About Fermanagh Farm

Living the Dream

It’ been my dream for as long as I can remember to live with my family on a farm, deep in the woods with all kinds of animals.

Growing up I have rescued just about every type of animal there is, I worked in the animal sanctuary and my best friend was an ancient opossum, he was arthritic and very slow, but I thought he was the coolest animal ever. I have always felt a kinship with animals, looking in their eyes I see a fellow being with a huge heart and soul, and feel responsible to live in harmony, with them and nature.

We moved to Maine in 1992, and found a beautiful 20 acre spot at the end of a dirt road, bordered by a beautiful river.  For years we had horses, Scottish Highlanders, Dogs, cats, chickens, and two incredible children. When one of our horses died, we were looking for a companion for Katie. We adopted our 3 alpacas, but they really didn’t keep her company.

Then as I was traveling to a patient house, ( I’m a hospice social worker), I saw these gorgeous sheep with curly hair. The rest is history, we started with 5 girls and now have 12 beautiful Gotland sheep. 

Each sheep has a unique personality, they are curious, interesting, herd animals. I could sit for hours and just watch how they spend their day. They love company and push around each other trying to get as much attention as possible.

Last year my husband retired to be a full-time Shepard and farmer.

After many years of hard work, clearing fields for grazing, putting up and repairing miles of fencing, learning why Rams are called Rams, the incredible joy of welcoming lambs, and the overwhelming sadness of losing a friend, how to ward of foxes and coyotes, cultivating hay fields, shearing sheep, helping to shear alpacas, staying up all night with sick animals, bottle feeding babies, nurturing male sheep, never taking a vacation, or sleeping late, washing fleece, carding and spinning fleece, standing awkwardly at craft fair for days, we are living the dream.

We are becoming more diverse and self-sufficient, we have a huge vegetable garden, herb garden, laying hens, bees, maple trees we use for syrup, an orchard with peaches, plums, pears, apples, blueberries, and are planting strawberries this spring. 

The next chapter will be finishing my Master Gardner Volunteer Certificate that focuses on teaching the community on food sustainability. I’m also passionate about educating the next generation on farming, animal welfare, and how to incorporate natural fibers, made in the USA into everyday life. We will be carefully breeding our Gotland’s to bring out the best in the breed.