Hello from the TRR - March 2025

I’ve been pondering a different way to bring life here on the ranch a little closer to you all, outside of the fast past of social media. Fairly consistently I hear that you would like a newsletter so I thought I’d give it a go with the first way we mark spring here at the TRR,  shearing day.

With lambing season just a few weeks away, I’ve been busy ensuring the ewes are in peak condition to welcome their lambs into the world. Shearing is both an ending, the culmination of year’s worth of wool growing, and a beginning, as it is the first step in preparing for the arrival of lambs.

Shearing is an essential part of spring on the ranch, and as always, I entrust the job to Pieter Demooey of Last Side Shearing from Saanich, BC. Pieter makes the trip up every year to shear my flock, a process that keeps the ewes comfortable and their wool in top condition for processing. Once the fleeces are removed, they’re carefully skirted and sorted before heading off to the mill. In the coming months, they’ll return to TRR as soft, high-quality wool, ready to be transformed into the hand-spun yarn, wool duvets, and felt slippers that I make in the studio.

People often ask how long it takes to make a sweater, and the answer is so much broader than just the hours I spend knitting—which is what most people picture when they ask. Shearing in the spring is only the beginning of a long, intricate process. The wool must be cleaned, carded, and spun before it even starts to take the shape of something wearable. But long before that, the journey starts with the genetics of the flock, which are carefully considered before breeding for their capacity to produce an excellent fleece in addition to their value as a protein source in our meals. The lamb is raised from birth to a year old before it’s finally shorn by Pieter. From there, the fleece moves through my hands—skirted, washed, picked, carded, and spun—before it finally transforms into a garment through design and knitting. Every step requires patience and attention, so by the time a piece of the ranch ends up in your home, it has been touched by all these beautiful skills, intertwining ranching with art.

Beyond shearing, I have been busy this past weekend with flock health checks. Every ewe was weighed, vaccinated, and supplemented with Vitamin E and Selenium, essential nutrients that get washed away from Vancouver Island’s soils each year. I also assessed their body condition scores and increased their nutritional intake to ensure they’re prepared for the most demanding stage of pregnancy. Lambs grow the most in the final six weeks of gestation, and we want to be certain that no one is underweight heading into this critical phase.

As I continue preparing for the arrival of new life on the ranch, I also want to share that TRR fresh egg subscriptions are open again for sign-ups as well as beef pre-orders. Please send me a text at 250-218-9011 or email tsolumriverranch@gmail.com if you would like to reserve a split side of beef before April 15. 7 split sides are still available for pre-order. The website is also fully stocked with a wide variety of the current meats available, including lamb, pork, chicken, and rabbit. You can find all our cuts at tsolumriverranch.com/farmstand   Pick by the cut or send me an email if you would like to order ¼, ½, or whole animals for your freezer. 

Spring is always a busy time, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. Soon, the fields will be filled with lambs, and the work of the past months will come full circle. Until then, I’ll continue caring for the animals, preparing for the season ahead, and sharing the journey with you. Thank you for being a part of the Tsolum River Ranch family.

WELL FED