Faith, Hope, & Love Farm

07/24/2025

Moses (Emenheiser 24-004 ET) looking like the handsome ram that he is. Looking forward to seeing our first lambs from him next year. The pair he sired for a local 4-H family this year are turning out pretty nice.

Some people will say he's not tall enough, but he's heavily influenced by UK genetics and their sheep are not giraffes like so many Suffolks here in the US are. But one thing they can't say is that he's narrow, you can drive a Mack truck between his legs.

07/24/2025

I might not be a kid, but this recipe sounds pretty friendly to me too.

It's a universal truth: Mom is always on the quest for that dinner everyone loves! 😩 If you're tired of the dinner dilemma and searching for a meal that will get thumbs-up from the whole family, you've got to try this recipe! 👇
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​And hey, if you're looking for the perfect pork or lamb cuts to make your next family dinner a guaranteed hit, send us a DM! We'd be glad to help you find exactly what you need. 🍖😋

07/23/2025

Wool has so many good options for clothing and other uses such as this neat bit of history. As well as a great looking North Country Cheviot ewe next to her shepherd.

What is your favorite way to use wool?

The Shepherd’s Plaid (or Shepherd's Maud) was a length of woven wool measuring three to four yards long and about a yard wide, that was woven and worn in the Scottish Borders and Northumbria (hence why the pattern is also referred to as the Border Tartan or the Northumbrian Tartan). The pattern was usually crosschecked bands of black and white wool as these were the colours of the natural, un-dyed sheep’s wool. They were used to protect both the shepherd and his (or her) lambs from the elements. Although the garment and crosschecked style had been common for many centuries, such garments were most popular from the 1840s onwards.

(This photograph originally comes from a book written by J.G. Martindale, called 'The Scottish Woollen Industry', published in 1954.)

Source link: https://darachcroft.com/news/shepherds-plaid-maud?fbclid=IwAR1dcnSgVzST59olxc5sJoY0ujeCGHUNkbNLO4z4a9YfNqcMcWEYKwhjLtI

07/22/2025

I keep seeing this picture posted in so many sheep groups by basically what amounts to be a scammer. I think before I believed some of these pictures were those breeds, I'd ask for a DNA test 😆.

When in doubt, , don't believe every random thing like this.

07/20/2025

I've been asked multiple times in the past why we put together "such fancy stall displays for just a county fair". Or put so much work into fitting our sheep for "just a little show".

In order to answer that question we've got to go way back in time. When I first started in 4-H many years ago showing cattle (we won't say how many years ago, but the number starts with a 3), I loved the displays set up by the farms that did a lot of showing. So much time and planning went into those set-ups.

I always dreamed of being able to walk my Jersey cow onto the colored shavings at Madison or my beef onto the iconic green shavings of Louisville. But as a kid those were just dreams out of reach, and winning the county fair would have meant as much to me as any of those big shows. Heck, I'm in my 40s now and still dreaming of someday showing sheep in Louisville.

So I worked my rear end off as a kid to do my absolute best and treated my two local county fairs as if they were the big shows, which in my world they were, because they were the only shows I attended. I stood on the sidelines and watched the big breeders and wanted to someday be like them.

My pinnacle moment came when my Jersey cow won her class and got a mention in the champion drive and I won champion beef showman all in the same year. You would think I had won a major. But for a kid who only showed locally, that county fair win was a major show for me.

And I've always remembered how I felt seeing the farms that did so well and took such pride in their stock and their displays. I knew that if I was going to show as an adult I would want to be that person that a young kid like I was would see and know even though it was a county fair we took pride in our animals and what we were doing. To that child it's not "just a county fair" it's a major show.

So my message to all of you, no matter what you do there is someone in the barn who wants to be just like you. Be the best you can be, because somewhere in your background you were likely that kid just starting out with a dream.

Plus at the county fair you likely have more chances to introduce the general public to livestock than you will have at the major shows. So give the best impression you can to them as well.







These pictures are from last year, in just a couple weeks I'll be posting pictures from this year.

07/20/2025

Moses wants to remind everyone to take time to stop and smell the flowers. No matter how busy you are, there is always time in the day to stop and relax for a minute.

Thank you to my friend Nichole for using her technology skills and editing out his halter.

07/19/2025

Picture this: your local Runnings Stores is having a sale where everything you can fit in this bucket is 15% off. What are you buying?

We just hit up our local Runnings Stores this morning.

07/19/2025

Amazing what a difference 4 years will make. This daylily bed was set up in 2021.

Going to need to do a little thinning and selling this fall.

07/18/2025

Hannah you look like such a beast (ok you really are) next to the Border Leicester lamb.

Gotta love good growing Suffolk lambs.