Drilling seed and preparing for grazing

After two years of hard drought, we figured it was time to put some new seeds in the ground to make the pastures more healthy.  We ordered the seed in December and waited for the piles of snow to finally melt and the ground to become dry enough to allow the drill to plant the seed without destroying what is already growing there.  On a cool April morning, my good friend Lindsay from Burning Daylight Draft Farm arrived with her horses and equipment.  The pasture we were seeding is approximately 7 acres, with rolling hills and a spring that cuts it in half.  When we originally purchased the farm back in 2014, this field was tilled for a rotation of corn and soy and managed with traditional herbicides.  In 2015 we rented a drill from the county extension office and drilled in prairie restoration, and we let this new seed take root over the next two years.  We managed the sheep using electric net fences which typically works for non-wild-ish sheep but did not work well for us haha! 

One beautiful summer day, I believe it was a Wednesday, we received a call from the neighbors asking if we had a huge black ram (we did not) because there were sheep down at the Carleton Arb.  We were pretty sure these were not our sheep and went about our day only to realize later in the day that they were indeed our sheep!  The black ram turned out to be a very headstrong black ewe and her two lambs, the horns often throw people off.  She had formed a small group of runaway ewes with lambs and took them on an adventure.  We also had an adventure getting the ewes back home and met some great new friends along the way.  I firmly believe that all adventures should include new and/or old friends. 

Due to the changing weather patterns, we decided to go with a diverse pasture mix that could hold up to wet or dry years.  Thankfully Lindsay worked with the seed company to ensure we got the correct blend and amount.  The idea of drilling seed may be new to some people reading this so let me explain the process.  A seed drill has long tubes that allow the seed to drop down into the soil, the drill opens the soil up, lays a line of seed, and closes the soil back up.  Drilling seed is a gentle process and doesn't damage the existing grasses and plants, so it is perfect to add new seed to existing pastures without tilling.  It has been really fun to go out into the pasture and see the new plants growing, the weather has been perfect and the pasture is a lush green right now.  Soon it will have sheep on it, but they have to wait until it gets a bit more established.  

If you are interested in the work Lindsay does on her farm with her horses, check her out here https://www.burningdaylightdraftfarm.com  they are offering "hug a sheep" experiences this summer, if you have the itch to get out to the farm and spend the afternoon with some very friendly sheep.  

My favorite month, February is almost over and as I reflect back on the month it was not as restful as I would have wanted!  The beginning of the month was an extension of January, with warmer weather and the first of the many, false springs.  We took advantage of this and tapped the maple trees with the hope that we would get the early-season sap which is absolutely delightful!  When we inserted the taps the trees were running like mad and we collected about 20 gallons before the cold set back in.  Although we welcomed the warm weather, we were not fully prepared to start our sugar season, and thankfully the cold has given us some needed prep time.  The sap will keep for a long time in this cold, once it warms up we will be ready to boil it down and stash away the golden richness of the first run of syrup.  

The warmer weather, and longer days, kept us outside doing chores well into the sunset, reminding us of what is to come.  In the middle of the month we saw rain, and rain, and more rain, which turned the whole farm into mud before swiftly turning to ice, the entire farm was a sheet of ice!  It has been an adventure walking around to do chores while avoiding falling.  

The flock was shorn this month, the fleeces are beautiful and I am excited to use the cheviot in the first yarn and roving for the CSA.  I released spots for our CSA earlier this month, if you are interested in local yarn and roving make sure to check it out.  We, thankfully, do not have lambs yet but we were surprised to see a small litter of kittens in the hayloft.  If you are looking for a great barn kitten let us know!  

The month has flown by in a dizzy haze, I am so thankful for this massive snow storm which has allowed us to slow back down and take some time to rest.  I hope everyone is resting and staying safe in all this wonderful snow, soon it will start to melt and the crazy spring will return.

Old Lady Badger has something to say!

Can ewe believe they sent me to a different farm this fall?  The shepherd lady said that I was not to have lambs this spring, which is why they were sending me to stay with the flock at Burning Daylight Draft Farm.  Well let me tell ewe, I was the most misbehaved sheep on the farm!  I would break out of every fence and snack on all the goodies.  Icy, the other old lady they sent, would go up to the people who came to visit and get scratches, but not me!  No way!  

The farm I am staying at has large draft horses, these things are like big sheep with long tails, I think they look pretty silly when they are hooked up to the equipment.  They use the horses to mow the grass and pull massive logs up from the woods.  They even use them to plow the snow!  I am thankful I am a sheep, no one is hooking me up to a plow to make me work.

The flock was shorn last week, we are tucked away in the barn staying nice and warm.  The shepherd lady came to see me and take my wool during shearing, she said "oh Badger! You are pregnant!  What a naughty sheep you are!".  And she is right!  Try as they may, I found a way to have lambs this year, no fence can keep me from what I want!  After this snowstorm passes the shepherd lady will come and take me back home to lamb with my flock, many of which are my daughters and relatives.  This will be my 14th year on this earth, my 9th on this farm, and I fully intend to have lambs until I return to the soil.  So stay tuned, in a few short weeks my lambs will come and the shepherd lady will have to take care of them.  My old lady milk bags are not what they once were so I have a hard time feeding my lambs, but I know she will care for them because I am her most cherished sheep.  I have that shepherd lady in the palm of my hoof!

 

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Restocking roving, and adding new yarn!

Woolen Mill
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On the last day of January, at around 4:30 in the evening, all of the final paperwork was signed and I officially took full ownership of what was Norn Sisters and is now part of my existing mill.  This celebration and moment was a long time coming, and the feeling was simply amazing!  This final step gave me the freedom to communicate with people who financially supported the expansion of the mill, and to finally plan for the future.  I plan to have a line of locally sourced yarn and roving, I launched the yarn and roving CSA, and I have taken in my first orders for yarn processing!  I plan to only process a few customer orders per year, really focusing the mill on producing yarn and roving, I want people to see Badgerface Fiber as their first stop for all their local fiber needs.  This ending also freed up some space in my head, which has really allowed me to focus on the business and the art of making yarn.  I am now cranking out some yarn that I am really proud of, and I am working with some amazing pattern designers and artists to offer kits.  Make sure to keep an eye out for new products soon!  March will be full of releases.

My overarching goal with this mill and business is to strengthen the local fiber economy.  To show people the value of locally sourced fiber, they continue to keep their dollars local.  Each purchase strengthens my business. This allows me to pay a higher price for the fiber I use, which strengthens the business of each place I get fiber from. I want to build up this fibershed, offer more educational opportunities, more opportunities for fiber artists to connect, and more understanding of natural fibers and textiles.  I feel like this is the start of many years of great fun, hard work, and community building.  It is also the start of the greatest adventure of my life, and I am ready!

Farm goods, Events, and all the Fun!

The first "Brew and Knit with Ewe" was a total hit!  The fiber community came out in full force to Arbeiter Brewing Company, taking over two large sections.  It took my breath away when I came in and saw all the people who had gathered, we are truly a strong community.  If you missed this month's event, make sure to join us on 3/19 at Venn Brewing Company.  We had spinners, weavers, knitters, and crocheters there with their projects, sharing conversations, over tasty drinks.  These events will continue through the year and will be the drop spot for the CSAs.  I am also able to bring orders to these events, so if you want to cast on a project with some of my yarn, or need to spin some roving, you can order it and select "pick up" and let me know you will grab it at the event.  

To celebrate all of the amazing things that this month has brought, as well as all of this snow, I am offering 10% off of everything in the shop!  Simply use the code SNOWDAY  for 10% off of everything.  It's the perfect time to grab a sheepskin, a wool pillow, some yummy yarn, or stock up on some spring-inspired roving blends!  Sale ends Saturday, so make sure to take advantage while you can.  

I believe we have 18 inches or more of snow, the drifts are 3-4 feet high and have created a great bridge for the sheep to cross.  Thankfully the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence at this time of year!  I divided the flock into two groups this morning, giving the Cheviots space in the barn and leaving the cold hardy Icelandics in the lean-to area.  The Cheviots have greater protein requirements, and I noticed that the Icelandic sheep were starting to get too fat off of the Cheviot's diet, so it was time to split them up.  This also allows the Cheviots space to lamb, which should be soon.  Their lambs will come out with less wool on them so we have created a little headed space for lambs and purchased some super cute wool lamb jackets.  If the weather is warm we will not need these items, but it is better to be prepared.  

March is speeding its way toward us, I hope everyone is taking this moment to rest and relax and finish or start a new project.  

As always, thank you for reading this far and I hope to see ewe soon!

Theresa, Jake, Padruig, Opal, and the whole flock.

Fall has arrived on the farm


The air has shifted, bringing in cooler weather and shorter days, Autumn has arrived on the farm. This is the time of year when we take a deep breath in and reflect on the long, busy spring and summer. In many ways, the fall and harvest are our new year, a chance to reflect and rest. In the early fall, we round up the sheep and divide them into different groups before shearing and breeding, and they stay in these groups during the harvest and breeding season. Shearing is our wool harvest, which occurred earlier in the fall and we have started to prepare the fleece in the mill, which is exciting.
As we harvest the lambs we divide up the flock into different breeding groups, looking towards the next spring and the lambs that will be born, they will stay in these groups until we are satisfied the group is bred. Once breeding is over, we will join the different groups together and start the daily routine of feeding hay to the sheep in the morning and evening. The sheep are also blessed with an abundance of veggies from our friends at Open Hands Farm, and apples from our neighbors. This added food provides essential nutrients and minerals for the sheep, ensuring good strong lambs and lovely fleece. 

As the days get shorter and we retreat into the house for warmth, we are able to return to our crafts. Jake has taken to weaving, and you will find many of his beautifully woven scarves and rugs listed for sale on the website. I am finishing my second sweater (I am on sleeve island right now) and am ready to cast on some mittens next. I haven't spent as much time as I would like to, at my spinning wheel. I have been spending a good chunk of my week learning to make yarn on the machines and by the end of the day, the last thing I want to see is a drafting zone! (Ha!). We also find that the fall gives us a chance to return to slow-cooked meals filled with sweet earthy root veggies and rich juicy meats. My new favorite meal is roasted veggies with sliced rosemary and garlic lamb brats on top! Mmm delicious.
Make sure to check out the website for meat, we have added cuts of lamb meat for sale, as well as lamb brats!
I hope everyone is snuggled up in a warm wool blanket, sipping on hot tea, and dreaming about dinner as you read this.

A word from the flock

Hello!  I am the newest addition to the farm!  My name is Ranch and I am a blue heeler puppy, or as many people call me, a cattle dog.  My previous owner just couldn't keep me, and thankfully they knew about this farm because of a thing called "yarn" and "knitting", or at least that is what I heard.  My first name was Blanch, but the shepherd lady said it made her think of something called the "Golden Girls" too much and she "just can't do it" so they named me Ranch.  I have been learning all about the sheep on this farm.  Right now they have sheep in three different places, the lamb rams, or "freezer camp group" is grazing on the large hay field.  The other group is down the hillside with the one Opal calls "Nightmare" a four-horned Jacob ram and the last group is in the woods eating the apples that drop from the trees.  
I sure do like it here on the farm, or technically, the ranch.  I play all day with Pepper, the other heeler dog.  Theo, the older corgi, tends to sleep all day and yells at me if I take his bone.  Every day, sometimes twice a day, we go for walks in the woods.  During these walks I get to run, smell, jump, and most importantly eat some sheep poop when no one is looking.  They also have chickens and other birds on this farm, I like to run to the chickens and watch them flutter around.  They sure are silly-looking things.  The man with the beard says there are too many roosters on the farm, and soon they will have chicken soup!  I hope I get to have some of that soup.  
In the evenings, I enjoy chewing on a variety of things I should not be chewing on.  Sometimes I get away with it, most often I do not, but I am a puppy and that is my job!  Chew on things, sleep and play, and sometimes go potty in the house.  Oh and look cute. 
I am very glad I can call this place home, it is a perfect life for a heeler dog.  

The dye garden that won't end, and the mill

Woolen Mill

This past summer we grew the farm not only in the size of the flock but also in the mill.  As many of you know I participated in a successful Kickstarter campaign to expand the mill.  After the campaign was completed, the funds purchased all of the milling equipment needed to take my current end product, roving, and turn it into yarn.  Unfortunately in July, it was clear that the partnership that was Norn Sisters Woolen Mill was not going to continue.  In early August we voted to dissolve the LLC and have been working together to wrap up the business, which has been a long process.  During this time I have been learning how to use the new machines with some of the blends I created, spinning yarn on a larger machine is not easy and takes a lot of practice!  My goal is to start turning the Kickstarter rewards into yarn early next month, ensuring everyone who invested in the mill sees a return on their investment. 
Thank you to everyone who invested, please know your money was not wasted and I fully intend to make good on our promise.  If you have any questions about Kickstarter, please reach out.  Moving forward Norn Sisters will no longer be used, I have created my own brand for the fiber products which will be on all of the new products going forward.  
The dye garden which is part of a SARE grant has been doing really well!  This morning I picked more flowers even though it was only 30 degrees.  It seems these cold hardy plants live up to their name and reputation.  We still have loads of woad, weld, and chamomile. With the abundance of dye plants, we were able to use the dried flowers to make our newest, and soon-to-be-released Shepherds Share!  This share is full of beautiful fall colors and is made up of some of my favorite blends, Blue Face Leicester with Mohair and/or Alpaca!  Dreamy!  This share is a collaboration between myself and Trinity from Petal and Hank, we will release the boxes on November 5th at the Fall Fiber Festival.  If you haven't gone to this festival make sure to check it out, it is one of my favorite ones.  https://www.facebook.com/FallFiberFest/
This month we are also teaching an in-person Spin with Ewe at Nash Lake Farm, focusing on two fiber types and how they change with the addition of different spices (mohair, angora, alpaca).  This is a great opportunity to learn about how different percentages of additions change the feel of the spin and the end garment.  Make sure to check it out if you are interested in taking your spinning, and blending to a new level.  Nash Lake Farm also has a new website! Make sure to check it out for all the cool classes and events that are going on at this beautiful farm.  https://nashlakefiberfarm.com/

Lamb meat

I love fall and winter for all the amazing things you can cook that help heat up the house.  Some of my favorite meats are leg of lamb, lamb and roasted veggies, and lamb stew.  We understand that not everyone has space in their freezer for a whole or even half lamb, and we are thrilled to be partnering with a USDA butcher in the area to provide lamb cuts for our customers!  Make sure to check out the lamb meat page to find shoulder steaks, chops, ground lamb, and lamb brats!  We allow on the farm pick up, and if you pool with friends we will deliver multiple orders to the cities or surrounding areas.  
Leg of lamb is a perfect substitution for a turkey or ham during holiday meals, we are able to offer them in two different sizes to meat (har har) the needs of our customers.  Braised lamb shanks over garlic mashed potatoes makes for a perfect, easy crock pot meal that will "stick to your ribs" as they say.  Just the other evening I tried stuffed delicata squash with ground lamb and wild rice, it was so good and will be a regular dish going forward.  
Take advantage of the amazing fall vegetables this season, and be sure to add some local, grass-fed, meat to the plate.  

As always, thank you for reading this far! I hope to see ewe at a class soon!

Theresa, Jake, Padruig, Opal, and the whole flock.

Harvest season!


The summer flew by in a flurry of life, long days, late dinners with friends, time in the pool, and time with community.  The flowers in the dye garden have been bursting with blooms and colors, we have had a couple U-pick events at the farm because the bounty from the garden is enough to share.  Stay tuned for future dates as the season shortens. The lambs have been growing and are soon ready to go off to their next destination, which is always a celebration of our hard work, and filled with joy and sorrow.  We are happy to have most of the lamb shares sold, only a few slots are left, and we will be able to offer USDA cuts in the coming weeks.

Jake has taken up weaving and has been busy making beautiful scarves and rugs, I have been busy getting them added to the website.  Honestly, sitting in front of a computer all day is not my most favorite thing to do, and I often avoid it until I absolutely have to do it.  I will get those added today, along with new classes and fun roving, so many new things are coming this fall.  

We welcomed a new flock of Cheviot ewes to the flock earlier this month, they are a really neat breed of sheep!  In the early spring my friend told me about this flock and the shepherd, the flock has been well cared for using sustainable practices and produce really nice lambs each year.  We have been looking for a sheep breed that had a similar flavor to the amazing taste of Icelandic, but had larger bodies for our customers who really want to eat a lot of lamb.  North Country Cheviot fit the bill!  NCC (as they are known) thrive in any climate, and does remarkably well on low quality pastures.  The breed registry states; "North Country Cheviots are a "hill breed" of sheep. They evolved on the rugged Scotch highlands and of necessity had to thrive unattended by man and search for food on wild unimproved land. In these conditions' the ewes usually lambed alone and the newborn lambs survived by their near-miraculous ability to get-up, nurse and run just minutes after their birth."  Sounds like the perfect addition to our farm!  Since we have gotten them we have been delighted by their personalities, how well they have fit in with the Icelandics, and how well they have done on the land.  NCC fleece is unlike Icelandic fleece in every way, they have a helix style crimp to the fiber, only are shorn once a year right before lambing, and the knitted garments are resistant to felting!  I have a pair of mittens the previous shepherd gave me, I've already washed them in the washing machine and they didn't shrink or felt at all!  Amazing!  

The NCC will breed first, we will hope they lamb a full month before the Icelandic sheep do so we can move them out into the winter paddock right away.  We are bringing in a black NCC ram from a breeder who will service the ladies for a little over a month and a half.  We are sending our Icelandic ram to a friends farm to spread his genetics to that flock, and have decided to bring in a four horned Jacob ram to breed the Icelandic flock for cross bred lambs next year.  So many big changes that we are excited about, I am already excited for the 2023 lamb crop!  

We also have new sheepskins in stock, we typically sell out of these fast because they are so beautiful!  This year we gladly got the skins from our friend Beth, who runs Sheep Sorrel farm in Welch, after her lamb harvest.  Beth raises Clun Forest/Dorset cross lambs, which make large beautiful white spongy sheepskins.  These skins are about 4 feet long and 3 feet wide, with 1 inch wool on them.  We have sold a number of them to yoga teachers to use as yoga mats!  Make sure to check out the skins on the website or come visit us at a farmers market to feel their squishy amazing for yourself.  
Make sure to reach out if you are looking for lamb, once the cuts come back from the butcher I will load them on the website.  I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful fall weather!



A word from the flock

Hello!  We are the new flock of North Country Cheviots!  Our flock leader is Payton, she was a bottle lamb and has set the tone for the flock, we are somewhat stand-off-ish but also really excited to get to know our new home.  Our first week on the farm we stayed in the barn, we got to know many of the new sheep through the stalls of the barn, they are funny looking horned sheep with long long wool.  After that we were given space on the hillside, we enjoy running up and down the hill, kicking our legs in the air, and calling to each other.  Now we are out in the big pastures and are enjoying eating lots of yummy grass and apples that fall from the trees.  The other sheep eat veggies that the farmer unloads each Friday, we haven't tried them yet but the other sheep seem to really enjoy them.  

We were never around dogs and have tried to get close to the one they call "pepper" but she always runs away.  The other sheep run away from her, we haven't quite figured this whole relationship out yet..  We also overheard the shepherd lady talking about shearing, she said that the other sheep will be shorn soon, they must really grow fleece fast!  We don't get shorn until spring!  We hope they are not cold all winter long, the shepherd lady assured us that they would not be.  

We enjoy our new home, it is nice here and the views are pretty amazing.  Payton allows the shepherd to scratch her face, each of us is slowly allowing this as well.  At first we were pretty scared to leave our other farm, but this farm is a good farm and we are happy here.   




New Roving and lots of new classes!

Woolen Mill


 I have been very busy in the wool mill for the past weeks, the summer has flown by as I worked on customer orders and milling some of the beautiful wool I picked up this spring into roving.  I have updated the website with lots of yummy roving to spin, so go grab a few braids for those fall and winter projects.  In August we held a Spin with Ewe with Amy from Nash Lake Farm, we discussed blends and breeds and spun a lot of fun new stuff.  This month we are doing a class called "breed it or blend it" where we will spin 6 different fleeces that are pure, cross-bred, and blended.  It will be a super fun class so make sure to sign up for the in-person or virtual event. 

I am also thrilled to partner with Trinity Muller with upcoming dye classes, she will teach two bundle dyeing classes, one with yarn and one with silk scarfs.  These classes will be held here at the farm in our new space, and will use flowers from the dye garden.  Trinity has been researching new dye techniques that we will hopefully use on new lines of products in the future.  Hope to see ewe at one of the upcoming classes!





Lamb meat




This year we welcomed more lambs than ever! This means we are able to offer more lamb meat to stock in your freezer. Lamb is very nutritious and high in minerals such as zinc, magnesium, selenium, and vitamin B 12 & 6. Lamb is also high in protein and monosaturated fats which are really good for heart health. 

Our lambs are grass-fed, offered free-choice minerals, and we practice natural methods for health management. We allow the mothers to naturally wean the lambs to reduce stress on the flock and honor their natural cycle. Our lambs are born in the spring and butchered in the fall, with a hanging weight average of 35-45lbs. We use a local, female-run butcher to process the lambs and offer whole and half lambs to customers. Once you purchase a lamb from us you will be one of the first notified of the following year's lambs.  We only have a handful of slots left, so don't wait to get on the list!  

We are also thrilled to offer cuts of lamb to our customers again this year, we will have a variety of cuts and brats available in the coming months.  I will update the website when new products arrive so check back often.  

If you have questions about lamb please reach out! We take pride in our lambs and love talking about why Icelandic lamb meat is the best lamb meat.  
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As always, thank you for reading this far! I hope to see ewe at a class soon!

Theresa, Jake, Padruig, Opal, and the whole flock.

January and the New Year!


This January we have been blessed with wonderfully warm weather, lots of snow, and even a bit of rain (oh joy).  The warmer days have given us a lot of fog and frost, which covers all the plants in beautiful crystals.  Our typical January is cold, with amazing bright sun.  This month has been a bit dreary and reminds me of December.  
We welcomed 2023 with dear friends, standing outside near a fire, and chatting about all the new adventures to come.  At the start of the month, we released our first-ever yarn and pattern kit!  I worked with Alla Hale, who wrote the "Snowbird" hat pattern after I gave her a skein of experimental yarn.  The yarn is called WAM! because it is wool, alpaca, and mohair.  The wool is from my flock of Cheviots, so the yarn is strong, soft, and has a nice halo when knitted up.  After the initial pattern was created I got to work in the mill making more of the yarn.  This was the first time I replicated a yarn I produced prior, so a big step forward for me!  You can find the kits in the new Badgerface Fiber section of the shop, and if you use the code "snowbird" you will get free shipping!  A picture of the hat and the sheep who grew the wool is below.  
Life on the farm has been good so far this year, we have enjoyed the typical up and downs of the winter, and are happy to have time for indoor crafting.  Soon the lambs will be here and life will pick up, for now, we are enjoying some creative space and rest.  

A word from the Pepper, the milling dog

Typically the sheep get this section of the newsletter, but I have been promoted to "mill dog" which boy howdy, let me tell ya!  It's a job!  Good thing I am a Blue Heeler and "smart as a whip" per the boss lady, so I can handle the big jobs.  
In this new role I am expected to arrive at the mill early in the morning with the boss lady, as she adjusts the humidity and temperature of the mill, and powers on the machines, I am expected to find any misplaced sheep berry and promptly eat it.  Wouldn't want a mess now, would we?!  I am also expected to jump up on anyone to comes to the mill, smash my face into theirs if they happen to bend over and ensure they smell appropriate.  Once the first two jobs are completed I can take my position atop the sheepskin and watch the spinner all day.  I typically take a long nap, knowing that the boss lady has prepared the fiber well and it will spin all day long.  I will stay on the sheepskin while people walk around me, and if the shop vac tries to clean up I will attack it!  If the boss lady leaves for the house, I will wait for her by the door.  Heaven forbid they let me out and forget about me!  If this happens I will bark my most annoying, high-pitched bark until someone opens the door.  I am a very polite mill dog, once doors are open I will wait until you invite me in!  Which ensures a good amount of cold air enters the mill.
I really enjoy this new position, but I am excited about the coming spring when I can return to my first job, herding the sheep.  For now, I will continue to monitor that spinner while resting on the sheepskin.  Please let the boss lady know you want to visit the mill so I can jump on you!  

A Bale of Wool and the Flow of the Mill

Woolen Mill

On a crisp Sunday afternoon, my friend Marcus arrived at the farm with 8 wool bales for me.  Marcus is a sheep shearer, he travels all over the midwest shearing larger farms and ranches, and selects the best fleece for me.  As the winter fades into spring, (which I completely understand how absurd this sounds to people who live in an urban area.  I assure you, we are fastly approaching spring) the season of shearing arrives, which is done before lambing.  For Marcus, this is the start of a very busy season of shearing sheep, sometimes up to 200 plus a day!  The shearing group he works with takes the wool from the shepherd who, in most cases, sees the wool as a byproduct or has no interest in marketing it or making it into yarn, and sells it to one of the large wool brokers.  The brokers pull the wool out of each bale, skirt it, repack it, and class it.  Classing of the wool is a grading system, the wool is graded on how fine it is (microns), its color and strength, and spinning capacity (number of bends per unit length along the fiber).  Once this is done, the wool is sold on the larger market and the shepherd will receive a payment.  On the day the wool arrived at my farm the price for fine wool was $.75 per lb. 
If you take a look at the picture of the bales you will see writing on them, COR is Corriedale (perfect for a sock blend), R is Rambouillet which is part of the Merino family, SUF is suffolk (ummm washable socks and cable yarn).  I also got a few bags of colored Rambouillet, some fine colored Columbia (drool), Dorset, and Tunis!  I am very excited for the Tunis, which is an American breed and very old.  I now have all the fleeces needed for my #merica Spin with Ewe class, and hopefully yarn box!  The fleeces will also help me create the Yarn and Roving CSA, which I am really excited about.  I will announce that at the start of next month, which is coming soon.
In the mill I feel we are hitting our stride!  We have a good flow to the work now and I am really confident in the process, and proud of the yarn I am making.  I have been so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and people in this fiber community, without them I would never be able to keep this flow up.  People have come to the mill often to help skirt, which is the initial step before washing.  During skirting, all of the poo bits and short cuts are removed, as well as areas with too much VM.  Having help saves me hours each week, and is just a blessing.  
I am excited to see all my hard work, and the hard work and support of my friends and community, starting to really pay off!
Farm goods, Events, and all the Fun!
We are really excited about all the things that we are able to offer this year.  We have lots of meat in the freezer to offer customers, we have a batch of newly finished naturally tanned lambswool sheepskins in the shop, and our first pattern kit!  I will be adding more yarn and events as the weeks go on, and Jake has been busy weaving new beautiful scarves out of the yarn I am making.  
Please check out the upcoming line up for the Spin with Ewe, I have partnered with many awesome shepherds to offer some really cool roving to spin! We also moved the Fiber Friday to Sunday Funday, which is the first Sunday of the month.  You can find the listing on my website in the classes and events section.  Also, we hope you will join us for the first "Brew and Knit with Ewe" coming up next month!  

We still have lots of meat in the freezer if you are looking for a delicious protein to add to your dinner plate.  We also have one lamb available as a whole or half, which will be processed next week.  Please let me know if you are interested in some lamb to fill your freezer.

As always, thank you for reading this far and I hope to see ewe soon!
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Theresa, Jake, Padruig, Opal, and the whole flock.

inter and the upcoming Solstice


The past two months have flown by, and the days are so busy that they are over before we had a chance to get everything done.  The short days and long nights make us appreciate every moment of sunshine that we can spend outside.  The sheep have settled into the winter routine, they eagerly wait for their morning hay and spend the rest of the day munching on veggies before their evening hay arrives.  The Icelandic sheep prefer to stay in the barnyard and paddock, and the Cheviots can often be found out in the larger pastures searching for grass hidden under the snow.  I have really enjoyed their different patterns and personalities now that the two flocks are together.  I've even noticed that the Cheviots have started to eat the veggies we get from our neighbor!  We were a bit worried initially when they didn't eat the veggies, I think they watched the Icelandic flock enjoy it and decided to take a bite.  
The Icelandic ewes are starting to round out and look heavy with lambs, it is hard to believe that this cycle is starting again!  We had a very good lamb crop this year and many of the lambs have gone to freezer camp to feed other families.  The Cheviots, with their tall legs, are not showing as much, but if I did my job right they will have lambs before the Icelandic flock.  This means we could expect lambs in late January!  The shepherd who sold us this flock said "shear them during that perfect week in January when it warms up, they will lamb soon after".  What I love the most about this advice is that I know this week in January, the week when the bitter cold releases us for only a moment and the bright sun warms us again.  I will look for that week to harvest their wool, which I am excited to play with in the mill.  
On Wednesday the 21st is the Winter Solstice, a very important day for us and our farm cycle.  We celebrate both the Winter and Summer solstice, knowing that they mark the start of the seasonal changes and the changes we must prepare for.  The Solstice marks the shortest day of the year and thus, the longest night.  After the Solstice the sun appears to stand still, setting and rising at almost the same time for a few days, as if the world takes a pause in the breath of the seasons.  The sun returns, each day will become longer and longer, and little by little the spring will return and the cycle starts again.  Fields are planted, lambs are born, days are long and the heat of the sun encourages growth and life. This solstice we are celebrating for several days with many good friends, we will enjoy the heat of fires, lots of warm drinks, and delicious food.  I hope everyone marks this important change in the balance of light and dark this year, celebrate with us as we welcome the return of the sun!

A word from the flock​

Mmmmm carrots, beets, cabbage, and (gasp) brussel sprouts!  Can ewe even believe that we get to eat these amazing treats each week!  At first, I was a bit concerned with the appearance of the new food items, it does not look like apples which I love, but after one small sniff and nibble (and watching the Icelandic ewes eat away and never fall over dead) I knew I should try it!  Ewe might ask yourself how we are so lucky to get all these natural sugars each week!  Well, let me tell ewe all about it.  The farmer man comes with his truck loaded with all the delightful treats and parks the truck in a rather odd spot.  He quickly starts the tractor and lets it run for a while, he says something about it being a diesel engine or something, who knows...  Once the tractor wakes up he takes an old shovel and chops and pushes the treats into the bucket of the tractor and drives it into the barnyard.  The tractor dumps all of the veggies into the feeders and we all quickly fight for our place to dine. 
It is a frenzy of eating before we are all full and the farmer man is done filling the feeders.  The next days we enjoy nibbling on the treats in between walking in the pastures and eating our hay.  The farmer man has been giving us so many treats in the last weeks it is unbelievable!  The shepherd lady says that we are the most amazing creatures ever, something about how we take waste food and turn it into beautiful lambs and lovely wool.  She is a funny lady, she is always talking about wool, wearing wool, and I've even seen her with bits of wool on her when she leaves the mill!  She is one funny lady. 
Well I guess its time to go back into the pastures to search for grass under the snow.  The flock wishes ewe a happy Solstice and holiday season!

Always busy, always learning!

Woolen Mill

What started as an unfinished shed that stored farm equipment has now become a beautiful space for my mill!  As many know I started my woolen mill in late 2019, fully functional in 2020 with all the green equipment I needed to make beautiful roving.  I have learned so much in the past years and am very proud of the roving that I make, and love hearing from others about how much they enjoyed it!  Over the past years I have connected with many shearers and shepherds in the area, and now have a shipping container full of the wools and fiber I like to work with the most.  I have developed a deep love of the down-breed wools (Suffolk, Hampshire, Dorset, Southdown, etc) and recently featured these amazing wools in a Spin with Ewe class.  I have developed some lovely blends that highlight the different fibers and lend themselves to specific garments and spinning styles.  I have been blessed to work with some amazing natural dyers who can take the fleeces I provide, to the next level with beautiful color.  
For the past two months, I have been hard at work taking what I make on my carder and sending it through the draw frame and spinning machine, with the hope that the yarn I make is beautiful. Some are pretty nice, others are very artistic!  Learning to spin yarn is very difficult, but I feel like I am finally hitting my stride.  The mill space expanded from the original small space that housed the carding machine, we bumped out the wall and doubled the space.  It is so fun to be in this new mill space now!  I enjoy being able to run multiple machines at the same time, with a little help from my friends who donate their time to spend with me in the mill.  I have been hard at work making the yarn that will be Kickstarter rewards, each skein I make reminds me of the many people who supported this dream and believe that I can do this!  
The new year will bring many new adventures, lots of learning, and new opportunities.  I am eager to get to work on new yarn blends, to work with knitters and pattern writers to create new kits, and to spend time with my fiber community!   Make sure to check out the classes that we are having at Nash Lake Farm by clicking here  https://nashlakefiberfarm.com/
If you have a specific idea for a class or a Spin with Ewe please reach out and give me your ideas!  During the holiday break I will start planning for the 2023 class schedule, all good things to come!

Farm goods

I am so glad to be able to offer cuts of lamb to our customers this year!  I love hearing how much people have enjoyed the taste of our lamb after they make a meal with it.  We take great pride in providing healthy food for our community while maintaining a healthy ecosystem here at the farm.  Make sure to reach out if you are looking to add some lamb to your Christmas meal, or if you want to celebrate the solstice with a pot of Kjotsupa (I can send my favorite recipe too).  
If you are looking for some warmth this winter make sure to check out our wool bedding, we will start taking orders for spring bedding in the coming weeks.  We have a handful of sheepskins left as well if you need some lovely softness to add to your favorite chair.  We have many sheepskins (it's a bit of Game of Thrones in this house) that provide warmth and softness in the house and even on the seats of our truck, they even make great yoga and meditation mats!
Interested in going deeper with your connection to garments and wool?  I will open spots for the second year of a full-year experience called "Start to Finish".  This experience connects you with the many reasons I write about in my newsletters, you will come to the farm to see the lambs, and come during the summer to see them grow while learning about grazing and sheep health.  Towards the fall you will attend shear day here at the farm and will select one fleece that you will process (or I will) and turn into a garment.  This is a great way to connect with other people who are interested in this lifestyle, and learn about how to skirt, clean, process, and turn a fleece into a finished garment. You will also get a chance to spend time with a group of people who have spent the past year learning together.  It is my favorite way to spend a year, giving people a chance to walk in my footsteps and get excited about wool!  Make sure to check back in January when I open that class up again.  
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As always, thank you for reading this far! Happy Holidays from all of us at the farm!  We will see ewe in the New Year!

Theresa, Jake, Padruig, Opal, and the whole flock.