Five Things I Love About Sheep in the Summer in South Strafford
Ask me my favorite season on the farm, and I'll answer without hesitation: summer.
Don't get me wrong—I love lambing season. There's nothing quite like finding a newborn lamb tucked beside its mother in fresh straw. But summer? Summer is when all that hard work pays off. The grass is growing, the sheep are thriving, and every day seems to offer a reminder of why I chose this life.
Here are five things I absolutely love about sheep in the summer.
1. The Flock's Pure Joy
The sheep know when it's time to move to fresh grass.
Before I've even unhooked the fence, they're lined up and waiting, ears forward, eyes fixed on me. Blaze is “baaaaaah”ing loudly, telling me to “Get a move on!” The moment the wire drops, they surge into the new paddock like kids charging through the gates of an amusement park.
The best part? Watching them spread out across the fresh pasture, taking those first eager mouthfuls. If sheep could grin, they would.
2. Watching Lambs Turn Into Sheep
Summer is when lambs seem to grow overnight.
The tiny creatures that needed constant supervision just a few weeks ago are suddenly confident, independent, and full of opinions. Their gangly legs have filled out, their wool is thickening, and they're discovering exactly how fast they can run.
Every evening turns into a track meet. Groups of lambs race across the pasture, leap over tufts of grass, skid around corners, and challenge one another to games whose rules only they understand.
No matter how many years I've raised sheep, I never get tired of leaning on a gate at the end of the day watching lambs be lambs.
3. The Soundtrack of Summer
The sheep may be the stars of the show, but the birds provide the soundtrack.
As the dogs and I walk the sheep from the barn to pasture, the air is filled with birdsong. Bluebirds swoop overhead. Common yellowthroats, chestnut-sided warblers, Eastern towhees call from the field edges. The song of the hermit thrush at the end of the day is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard. Mornings are full of the sounds of our bird neighbors.
The farm is never truly silent in summer, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
4. The Walk to the Pasture and Back
There are faster ways to get places than walking.
But those few minutes between the barn and the pasture might be my favorite part of the day. Meg gathers the sheep in the morning, Bess in the evening. The sheep know the drill and are eager to head out in the morning, eager to come home at night.
The grass brushes against my boots. The hills of South Strafford rise green against the sky. The stone walls built generations ago still mark the edges of the fields. Some mornings the valley is wrapped in mist; some evenings the setting sun paints everything gold. There might be mallards on the pond, or one of our resident broad-winged hawks circling overhead.
I've made that walk hundreds of times, and somehow it never feels routine. It feels perfect.
5. Seeing Sheep Live the Life They Were Meant to Live
This is the big one.
There's something deeply satisfying about looking across a pasture and seeing sheep doing exactly what sheep were designed to do: grazing fresh grass, raising lambs, and converting sunlight into food.
The ewes are content. The lambs are growing. The fields are healthy and vibrant. Months of planning, fencing, and management come together in one simple scene.
A flock spread across a green hillside on a summer evening.
For me, that's about as close to perfect as farm life gets.
And after a long Vermont winter, it feels like a reward worth waiting for. Telll me what you love about summer where you are—Can’t wait to hear!
Farmer Judith, Lucky Dog Farm