. Hours are 7:30 to 1:30. If you need me to bring anything special or hold something for you, please call or text me at 413-325-5718.

This Saturday promises to be a beauty. Come on by and pick up some of our new lamb sausage flavored with Jalapeno and Chipolte. It’s not too spicy - just a bit of a kick. We also have the regular Sweet Italian Sausage.

We just processed some amazing Racks of Lamb. Here is a video to help you learn how to “french” a rack of lamb. This step is not necessary but makes the rack look more restaurant-ish.

I like this recipe for Rack of Lamb. It’s super easy and makes a great presentation.

In case you haven’t stopped by the market, here’s a quick catch-up the farm this summer. We had a terrible drought with no rain for 8 weeks. The sheep needed to be watered daily but our wells went dry. Mark was left with no choice but to pump water from a spring fed stream into a water tank on the back of his pickup. Every day, he drove water to the different fields of sheep which were in 3 different towns. The hay harvest was awful due to the drought. He’s not a farmer who complains a lot (I would be whining for sure) but he has said that this was the hardest summer in his 40-something years of sheep farming. We are glad that we have had a bit of rain this fall and the pastures are greening up. There is still a good month of grazing as long as the snow stays away.

Now that autumn has arrived, we are looking towards shearing the sheep in November. You can find last year’s lambs’ wool spun into a Bloom Woolen Yarn called Babe. Last year, Lisa (the owner) came to our farm for shearing day and picked up over 50 lambs’ fleeces. Thank you Lisa for investing in processing our local wool so that knitters and crocheters can create a handmade item. You can purchase the yarn on her website here.

Lisa is a member of the Western Mass Fibershed — part of a national movement “to develop regional fiber systems that build soil and protect the health of our biosphere.” You can learn more about Fibershed on their website here.

As always, thank you for supporting our farm and family. Hope to see you at the market or here at our little farmstand. I will have some new mugs and vases and tea towels with me too.

Here’s to the harvest and gorgeous autumn color.

Kristin and Mark

p.s. We have two incredibly beautiful kittens available. They are very fluffy long haired and super soft. I think they are part Maine Coon. Raised with dogs and other cats. Ready to go in a week or two. One male and one female. If you are interested, either call me at 413.774.6514 or respond to this email.