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Over 55 sheep will be shorn in a family-friendly event mixing crafts and activities with education and history at San Ramon’s Forest Home Farms Historic Park this Saturday.
Organized by the San Ramon Historic Foundation, the annual Sheep Shearing Day — being held for the first time since 2019 — is one of the foundation’s largest events, often drawing over 1,000 people throughout the course of the day.
“The sheep have to be sheared whether we hold an event or not,” event organizer Lynette Gerbert said. “We created this event around the annual shearing so families can come out, check out the farm and take a step back in time to see how things happened before we are on our phones and computers all day.”
In addition to sheep shearing and herding demonstrations, Gerbert said, there will be wool spinning and quilt making demonstrations, music, wood carving and turning demonstrations, crafts, face painting and tours of the tractor barn and the David and Eliza Glass House Museum. Food, including kettle corn, and drinks will be available for purchase and for an additional fee, kids can take a tractor ride.
“I’ve lived in San Ramon for almost 30 years, and until I started volunteering for the event, I never got out there,” Gerbert said. “It’s fun to step back in time and see how a whole different generation lived and how they did things. It was just a slower and simpler time. It’s cool to see the dogs and it’s not something you usually get to see. It’s a once a year event you get to be part of.”
Border Collies play a large role in the sheep shearing process. According to Patsy Galati, the farm’s resident “sheep whisperer,” shearing begins with Border Collies herding the sheep into a small area where they are then presented to the shearer one at a time.
To shear, a sheep is placed in a sitting position with their body leaning against the shearer’s legs. This position, Galati said, keeps them comfortable and calm while the wool is shorn from one side to the other, resulting in a whole fleece. During the process on Saturday, a narrator will share facts about the sheep shearing process and answer questions.
“To watch and experience the working Border Collies doing real ranch work is a very different experience,” Galati said.
“The partnership between shepherd and herding dog is amazing … The sheep have different personalities that are evident during this process, ranging from comical to escape at all costs. All but four sheep have names and are amazing individuals. Almost all were born and raised and loved by their caregivers and their owner at Forest Home Farms,” she added.
Galati said shearing is an important part of sheep health and the farm’s sheep must be shorn annually “to prevent overheating in the summer, skin disease, parasitic invasion (and) wool blindness.” Additionally, she said, a heavy coat disables sheep from fleeing from predators, prevents lambs from nursing and makes it difficult for sheep to graze.
The wool shorn at the event will ultimately be purchased by handspinners, used for children’s craft projects at the farm or get sent to a mill that makes roving, or a washed and brushed piece of wool ready for spinning. Some fleece, Galati said, may be available for purchase in the farm’s gift shop and any fleece unsuitable for spinning projects or farm events will be used as compost or mulch.
Tickets, $5 for children over 3 and $10 for adults, are available at www.srhf.org and on the day of the event. Funding raised goes toward the restoration and maintenance of onsite buildings.
“We are now in the process of raising funds for the future restoration of the 22 room Dutch Colonial Boone House,” foundation treasurer Dall Barley said. “This structure was built in 1900 and was heavily modified in the 1950’s. It is in need of serious structural repairs to allow it to be showcased for future generations.”
Forest Home Farms Historic Park is at 19953 San Ramon Valley Blvd. in San Ramon. Sheep Shearing Day begins at 10 a.m. and continues until 3 p.m.
