Sheep are back at the Wakefield Estate!

Tuesday was an exciting day at the estate – our final school visit – and the arrival of 3 beautiful baby Shetland Sheep. Following in Polly Wakefield’s footsteps, we have re-introduced sheep to the estate as a way to more naturally and sustainably manage the turf in parts of the landscape – just as Polly did 50 years ago. After weeks of fence building, clean-up, and preparation, our lambs arrived fresh from being weaned at a farm in Rhode Island. Polly Wakefield (Mary M. B.) had 25 Horned Dorset sheep during the seventies, a variety much larger than these will be as adults. A true Yankee and conservationist, she enjoyed the pastoral beauty of having sheep grazing, but loved the fact that it saved money on mowing, and fertilized all her trees. We have yet to name the sheep, but we found out that the all black and all white are twins referred to as #50 and #51, from a mother named Queen Elizabeth! While the spring’s last first graders at least got to look in on the lambs, we hope our electric fence and preparation can keep them safe until the students return in fall.