Tiresias Reach Farm

Pesticide free, sustainable, mixed farming.

Tiresias Reach Farm is located 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.

For nearly two decades, Tiresias Reach Farm has produced high-quality purebred, registered East Friesian Dairy Sheep marketed as breeding stock throughout Western Canada.

East Friesian Dairy Sheep provide milk which produces fine yoghurt and feta plus 65 named sheep cheeses including Romano and Roquefort. On island, Friesian wool is spun, woven and felted.

In 2022, Tiresias Reach Farm began to research introducing a ram from a compatible breed to create a hybrid mix that might offer milk, wool and meat.

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. In addition, East Friesians are naturally polled, their tail remains unaltered and excess wool is not a problem as faces and legs are wool-free.

The new ram would need to match these qualities and more.

In 2023, the farm purchased a Gotland ram to service the farm’s purebred registered East Friesian ewes. The combination should result in ewes that produce much of the quality and quantity of milk but with easier lambing due to slightly smaller lambs. And, lambs could potentially demonstrate Gotland wool qualities, hardiness and  “mild, flavourful meat.”

In 2024, two of the East Friesian/Gotland crosses were offered for sale. The ewe lamb, Tiresias Mai, was sold at birth. Tiresias Coil is now listed.