Archives for fiber farm

Wild and Windy

January 3, 2014 | 2 Comments

The farm’s survived the wild and snowy night. By mid morning today we had patches of blue sky and everyone came outside to stand in the sun. But warmth – not so much. That didn’t stop me from taking a break mid chores to show the sheep how to make snow angels They were absolutely mystified, especially Sol, the llama – who doesn’t approve of any changes in routine. For a brutally windy night, the snow accumulation here wasn’t nearly as much as we had expected – maybe a foot. It’s hard to say, since we have so much drifting.
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Thanksgiving

November 28, 2013 | 9 Comments

Sending my truest wishes for happiness, health and warmth on Thanksgiving day. With my deepest gratitude for your fellowship, Barb photo courtesy Ben Barnhart
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GIVEAWAY – Adventures In Yarn Farming Celebration

November 8, 2013 | 130 Comments

Entries for this GIVEAWAY are now closed. Congratulations to our Givewaway winner, Sara, who posted on November 12 at 8:25 a.m. – she is the lucky winner of a Sheep Shares CSA 2014 Yarn Sampler (natural) membership. Thank you to everyone who posted – and for all your kind words on the launch of my new book. I can’t believe it’s almost that time. The official publication date for my new book, Adventures in Yarn Farming is next week – is November 12th! On that date, my book will be available everywhere. I’m celebrating the official publication this month by
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Evening Chores

November 3, 2013 | 10 Comments

Just back to the farm after a weekend vending and book signing at the Fiber Festival of New England at the Eastern States Exposition. Thanks everyone who stopped by my booth to scoop up skeins of Cormo yarn and to be among the first to acquire a copy of Adventures in Yarn Farming. I’m really flattered to hear the positive, warm responses from those of you who had purchased copies at Rhinebeck two weeks ago – and have already finished reading it. Wow, and wow. You made my day. Writing a book is like working in a bubble. It’s wonderful,
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Fiber, Foliage & Friends – Scenes from the Day

October 9, 2013 | 2 Comments

Last Saturday a group of intrepid Sheep Shares CSA members braved the threat of showers and the back roads of western Franklin county to join us for a special afternoon. Fiber, Foliage & Friends is an annual tradition here for our Sheep Shares CSA members. The event is a celebration – with knitterly camaraderie, home-baked apple crisps and pumpkin snickerdoodles, sheep antics, donkey pats, yarn painting and some jaw-droppingly gorgeous finished projects knit from our spring share yarn – all against a glorious autumnal backdrop. Thank you to everyone who joined us. For those of you who couldn’t, here’s a
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Hay Scene

August 28, 2013 | 5 Comments

This was the scene in the hayfield on Sunday afternoon. Norm was mopping up the last windrows with the round baler. Zoe and Farley cavorted through the behomoth round bales and chewed on stubble. It’s been a tricky summer haywise. June’s monsoons flooded our fields like rice paddies. Haymaking has happened in the sporadic dry intervals amidst the off and on showery weather. We’ve yet to get all of first cut off the fields which means our second cut will be close to nil this year. Second cut is what we feed our sheep in winter. Lord knows where that
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We Had Visitors!

June 6, 2013 | 3 Comments

Last weekend our Sheep Shares CSA members and their guests flocked Springdelle Farm for our annual summer social event – the Strolling of the Sheep. I love this event. There's no better time of year to showcase our lush, verdant fields and to put our flock on center stage. Here are a few scenes from the day. Of course Crackerjack, our guardian llama, received his share of the limelight. As did our mini donkeys, Cupcake, Prissy and Dulce who quickly made themselves the center of attention. The donks seemed to think any gathering is all about them. They quickly mobbed
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Fleece Show at Mass. Sheep & Woolcraft Fair

May 27, 2013 | 6 Comments

Every spring on shearing day I hold aside a handful of special fleeces from my flock. Sometimes it's a fleece from a sheep who holds a dear place in my heart. And some fleeces are simply masterpieces of wool, crimp and lanolin. We keep our eyes peeled those truly special fleeces on shearing day. After a shorn sheep stands, shakes and scrambles from the shearing board we take a minute to examine the goods. If the goods are super-good, then everyone pauses to pull locks, fondle and admire. Back in March, that was the case for a number of fleeces.Those fleeces
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Wool Away!

April 7, 2013 | 3 Comments

"Wool Away!" is the command given by the shearer to the "fleece-o" to pick up the freshly shorn fleece after a shorn ewe exits the shearing board. In the lingo of a "down under" shearing shed, the "sheep-o" pulls sheep from the holding pen and walks her onto the shearing board; the shearer shears; the "broomie" sweeps away the fribs, dags and bellywool; and after the sheep is shorn, the fleece-o tosses the fleece pizza-dough style minus the spin – onto the skirting table. The skirters then get to work. Since we are a small operation, our "sheep-o" often doubles
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Another Day in the Shearing Shed

April 4, 2013 | 1 Comment

These photos were taken during last Friday's shearing. We were fortunate to have more spring-like weather and luckier yet to have Holly and Meg pitch in for the day! We still have about a third of the flock left to shear. Saturday is our shearing open house for our Sheep Shares Yarn & Fiber CSA members and their guests. We'll be posting photos on Instagram (look for them under BarbParry) throughout the day.
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