Shepherding Camp Giveaway!

TO ENTER THE SHEPHERDING WEEKEND GIVEAWAY POST A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG ENTRY. 

So much news and so little time to write it in! I am sitting at Logan Airport getting ready to board a flight to Cleveland (by way of Philly. Go figure.)  to attend a travel show for the MV Chamber of Commerce, so I will try to get as much of this posted as I can before I have to board and then I'll update it again in Philly or Cleveland.

So the first bit of BIG news is that I have given notice at my "real" job and will be a full-time shepherd as of May 2nd. This is such a big step for our farm and I am so grateful to all of you for making it possible.  It was a tough decision to give up the security of a weekly paycheck, but I was essentially working two full-time jobs and something had to give. I will use to extra time to ramp-up our marketing efforts and spend a glorious summer taking care of the flock and selling our yarns at the MV Farmers Market on Saturdays and Wednesdays. I have also started to advertise our Shepherding Camp on ravelry. If people are interested, it will take up a lot of my time as well. 

The next piece of BIG news is that we are doubling the size of our flock. This came about when I accidentally changed the number of fall shares available on etsy. I kept putting off fixing it because it required me to figure out how many we had sold since I made the mistake and then to calculate the correct number of shares left. Now, ya'll know how much I hate math. So one night when Patrick once again reminded me that I needed to fix the number of shares, I said, jokingly, "Can't we just double the size of the flock so I don't have to?" We looked at each other for a minute and I guess neither of us could think of any reason not to. And that's how we make important business decisions around here!

I have already picked out 8 new wethers (castrated males; we already have too many intact males.) and 2 new buck kids that are bottle babies. I know, I know. I swore up and down that I didn't want bottle babies this year. BUT. But I will have plenty of time to tend them without a job. AND they are really great for when visitors come because they are so people-friendly. AND I was at my dear friends Sara and Dan's house this weekend and they had 7 bottle babies this year (out about a million kids that they had) and I missed having babies to feed. So there.

The really important thing to know about this is that releasing more shares will absolutely not effect the amount of yarn you receive for your shares. I think I should repeat that. It absolutely will not effect the amount of yarn you receive for your share. Not only are we doubling the number of goats we have but we are adding more adults who produce more fiber. 

We will be releasing more shares in the Spring of '09 as well because we are really going to be focusing on the Cormos this fall. I'm going on a ewe-buying spree after the Festival and I hope we can buy at least 10 more.

I was in New York last weekend to pick out dye colors for the yarn that we are selling at the Fiber Fest and in the etsy store. Someone on ravelry (Sedress?) suggested that we stick with our herbs and spices theme and that's just what we did. The yarn will be in colors like saffron, sage, paprika, lavender, parsley and a few more that I can't remember off the top of my head. 

Sara and I dyed some of the lavender while I was there. It was so much fun that I came home and ordered a bunch of dye so I can start doing it myself. I also got to help with the fiber processing while I was there. It was very educational and fun, because Sara and Dan are always fun. I took some pictures of the equipment used to process the fiber into yarn but my camera battery died almost as soon as I got there so there aren't nearly enough pics.

This is the Picker. The clean fiber goes through here first...

and comes out all fluffy like this.

This is the Carder. Dan and Sara have two of these. 

And then a lot of other steps that I didn't get pictures of happen and it gets spun into yarn and then it goes on the skein winder, pictured here. 

This is undyed, uncarded fiber.

And here is some that Sara dyed.

In addition to spending the day at Buckwheat Bridge Angoras with Dan and Sara, I dropped 80 pounds of fleeces off for washing and processing at another mill. I will be getting back lots of raw fleece, Cotswold roving and Cotswold yarn.

Oh- so much going on that I totally forgot this- the Babydoll Southdown that I sent to Michigan to be made into fleece just came back in the form of quilt batts. Thanks to all you quilters who encouraged me to do this; I can't stand seeing any fleece going to waste! I can't wait to finish my quilt and sleep under the warmth of our sheep. The same mill that made them can also make comforters and pillows from wool but that are a bit pricey.

I am so excited to have shareholder Zarya and her family coming to visit on Thursday. I know I've said this before but it bears repeating- If you can't make it to the farm for Fiber Fest or the Fall Shearing Celebration you are welcome whenever you can get here. This is your flock and I want all of you to get to meet them if you possibly can. 

We moved the four older kids- Thyme, Sage, Chive and Basil- out to the pasture at Felix Neck yesterday. It was so nice to see them bouncing around in the fresh air! I got a little teary.  There was a bit of a learning curve as the babies and mamas have been living in super-close proximity since they were born and now they must keep a closer eye on each other. There were a whole lot of hysterical mamas calling for their babies yesterday when they were within a couple of feet of one another. 

We also moved the fence yesterday because, Jesus be good to me, there is green grass growing!  The sheep and goats made a beeline for the fresh greens and did a lot of grateful baa-ing with their mouths full. It was rather hilarious actually. 

Sedress asks in the comments about Nanny 13, she the victim of a vicious rooster attack in March. She has completely healed and seems no worse for the experience. Dan Rather proved rather more difficult to get rid of than I had anticipated. For about a week or so after I evicted him from the hoop house he hung around outside the door trying to get back in every time I opened the door. He also attacked me every time I got out of the truck, which jangled my nerves something fierce. 

Plan B was to take him somewhere in the woods and set him free. I lured him into a dog carrier and drove him out to the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night but he refused to get out of the carrier. He hung on to the sides of that thing like his life depended on it, which, I guess, it did. 

And I actually began to admire his tenacity. So I took him back to the hoop house and put him in the small chicken coop outside until I could figure out what plan C was. A couple of people indicated that they wouldn't mind, shall we say, dispatching him, but I put it off hoping another option would come along.  Someone suggested giving him to the World of Reptiles and Birds, a quirky Vineyard operation run by wildlife expert and true gentleman Gus Ben David. Gus is always looking for prey for his raptors apparently. And while that felt very "Circle of Life-y" I couldn't go through with it.

So Dan Rather is still living alone in his luxurious condominium (originally built for 12 chickens) and will be moving to Tisbury Meadows with the bucks and rams later in April. I'm hoping that having plenty of space will cool his jets and make him live-withable again, but if it doesn't, I AM GETTING RID OF HIM. I mean it this time.

Now, for what you all really want to see. Baby pictures! A couple of you have asked if I can make the photos bigger. The sort answer is I'm not sure, but I'm gonna try.

 

This picture of Juniper nursing on the day she was born cracks me up.

Sweet Juniper

Cilantro and Tarragon

Sassafras and Saffron

I love this picture of S & S sleeping.

Excepting bottle babies, Oregano is the friendliest goat I have ever known. Every time Patrick or I walk into the kidding barn Oregano comes running over to be picked up. He is such a sweetie! I know he will outgrow this behavior and will learn from his mama to fear us but I am really enjoying him now.

Remember when I told you that I have no life and spent my Saturday night skirting last year's fleeces? Here is a picture of one of the Cotswold fleeces I was working on.

This is one of Ernie's fleeces that I dropped off for processing. Ernie is our huge-a-mongus Cotswold wether. He is white, although you'd never know it from looking at him in the weeks before shearing. All the animals are at their grungiest right now. But it's really only the surface of the fleece that is dirty. When I flipped it over it looked like...

this. All of the dirt washes out when it is processed anyway, but sometimes people seem a little concerned when they see their future yarn looking so filthy. We had visitors at the kidding barn the other day who asked what color our Angoras are. I didn't understand the question at first and then I couldn't stop laughing. 

In other news, Patrick and I have spent a lot of time thinking about our business and it's mission in the last few months. Among other things, we are redoubling our efforts to run MVFF in as environmentally responsible a way as possible. We also want to share our success with other small farms who are in the same position we were in not so long ago, when processing our fleeces was completely cost prohibitive. So we are going to start buying high quality fleeces from other small farms at fair prices and processing them into yarn to sell in our etsy store. We are also spreading the gospel of yarn/fiber CSAs as a business model that can work for small fiber farmers. I've have had half a dozen emails from small farmers who want to know how to set up a CSA! I am as excited about this as I am about the good things happening for us. 

I had stopped writing much about Fiber Fest here because I didn't want the people who couldn't come to be bored to tears by the details, so I have limited myself to posting about it on ravelry. But someone recently pointed out that not all of our shareholders have received their ravelry invitations yet, so please shoot me an email if you have any questions about the big to-do that we are putting together on April 19th. 

Finally, the Shepherding Camp Giveaway! Okay, here's the deal. This giveaway is for one two-night, three-day weekend for up to two people (who don't mind sharing a room with twin beds) on the beautiful Island on Martha's Vineyard on a mutually agreeable date. The trip includes lodging and three meals a day and all the farm work you can stand. The winner will spend the weekend at our townhouse (we do not live on the land where our animals live. Some day...) and on our farm, getting to know the flock, doing morning and evening chores with us and learning everything you ever wanted to know about the gentle animals that grow your yarn. Of course, if you want to spend some of your time at the beach, that's okay too.  You do not have to be a shareholder to win. 

The fine print: we really want to get the word out about MVFF in general and the Shepherding Camp in particular, so I am going to do the drawing when we have received comments on the thread from 300 individuals who want to enter. So email this url to you friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, preschool gymnastics coach, milkman and dog groomer. (If you know anyone in North Dakota, South Dakota or West Virginia in particular, because, according to the analytic software we use, no one from those states has ever visited at the blog. Weird, huh? I mean, people in 26 countries visit regularly, but the Dakotas and West Virginia remain elusive. What gives? It's starting to bug me.) 

As soon as we get to 300 I will  let the random number generator work it's random magic and we will announce the winner. So get to commenting. If you commented before I updated this post [I'm talking to you Sedress] you don't need to comment again saying you want to enter. Of course you want to enter- everybody wants a free vacation on Martha's Vineyard!

UPDATED TO ADD: Post your comments on this post to be entered in the drawing. Thanks for pointing out the confusion, Deb.

Oh, one more thing. My awesome new best friend Julie Roads has done an awesome website for an awesome book called I’m Lucy: A Day in the Life of a Young Bonobo. Bonobos are these really amazing primates that I had never heard of and now I am fascinated by them. The site is designed for kids, but not in an icky, Webkinz way. Julie is amazing and if you are looking for a web marketing person you won't find a better one. She also has two of the cutest babies you've ever seen and the day they visited our babies was one marked by dangerous cuteness. I would post the pictures I took here but some of you may not have your protective eyewear on, so I will refrain. Anyway, the website is www.bonobokids.org. Check it out.

Off to board another plane. More soon.


UPDATED TO ADD: I am so scatter-brained today! Totally forgot to put in a plug for my friend Guido's podcast- It's a Purl Man. I am this week's guest. If you promise not to think that that is really what my voice sounds like you can hear the interview here. Guido is a self-professed comment whore, so give the man some love.