Lavender and llama shearing

To long since my last post... life's been busy. The lavender was ready to harvest the first week in July. We harvest by hand using large machete type knives called bull hooks (don't even want to know how it got that name). Cutting begins early in the morning and the lavender is laid back on the plant to begin to dry. Mid-afternoon we begin bundling the lavender and load it into the truck. Down to the barn and the lavender is hung in the hay loft to continue drying for the next 2 weeks. With a crew of six, we got most of the field cleared in 2 days. Unfortunately, we started a few days later than we should have and the bottom section of the field was too far along to make it good for drying... we'll cut it back in a few weeks and mulch the stems into the ground. I was disappointed because I hate to leave anything in the field, but the barn is full and it was a good crop so we have plenty to get us through the year.

Pepper and Geena had the pleasure of their annual hair cut 2 weeks ago. Our llama girls are sweet, but not much on human touch so actually catching them is a bit challenging and I'm sure amusing to watch... two adults trying to corner a pair of very agile and quick llamas in a 2 acre pasture. We hold out long sticks (to make our arms appear longer - ha) and try to move them into a corner (or between some brambles and a fence). They run at you, you flinch, they get away and you trip in a hole and fall flat on your face. You get up and do it again. We did catch them and Adrian (Bare Naked Llamas - I love it) did a great job with the shearing. As she shears, I collect the fleece before it falls to the ground... I don't spin, but I send it on to my mom who does (maybe I'll get a scarf one day) . Geena did pretty well and only spit a few times (a nasty green slime that smells, well like regurgitated grass). Pepper, on the other hand, was a bucking bronco (I had forgotten her little tricks). It was all I could do to keep her in one spot while Adrian sheared... her fleece hit the ground and was a mess of fur and dried grass (destine for the trash). We were covered in dirt and oil from the clippers (used to keep the blades lubricated) with bits of fleece stuck everywhere. One more thing off the list for the year.