The Buckwheat Festival

It’s Buckwheat Time!  Our County Fair ‘unofficially’ begins today, and for all the youngsters who have worked so hard with their livestock and their exhibits, it can’t come fast enough.  The banners are up.  The buckwheat batter is being prepared.  The rides are being assembled.  The barns will fill up tonight, and Lena’s market lambs are ready to go.  Please, wish her luck!

Belle and Liam

Breeding season is beginning a little early this year.  Belle, one of last year’s market lambs, has been moved into the back paddock with Liam.  This is an experiment, of sorts, to see what kind of lambs we get from crossing a meat breed ewe with one of our Border Leicester rams.  We are curious to see how fast it grows, its rate of gain, and if it reaches show weight by the time the Buckwheat Festival rolls around next year.
We usually don’t begin this early because we like to lamb in the warmer early spring weather and after the pasture grass begins to grow.  The rest of the ewes will be brought in early to mid-November.  For now, Liam gets the early nod.  He is equipped with a marking harness, so we will be able to calculate the approximate birth date.  Already we’re curious… what will the lambs look like… what will their wool be like… dozens of questions floating through our minds.  We’ll see what answers very, early spring brings!

Katniss

Through the generosity of her buyer (who gave her back to Lena) Katniss came home from the Buckwheat Festival.  During the weeks of her quarantine we have discovered that
  • she is quite the escape artist (this involved an injured leg and trip to the vet),
  • she can wear a path along a fence line in no time flat
  • she has a very great need to be a member of a flock (well, don’t we all?)
On Saturday, we mucked out and cleaned out the barn preparing for winter and for fall shearing.  Early that morning, Katniss finally got to join the ewe lambs in the pasture.  She was so excited at first she wasn’t sure whether to eat or get to know all her new sisters.  By Sunday afternoon, she had fit right in.

Yesterday at the Fair

The judging of market lambs and market goats took up much of the day at the Buckwheat Festival.  Congratulations to Lena for a blue ribbon in Showmanship!

Wednesday is a quiet day, as the rides and exhibits have not yet opened. It’s kind of a peaceful day, and way to ease into all the excitement yet to come… a good day to visit with the other animals without all the crowds.

It’s Buckwheat Time!

Last week the carnival rolled in to Kingwood, and began to set up for our county fair, The Buckwheat Festival.  By now the rides are all set up, and the food trucks are warming up.  Things kick off this morning with the Market Goat Show.

The livestock barns are all spiffed up and ready for action.  Lena’s 4-H market lambs, Katniss and Primrose, made their way to the fair last night.  They’re all settled in and ready for the Market Lamb Show this afternoon.  Please be sure to with them luck! 
(We’re going to try to post updates on Sheeps and Peeps Twitter if you would like to follow along!)

It’s Buckwheat Time!

Fall has arrived and that means that it’s time for our county fair, the Buckwheat Festival!  All over the county young and old are making preparations to enter their best – best hay, best pumpkin, best canned beans, best handiwork- competing for blue ribbons and Best of Show.  4-H and FFA club members are getting their animals ready for show and will take them to the fairground barns today.  Lena will take Bella and Edward, her 4-H market lambs, this evening.  She broke her wrist last week so this is sure to be an adventure; please wish her lots of luck.
The fairgrounds are being readied, and soon we will all delight in the colors, the sights, the sounds, the parades, the pageantry… delight in all that is our county fair… the Preston County Buckwheat Festival!