((PKG)) LAMBS MOWING LAWNS
((TRT: 5:11))
((Topic Banner: Lambs Mowing Lawns))
((Reporter: Faiza Elmasry))
((Camera/Editor: Adam Greenbaum))
((Map: Burke, Virginia; Fairfax, Virginia))
((Main character: 1 male))
((Sub character: 1 female))
((NATS: Cory))
All right, sheep. You guys ready to come out? Good morning, sheep. Baa, sheep! Baa, sheep!
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I'm Corey Suter. I'm the owner of LambMowers.com and also the half owner with my wife of Suters Glen Permaculture Farm. We’re a five-acre [2 hectares] organic homestead. I bought the domain before we ever signed on the farm. It was something that I had envisioned. I had a number of different business ideas. I'm always been someone who's very entrepreneurial.
((NATS: Cory))
So, this is your grazing area today. We've got lots of work to do.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
So, I am a shepherd. I've been caring for this flock and helping breed this flock for, since 2016. They are independent contractors of sorts.
((NATS: Cory))
It looks like the young ones are ready to go.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I had been practicing working with the sheep for five years here on my farm before I ever started bringing them out to other places.
((NATS: Cory))
Cinnamon, you're saying hi?
This is Cinnamon, the sheep. My kids name all the sheep.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
If you have less than two acres [0.8 hectares], we come out for a two-hour grazing appointment.
((NATS: Cory))
Ho, there is a lot of poison ivy in here. I think I might want to wait for the sheep to work through there.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
And the sheep tend to like tree seedlings, poison ivy, herbaceous weeds, even more than the grass. So, the mowing is very imperfect. This is a supplemental service to like an existing lawn care service. It might replace the spray, but it's not going to replace completely the lawn mower mowing of grass.
((NATS: Cory and Susan))
Cory: What would you like me to work on while the sheep are here? I see that there's a tulip poplar that's growing really close to the house. Would you like me to take that out for you?
Susan: That would be great.
Corey: Okay. Awesome.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
When someone hires LambMowers.com, not only do they get a flock of sheep in the yard, they get a gardener to come and help pull invasive weeds out of trees or make sure the mulch isn't covering over the root flare of a tree which can promote disease in the tree and cause it to die.
((Susan Glasby
Client))
I hired sheep to come help take care of some of the overgrowth in my backyard. I was actually researching goats because I knew that goats would eat poison ivy and it doesn't bother them. And so, while I was researching goats, I found Cory and LambMowers.com.
((NATS: Cory))
Susan, you're creating some wonderful habitat back here for wildlife with these rotting logs and sheltered areas. You did the right thing by leaving all these logs to rot, though. That's what's keeping all these trees so happy.
((Susan Glasby
Client))
Cory's been great to educate me too. A lot of what I have here is not natural. It's invasive. And so, removing that and then be able to replace it with something that's native to this area, you know, is definitely one of the goals as well. And I had recently done the solar panels in January and just looking to create a more friendly environment for my kids and for me and for our neighbors.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I like that they stay together. They care about each other. They are very sociable. If you try to separate one from the flock, they'll die of loneliness. They realize that we're dependent on each other in a way that maybe sometimes we people like to think we're not.
((NATS: Sheep))
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))

So, their most important role here on our farm is not to provide fiber, not to provide food for us. It's to provide nutrients for our garden.
((NATS: Cory))
You know food is good when there's insects wanting to eat it. This is why I farm. Food is way better than what you can buy in stores.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
Sheep’s little fertilizer pellets or manure is 30 percent carbon. And so, not only do we make the grass a lot healthier but we're also helping bring carbon back into the soil, which has been greatly depleted. That's why I'm so passionate about protecting soil because we need that soil to sustain life for future generations.
((NATS: Sheep))
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
There's always an interesting problem when you're working with animals that are independent thinkers and some kind of headstrong. We've learned a lot of solutions. So, we use this temporary fencing to help contain them and helps direct them towards the plants that we want them to eat and the ones we don't want them to eat.
((NATS: Cory))
Sheep! Hey, Sheep! Come on over here. Yeah, come on over. No? Not today? Okay, I'll get some more vines over here.
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
Overall, the customers are very happy with the service we're providing.
((Susan Glasby, Client))
Oh, it's been very fun. They're a pleasure to have.
((NATS: Cory))
Baa, sheep!
((Cory Suter
Founder, LambMowers.com))
I'm excited about the potential. We have a bright future ahead as humans if we can continue to learn to work with nature instead of just trying to dominate nature.
((NATS: Cory))
Baa, sheep!
((NATS))