Pruning Lilacs, A Meal For The Donkeys and Sheep

The donkeys and sheep enjoying the lilac branches

It was a hot day and I moved slowly as I dragged the branches from the lilacs into the barnyard for the donkeys and sheep to eat.

The lilac bush in front of my studio was beginning to block three of my four windows.  I pruned it last year and it came back so thick, I figured if I pruned it, next year it will come back even better with leaves on the bottom as well as the top.

I was only going to do a little gardening and was planning on skirting my wool to bring to the Vermont Fiber Mill next Sunday.  But then I started pruning the lilac bushes and lost track of time.

So I’ll get to the wool during the week.

It looked pretty clean when Liz sheared the sheep, so it should be easy to skirt.   Skirting means to remove the dirty wool (wool with feces on it) and the things that often gets stuck in the wool, like hay, leaves  and little branches.

One year I had a lot of Burdock growing the pastures.  The seeds are like little balls of velcro and they got stuck in all the fleeces.  It was almost impossible to get out.  That fall I cut all the burdock down and they never grew back.

Ever since then, I pay more attention to what’s growing the pastures.

 

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Full Moon Fiber Art