Livestock
Farming and sustainable land management is the heart of Slough Farm. As part of that, we take pride in providing the best quality of life possible for our wide range of livestock. We’ve chosen breeds that do well in our climate and our style of farm management. Our ruminant animals, cows, sheep and goats, are fed no grains and are rotated through our 75 acres of owned and leased pastures. We are grateful for our opportunity to manage lands owned by the Town of Edgartown and The Nature Conservancy. Our poultry, chickens, turkeys and ducks follow behind the ruminant animals in small pens or tractors to give them access to grasses, seeds, bugs and sunshine.
Our animals are integrated into farm programming through hands-on learning and work experiences for all ages.
Slough Farm is home to 6 mama cows: Scottish highlands, Isabelle, Chrissy, Charlotte and Imogen; and Belted Galloways, Flora and Liath; and one British white park bull, Archie. Each fall, our 6 mama cows have beautiful calves that we raise for about 2 years. Many of our fellow island cattle farmers decide to calve at different times of year from us. We share Archie with farms around the island to provide breeding services for other farmers and share the costs of feeding him. Luckily he's the ultimate gentleman and quite handsome if you ask us!
Our grassfed flock of tunis sheep are our true stars. Eating only pasture and hay they grow the most beautiful fleeces and lambs. The wool from these heritage sheep is used for a vartiety of sheep to sweater programs from felt snakes with preschoolers to weaving, spinning and knitting with k-12 field trips and adult programs. Each year we welcome between 15 and 30 lambs between February and March. Our lambs are raised through the grazing season and sent off for processing each fall. Their sheepskins are saved and used as educational tools in our natural sheepskin tanning class that takes place every winter, and their meat is donated to events and programs all across the island.
ROTATIONAL GRAZING
Our animals graze together throughout the summer; an integrated livestock technique that maximizes ruminants’ positive impact on the soil they aerate with their hooves and on the forage plants they eat. The flerd is moved every 12 hours to ensure their grazing stimulates growth. The poultry follow along behind, getting fat and happy off the maggots left behind in cow pats and thus reducing the fly population. All in all, it's a pretty clean operation.
ANIMAL PRODUCTS
Our poultry, sheep, and cattle provide meat and eggs, much of which is donated across the Vineyard in collaboration with Island schools, The Family Center, Island Grown Initiative, the Island Food Pantry, and other fellow members of the Food Equity Network.
FIBER ARTS & EDUCATION
We are proud to be a part of a long lineage of shepherds and fiber artists on Martha’s Vineyard. Sheared annually, our Tunis sheep produce wool that is high quality and locally milled; perfect for fiber arts and education. It’s our privilege to host fiber experts, educators, and artists to lead participants in processing, dyeing, spinning, and weaving with our wool, particularly during our annual Feb-“ewe”-ary event.