84-L«nca*ter Farming, Saturda;
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Kate and Dale Thomsen at work In the sheep barn as son, Ean,
Behind The Scenes With Pennsylvania’s
First Milking-Sheep-Inspected Dairy
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
CLEARVILLE (Bedford Co.)
As Dale Thomsen picks up his
hat and heads for the bam, the old
Border collie goes into action. He
knows it’s time to milk the sheep.
At the signal, the collie is off to
round up the Dorsel/Rambouillet/
Katahdin crossbreds for the eve
ning milking.
Kate and Dale began their
sheep milking/cheese making
venture in the spring of 1995. “We
read that America imports $45
million worth of sheep milk pro
ducts a year so we know there is a
market. At first we thought we
might have bumped our heads.”
From field to market, the Graesl family work* together.
Homestead
NOTES
r, July 5, 1997
%*4f
laughs this hardworking couple.
“We couldn’t get the sheep to
cooperate. But, this year, things
are going better.”
“I got the idea from a magazine
article,” Dale explains. “We
already had the sheep. The equip
ment, such as the milking ma-
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
SCHELLSBURG (Bedford
Co.) “I always loved farming,”
says Jim Grass! of Schellsburg.
“But, I would like to see a return
to the old family farm.”
chine, seemed reasonable, and I
could build a lot of the necessities
myself.”
Dale’s creativity is quickly evi
dent as one notices an old sweeper
canister complete with wheels
being used as a feed container and
feed being dipped to the sheep
Grassi
Grassi, his wife, Paula, and
their three children, Jim, Vince,
and daughter, Michaela, moved to
a 70-acre farm near Schellsburg
about three years ago.
Since then, Jim has been return
ing the former unoccupied proper
ty to its intended purpose.
“We like having a little bit of
everything,” Jim explains. “And, I
especially like raising
vegetables.”
During the summer months the
two boys sell the Grassi home
grown watermelon, seedless
watermelons, cantaloupse, pep
pers (hot and sweet), cucumbers,
squash, sweet com, and tomatoes.
lowers.
:s sunl
Family Is
stand. Hart ars
The day’s return of milk.
with a tuna fish can attached to a
wooden stick.
“Dale can always think up a
way to do something.” Kate says
proudly.
Thomsen’s flock consists of 90
ewes plus the breeding rams
although only 24 of the sheep are
Down To Earth
to passerby or the campers at near
by Shawnee State Park.
Jim raises his own tomato
plants and offers vine-ripened
tomatoes as early as Memorial
Day.
Bringing his hot house with him
from their former much smaller
property in Altoona, Jim purch
ases early tomato plants from a
Mennonite farmer. Heat is pro
vided in the greenhouse by prop
ane gas and a small furnace.
“The tomatoes are more work
than most people would think,” he
says. “They have to be planted and
staked. Because there are no bees
earl inthespi I have to do the
Vine*.
~ Jim,
being milked.
“We can’t really afford to buy
sheep bred for milking like they
have in Europe,” Kate says. “The
cost can be up to $B,OOO per sheep.
So, we are trying to cultivate our
own by selecting the best milkers
(Turn to Page B 5)
pollination. We water them every
two days, fertilize with liquid fer
tilizer, and keep a constant check
on the heat.”
“You expect to get five or six
pounds of tomatoes per plant,” he
continues. “Some people balk at
the $1.50 per pound we ask for the
produce, but if you are going to
make a profit, you have to ask at
least that much.”
“I think people who grow
things are more down to earth,”
Jim quips.
Excess items from the produce
fields are taken to a local whole
sale market
irn to P<
BS)