Appletree Farm: Building a Life of Purpose, Part 1

Words and Images by Jo Arlow

This farm is my healer: Shepherdess Stephanie Schiffgens raises Gotland sheep, builds a life of purpose on Appletree Farm.

I arrive at the homestead of Appletree farm in Oregon’s Willamette Valley on an overcast early June morning to meet Stephanie Schiffgens, the shepherdess of a small flock of silver-fleeced sheep known as Gotlands.  A farmer émigré from the southwest of France, Stephanie and her family are raising this unusual breed on a few fertile acres a short drive outside Eugene.  During my stay I came to know these quite friendly, black-faced, curly haired animals and to develop an abiding appreciation and affection for Stephanie, her quiet strength and intelligence and her determination to make a contented life after loss. It is indeed a full life:  managing all aspects of sheep rearing and fabrication of wool products, working a large hoop house and open air gardens for home and community supported agriculture, caring for chickens, barn cats and young herding dog, appointing the French-inspired farm stay studio, maintaining relationships with local and far flung artists, raising a beautiful school-age son and being partner to a handsome veterinary doctor husband.

Stephanie greets me warmly in front of the main house and motions me to soak my lime green rain boots in a solution, ensuring no unwelcome microbes enter the property.  She is slender and fit with fine, almost aristocratic features, but there is nothing in her presence that belies fragility.  “First we will meet and feed the sheep and then to the garden to work,” she says as she leads me down to the barn, down hill from the main house and in view of the large gardens.  Several sheep have assembled waiting patiently for Stephanie’s arrival.  She takes time to pet and greet them, with notes on their obviously friendly demeanor and the fact they are polled, or without horns.

“I’m not getting rich but I feed my family and the farm pays for itself and to me, that’s really good … it makes good sense...”

Our conversation begins with the history of this breed, told as she lays out hay in the stalls and feeding boxes and calls the sheep in to eat .  Appletree farm’s Gotlands are rarely found in the U.S., being native to the Swedish Island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea with its forests of sea kelp providing the copper-rich diet responsible in part for their luminous wool.  Gotland is the largest island in Sweden, known for its medieval churches, high numbers of sheep and Viking trading post history.  In addition to being polled, they have no wool on their heads or legs and were bred especially for their dense, curly fleeces that come in a spectrum of greys.  This farm can boast being one of only a handful of farms that raise pure-bred Gotlands stateside, using state of the art artificial insemination and embryo transfer science.  Later, when Stephanie displays for me the various products made from their wool I come to understand what makes their fleece so valued.

Appletree Farm is home to about a dozen resident sheep, not including about 15-20 lambs born and sold each year. And while this is a small flock, they are in good company in this part of the world: Oregon is home to an estimated 165,000 of these ruminants and around 20% reside on farms with less than 100 count flocks like this one.  While sheep are now less than 1% of livestock in the country, the specialty markets for wool, wool products and organic lamb meat continue to grow and thrive, and Appletree fits nicely in this niche. “I’m not getting rich,” she says, “but I feed my family and the farm pays for itself and to me that’s really good … it makes good sense...But it’s also good that my husband is a veterinarian.”

“I don’t like sending them to the butcher and it’s not an easy job, but if I’m going to eat meat this is the meat I want to eat.”

Stephanie cleans the barn, pausing occasionally to look out at the pasture, or pet a ewe as she pitches more feed hay. The family embarked on sheep rearing Gotlands in 2012, shortly after coming to Appletree farm, when their oldest son attended the well-known sheep festival Black Sheep Gathering, spotted one, and was smitten.  The original intent was to raise meat for their own family but they were so enamored that, after careful research, they invested in the beginnings of their flock with a 50% Gotland ewe acquired from Craigslist.  This ewe was successful in breeding and over time the flock expanded to other ewes, lambs and a ram. There are now typically about a dozen ewes for breeding on the farm, some wether companions and a couple of rams though not all Gotlands.

For the lambs born on the farm, that will not remain in Appletree’s breeding program and are a good representation of the Gotland breeding standard, they will be sold to other flocks for breeding. Not all lambs are used for breeding. “It is not enjoyable to pull (birthing) lambs all the time with such uncertain outcomes,” she says, “And they make wonderful fiber pets.” Other sheep may be butchered for meat shares with their pelts collected and all wool used so there is no waste. “I don’t like sending them to the butcher and it’s not an easy job but if I’m going to eat meat this is the meat I want to eat.” 

Continued

Appletree Farm: The Shadow of Grief, Part 2
Appletree Farm: Finding Contentment, Part 3