The "I Wish I'd Bought More" Problem

Hello friends,

A funny thing happens every year.

Around this time, I start hearing from customers who tell me some version of the same story:

"I should have bought more ground lamb."

"We ate through our freezer faster than I expected."

"I was saving those lamb chops for a special occasion, and now they're gone."

Or my personal favorite:

"When will you have more merguez?"

The answer, of course, is that sheep grow on sheep time, not people time.

As farmers, we're used to thinking seasonally. Lambs are born in the spring. They spend the summer grazing Vermont pastures, turning sunshine and grass into healthy, delicious food. By the time they are ready for harvest, customers have often forgotten just how quickly a freezer can empty.

It's one of the reasons I love raising sheep.

There is a rhythm to it that reminds me to pay attention to the seasons. The lambs that are racing around the pasture today aren't just growing bigger—they're becoming winter dinners, holiday roasts, and the meals that gather families around the table months from now.

Walking through the pasture this week, watching the flock spread across a fresh paddock, I found myself thinking about that connection. Right now, the grass is lush. The lambs are thriving. The sheepdogs are busy. Summer feels endless.

But before we know it, the leaves will start to turn, frost will appear in the mornings, and we'll all be thinking about winter.

Maybe that's why I appreciate customers who buy a whole or half lamb. They're making a choice to eat seasonally and locally in a very tangible way. They're saying yes to planning ahead, yes to knowing where their food comes from, and yes to supporting a farm they know.

And perhaps most importantly, they're avoiding the "I wish I'd bought more" problem.

As for me, I'll keep moving fence, watching lambs grow, and trying to convince Gyll that every pasture move is not, in fact, the most exciting event in the history of sheep farming.

Some lessons take longer to learn than others.

Warmly, Farmer Judith