City Farm SLO celebrates its third annual Sheep Shearing Shindig

City Farm SLO hosted its third annual Sheep Shearing Shindig, inviting the San Luis Obispo community to interact with local agriculture. The festival celebrated the history of the Navajo-Churro sheep with live music, food vendors, wool spinning and live sheep shearing demonstrations. 

City Farm Board Member Claire Tuohey-Mote said the Sheep Shearing Shindig is an opportunity for people to learn more about local farming.

“Sheep shearing sounds sort of old school, but a lot of our clothing and fiber is made from these animals, or similar ones,” Tuohey-Mote said. “I think it’s just really educational and exciting for people to learn a new thing.”

The farm currently has nine sheep on-site, which have many different roles according to City Farm Director Kayla Rutland.

 “[The sheep] help us manage healthy pastures, so they’re improving soil health as they rotationally graze,” Rutland said. “We do occasionally harvest meat as well, so they’re a very sustainable herd.” 

As well as the sheep, the 19-acre urban farm works to educate the San Luis Obispo community about how local agriculture plays a role in our lives.

“I think there’s a growing disconnect between people and where their food comes from, especially for younger kids,” Rutland said. “We live in a really agriculturally rich area, but so many of the students that come here to City Farm have never been on a farm or understood how their food grows.” 

Attendees enjoyed live music from Miss Leo and The Handsome Fellers and food from Bear City Social and Sichuan Kitchen. 

“This is one small way that we welcome people here onto the farm to learn about food and farming and animal husbandry and really just have a good time together,” said Rutland.

More information about City Farm SLO’s upcoming events can be found on it’s website.