Wild Rose Farm @ Pioneer Craft Days!

Wild Rose Farm - Set-up For Pioneer Craft Days October 6th & 7th!

Here's a chance to come see Wild Rose Farm this weekend at Beaver Creek State Park and enjoy Pioneer Craft Days!  Follow the signs to the Pioneer Village. We are set up in the middle of the covered bridge & I expect to see a vendor on either side of our booth by Saturday morning. We just got a shipment of our Dorset wool quilt batts in September … we have Queen, Full, and now, by request, a new Lap size at 45"x72". Stop in and see us and all of the other hand-made craft vendors!

Coverlet & Blanket

We're also allowed to offer up to 20% real antiques at the show ("no flea market items"!). The persimmon & white antique coverlet will be for sale. Provenance is Sewickley, PA. I'm keeping the Welsh wool double woven green multi queen blanket for myself, lol …

Snow White, Ewes, & Garden Sunflowers

Finally, a look around at the farm! We've had downpours of rain on and off over the last couple of weeks. In the picture above, the garden sunflowers are in full bloom and they're top heavy.

Wet Ewes & Garden Sunflowers AFTER Storms

A week or so later, the sunflowers were decimated by the rains. We've pulled the electric net fence around the garden and interestingly, the sheep munched on the remnants of the sunflower heads. They also grazed off the parsley & nibbled the basil ...

Lambs Ready To Go!

Wild Rose Farm - Sorting Ewe Lambs 

It's time & the lambs are ready to start leaving the farm now! Here we were above, sorting through some of the ewe lambs at the beginning of August. We have Dorset/Rambouillet crossbred ewe lambs and several Dorset ewe lambs sired by our performance tested Dorset ram available, as well as one registered Dorset ram lamb. We're planning to keep several of the registered Rambouillet ewe lambs for our own flock, but we do have a couple of registered Rambouillet ewe lambs and and ram lambs for sale.
We had good weather last week for the local Hookstown Fair and now it's back to focusing on the chores here … we have a routine farm visit from the veterinarian scheduled this week. Glenda & Snow White get their annual shots and a check-up, plus we review the lambs for sale in case health papers are needed to sell across the state line. Unfortunately, it looks like a hot week with temperatures in the 90's … yikes!

Thank You Shoppers!

Wild Rose Farm Naturally Dyed Yarns

COG Mini Farmers' Market

We met a nice group of folks today at the Beaver County Council Of Governments "Town & Country: Connecting The Places We Love" event hosted by the Community College of Beaver County. Wild Rose Farm was invited to be part of a "mini farmers' market" at the meeting, representing agriculture & the rural part of the county. We were set up between the Independence Conservancy and Broadrun Farms.
Thank you to the buyers of our yarn today, including a Pennsylvania COG representative from the Harrisburg area … she spent time texting back & forth and sending pictures to a yarn loving friend at home. Now that's a true friend!

Just Curious ...

Wild Rose Farm Snow White - Now What's Going On? 

Maybe it's just me, but I'm amused by the curiosity of our animals. Looks like big do'ins if you're a llama!

Snow White Intently Watches Gate Hinge Adjustment

Llama Snow White Studies The New Garage

The next day, after a bit of rain, I caught Snow White above staring at the new garage. Keep in mind that she has not been in this pasture since the construction started!  Then in the picture below, she turned her gaze to study the big dirt pile in front of the house …

Llama Snow White Turns Her Attention To The Big Pile Of Dirt!

Do the sheep notice any of this? Of course not, lol.

Summer Activity ...

Wild Rose Farm - Snow White & Ewes Ready To Join The Flock

We've had some really hot weather in July & a group of ewes have been under the barn shed roof with Snow White. This week we weaned the last two sets of twin lambs, so the barn ewes went out to join the other ewes who've been hanging out at the Loafing Shed.  We sorted off & dewormed the ewes and the llama.  Deworming is particularly important for her to prevent her from picking up the deer meningeal brain worm (disgusting, I know!). The garage project continues as you can see in the background. I swear the roof was put on during the hottest day of July at 96 degrees!

Sheep Oblivious, Snow White Concerned!

The concrete floor placement (note to readers - you pour milk & you place concrete!) was underway when we headed for the pasture. The ewes were so excited to be munching grass that they were oblivious to the trucks & activity.  Snow White was not so sure that she liked this! You can see that in her ears as she was watching & side stepping …

Wild Rose Farm - Fencing Around The Garden

The funny part was that the sheep kept on grazing across the paddock, but Snow White stayed nearer to the driveway munching and swiveling her head to watch the activity ...

Lambs Just Hanging Around ...

Wild Rose Farm Weaned Lambs

We've been preoccupied lately with the garage/studio construction project going on here, so blog posts have slowed down …
Most of the lambs were weaned and they're in the middle of the barn just hanging out. They have the advantage of shade in there except when we throw the doors open and they get the glare of sunlight like in the picture.
Interesting note in the pic above. The lambs with the drooping ears are the registered Rambouillets - it's a breed characteristic for many of them.

To The Wool Pool!

2018 Wool Pool 

Washington County Sheep & Wool Growers Association

Stomping Fleeces Into A Wool Sack!

We packed up all of our uncommitted wool fleeces and took them to the wool pool at the Washington County Fairgrounds last week. Generally speaking, "wool pools" are the farmers' outlet for their wool. Wool pools solicit bids on their anticipated wool "clip". The winning bidder is chosen as the one whose overall prices and terms are most favorable to the association. Bids are based on current domestic & global demand for the various grades of wool, as well as what the bidder expects to get from each pool based on the recent history of the pool.  Fleeces sold through the wool pools are considered a commodity product.
This wool is dropped into breathable plastic wool sacks and stomped down to pack it tightly! As the shearing is being done, once the wool gets high enough, usually a kid or young adult steps in and stomps the wool. Pack, stomp, repeat until full, and sew or tie the bag shut!

Unloading Wool Sacks & Adding Producers' Lot Number For Tracking

Each wool sack is logged in and a lot number is assigned on each producers' receipt. The wool sacks (or 3 mil plastic contractor trash bags for those with fewer fleeces) are then loaded onto the waiting semi truck …

Skid Steer Loads 2 Sacks At A Time …

Mid-States Wool Growers Co-op Manager Oversees Loading Semi-Trailer

The wool will be weighed and graded at the buyers' facility. The producers will be paid by checks based on the quoted $/pound by grade agreed to on the bid.  Many pools have gone to selling their clips "ungraded" because of the difficulty in finding wool classers or wool graders to man the pools on drop off days.
Keep in mind that the prices for commodity wool are much different from those that specialty wool growers get for our "curated" fleeces! In fact, most of the long luster wools, double coated wools, and natural colored wools are severely docked in price at the wool pool. Jacketing sheep and selling pristine heavily skirted spinning fleeces is an entirely different market!
Examples from the 2018 Bid: 
Fine Staple wool, aka Merino, Rambouillet, Columbia bid price $1.70/pound
Medium or 3/8 & 1/4 Staple wool, aka Dorset, Suffolk, Cheviot, Texel bid price $.46/pound
Fine & 1/2 Clothing wool, aka fine wool sheep crossbreds bid price $.80/pound
Natural Colored wool, aka anything but white bid price $.02/pound (yes, 2 cents per pound!)
Heavy Vegetable Matter bid price $.12/pound.
That's your sheep wool economics lesson for the year … whew.
Keep in mind that not every fleece is a show fleece or a high quality hand spinner fleece … many specialty wool producers process their wool into yarn, top, roving, batts, etc. to maximize our wool marketing!