As of: March 27, 2024, 10:10 a.m
By: Ingrid Zeilinger
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Gisela Elfinger's Valais blacknose sheep are sheared twice a year.
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It's not just at Easter that it comes into focus: the sheep is one of humans' oldest domestic animals.
It provides milk, meat and wool.
There are a few things to consider when handling high-quality sheep and lamb products.
Agricultural experts explain what.
Fürstenfeldbruck – Gisela Elfinger from Wurzberger Hof in Reichling (Landsberg district) has been breeding Valais blacknose sheep for 17 years, according to a report from the agricultural office.
Her flock includes 25 ewes and their offspring.
The sheep are sheared twice a year.
“Otherwise it will be too hot for them,” explains Elfinger.
The wool is sorted.
Elfinger has sheep's wool pellets made from the sorted wool.
The sheep farmer swears by this ecological long-term fertilizer: “When they come into contact with water, the pellets swell and slowly release the nutrients into the soil.
They are a great way to store water and you don’t have to water it so much.” She spins the clean wool into yarn and knits clothes from it.
Wool warms and cools
The advantage: “Wool has a balancing effect and keeps the outside climate away from us,” explains Renate Dörner from the household technology and textile department at the agricultural education center in Landsberg.
When it's cold, it keeps you warm thanks to the many hollow bodies in the wool fiber.
Since wool can absorb up to 30 percent moisture in vapor form, it cools you down in the heat.
It also doesn't smell; it's often enough to air the clothes out.
When cleaning, the washing machine's hand wash program is usually recommended.
This is gentler on the wool fibers when spinning than wringing out by hand.
Roast lamb for Easter
Florian Plabst from the Plabst butcher's shop in Unterschweinbach graze the meadows around the town with his flock of 100 ewes and their lambs.
The lambs are born all year round.
They are slaughtered at six months.
Plabst sells the meat in his farm shop.
He also processes the lamb into sausages, salami and smoked lamb.
“Lamb is lean and healthy meat that also protects the environment,” explains Plabst.
The master butcher advises his customers to only eat lamb when it is hot.
“Lamb fat has a low melting point.
With cold lamb fat, the flavor comes out stronger and the meat tastes like sheep.” The roast lamb at Easter is particularly tender if it is braised or fried at low heat and for a longer cooking time.
The students at the Fürstenfeldbruck Home Economics School prepare various lamb dishes in practical classes in the weeks before Easter.
“We get the lamb regionally from the Plabst farm butcher,” explains specialist teacher Irmengard Bundschuh.
“To enhance the flavor of the lamb, we use spices such as thyme, rosemary and garlic.
The sauce, which is rounded off with red wine, makes the dish perfect.”
You can find even more current news from the Fürstenfeldbruck district at Merkur.de/Fürstenfeldbruck.