Tiger Valley Ranch

06/07/2026

06/06/2026

One gals heaven is another hell ✌️

I get not everyone wants to be out here fighting the flies and sweating, but I live this life! My son has been lobbying for a salt 🔫 is that a thing?

We’re on a mission to raise chickens on pasture to improve our soil and also because Ram needs his chicken curry on Sunday. We’d love to have more to offer to our community! If you’d be interested in hearing more, drop me a 🍗 in the comments and I’ll reach out with info.

06/04/2026

Trying to live our principles and build our future

05/22/2026

We set out to raise our sheep on pasture fully “grass” fed. And it was gonna be easy.

Sheep are ruminants. They are genetically designed to eat “grass”. And fields should grow “grass” naturally with a little encouragement.

So we bought our sheep (mostly) from a flock out in PA that had management styles we wanted - grass fed only, pasture lambing, etc. We bought some acreage - Beautiful rolling hills surrounded (on a few sides) by trees. We planted a good diverse mix of seeds. We got some electric net fence and we’ve been rotating ever since.

And it’s been impossible.

Ok, thats hyperbole. But challenging for sure!

A lot of the ground is too low in organic matter to hold any water or host microbial life and so most of the pasture planting basically just produced fields of moss and plantain, which the sheep eat only if they are desperate for green.

Now I understand that the folks with animals truly grass fed in green pastures- they are the farmers that have worked really hard for those conditions and that label is a badge of distinction (or should be except labels are exploited by the industrial food supply).

We will continue working away here, trying to get green living plants in our pastures, improving microbial and fungal life, insect and bird populations, and creating conditions to support the symbiotic relationships that nature requires for life to thrive. But we now know, this is a work that takes a lifetime and we won’t be achieving this overnight.

I put quotations around the word grass because a rich forage diet should be diverse with grasses, legumes, and forbs.

05/16/2026

Make lunch with me for sheep camp

05/06/2026

May the wonder and absolute miracle of new life always be a wonder to me

05/02/2026

Sheep farmer life

02/27/2026

Farming isn’t always pretty

And it can be pretty heart breaking.

I had to pull a lamb for the first time. And it wasn’t alive. Big ram lamb with its legs caught behind its head or the mama’s ribs. This particular ewe was weak. She’s had hip issues and had lost body condition.

This is my failure.

I’ve thought a lot about stewardship lately.

This particular ewe should have been culled two years ago because she developed bottle tears and couldn’t nurse her lambs.

It’s a tough lesson to learn. A good farmer has to let go of the weak to prevent more suffering and loss.

So after settling the ewe for the night in a shelter with a dose of penicillin, we head home. I’m covered in blood, dirt, and p**p. And we’ll be back tomorrow to greet whatever the day might throw at us.

02/05/2026

The farm is in a state of hibernation. But I feel a change in the air. Even though the wind was bitterly cold and icy, temperatures were higher. The ewes are getting larger bellies and starting to walk less. The chickens have started to lay some eggs. February is a short month and then it’s March. And after March, it’s spring!

But for now, I am content for this long winter to continue. The blanket of snow insulates the dormant plants. I’m hopeful that the snow means less bugs and more lush pastures. After all isn’t it called poor man’s fertiliser? Traditionally, farmers would say their crops were better after such a winter. Now we know the snow carries down nitrogen and other nutrients from the air, and these minerals are slowly released into the soil as the snow melts.

I am also happy to rest for now. Because even though the work is not easy in the winter, it isn’t nearly as busy as the summer!