Tiresias Reach Farm

Pesticide free, sustainable, mixed farming.

H H Holm has developed Tiresias Reach Farm on Denman Island, British Columbia, CANADA. Vegetables and fruit are available from June to October, honey is available September to November, and eggs are sold throughout the year (free range eggs in season). All these farm products have regular customers. A waiting list is available. 2022 will be Tiresias Reach Farm’s last lamb crop for those in search of quality purebred, registered East Friesian Dairy Sheep.

East Friesian Dairy Sheep provide milk which produces fine yoghurt, feta and cheeses. There are 65 named sheep cheeses including Romano and Roquefort.

Dairy sheep milk has higher butterfat - 9.0% compared with cows at 3.8% and goats at 4.2% - and higher total solids at 20.4% - compared with cows at 13% and goats at 12.5%. Thus the cheese yield is almost 2 1/2 times that of cows or goats. (Home Cheese Making Ricki Carroll)

Sheep grazing works well with rotational grazing with other animals including free range chickens and this rotation reduces parasites and 'feeds' the pasture. While dairy sheep need very good forage and will not do well on poor pasture, these sheep will happily browse on a variety of plants and thus reduce the brushing in of the pasture area.

East Friesian Dairy sheep wool production is about 4.5 kg per ewe with a clean wool yield of 65% and a fineness of 50/56s / 48/50s (German Ministry of Agriculture).

For those who eat meat, East Friesians produce fast growing lambs (Tiresias ram lambs average 100 pounds by 12 weeks) with very lean meat. Crossing East Friesian with breeds such as Texel is often used to increase meat production.

Finally, East Friesians have been bred to coexist well with humans. Despite their size (180 to 200 pounds), these sheep are easy to handle without being dull. And, visually, they are striking animals - aristocratic in profile and in bearing.