Sweet Seasons Farm has acquired three Tunis sheep - an older ewe, a yearling ewe, and a ram lamb.

The Tunis breed was developed by George Washington using a ram given to him by the Bey of Tunis. They introduced greater heat tolerance and year-round fertility to southern flocks. They were a major breed in the South until the Civil War, but since most flocks were consumed by the armies during the “recent unpleasantness,” the Tunis is now considered a rare breed.

My main reason for getting sheep is to introduce an animal with a different grazing pattern into my rotation - hopefully this will help me achieve a more even grazing as I rotate the animals through my fields. I’m also doing my part to keep a rare breed from going extinct.

But I know that the Villainous Bloggers just want to crack “Smallholder has sheep” jokes. Fire away.

UPDATE FROM YOUR MAXIMUM LEADER: Humm… Now if offspring of these ewes start to bear a strange resemblance to the Smallholder we’ll start to worry.

UPDATE 2 FROM ML: It also seems as though those people running Mount Vernon have decided to populate the grounds of George Washington’s home with Hogg Island sheep.

UPDATE 3 FROM ML: Is the addition of sheep all about Bonnie being pregnant and you not finding her attractive any more?

UPDATE 4 FROM MOA: Since the Maximum Leader is Linkizing me (is that a word?) here is the homepage of the source of my sheep. You might even be able to see Woolly in thepicture.

UPDATE 5 FROM MOA: Is that all you’ve got on the sheep innuendo? Bring it on, smiley guys. I’m particularly disappointed that the MOP has not weighed in with a witticism. Perhaps the approach of November has rendered him humorless.