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Notes from the Farm

Hand sewing the Box Box Dress

Hand sewing the Box Box Dress
I decided to stitch the entire dress by hand. I mean, what else did I have to do? MDSW, which had been such a big part of my life for the past 10 years, was cancelled, and we had decided to cancel the NJ Fibershed Fiber Farm Market, which I'd spent the past several months organizing. NYC, and then parts of NJ, were crushed by tragedy. Stitching by hand provided me with something I could control, one very small thing amidst the maelstrom of fear, sadness, and anger. 
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Creative Advocacy Networking Retreat

Creative Advocacy Networking Retreat
Last summer, I taught a freeform tapestry workshop at the New England Fiber Arts Summit, hosted by Wing & A Prayer farm in Vermont. A day or so into the retreat, I realized that it was my very first experience of teaching at an event where I was not the only BIPOC instructor. I had the pleasure of teaching alongside Marceline Smith and Sylvia Watts-Cherry, and it wasn't just their irresistibly charming personalities that made the retreat unforgettable for me. It was the fact that, at a time when conversations around bias and racism were coming to a head online and in my personal life, Marce, Sylvia, and I could talk about those issues freely--and fearlessly--with one another.
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"Better living through science"

Natural dyeing is pretty much witchcraft. I don't know why anyone pretends otherwise. You forage for things in the fields and woods, and then boil everything in a cauldron of poison. My incantations run more along the lines of "horseshoe of iron and bark of crabapple" than "eye of newt," but you get the idea. 
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The Hay Chronicles

The Hay Chronicles
My sheep were disappointed with the hay I bought this fall. One of my neighbors had recommended the farm to me, and I called to order 70 bales. I was busy getting ready for Rhinebeck, so I didn't go look at it myself. As it was being unloaded into my hay storage, I wasn’t thrilled, but I didn’t want to complain. The sheep had no interest in it, and I thought maybe it was because there was still pasture. But even after 2 months, my sheep still wouldn't eat the hay. I grew increasingly worried about the coming winter, and having good nutrition for the ewes I want to breed.
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Shearing Day

Shearing Day
I love shearing day. It’s like harvest time but I don’t have to do any of the heavy lifting! My Shetlands are prodigious fleece growers, and since winters are short and relatively mild here, I’ve been shearing everyone twice a year. Timing is always tricky for fall shearing. In a perfect shepherding world, the sheep would have a full coat when it’s just cool enough to kill off the flies and ticks, but not really cold for another week or two. It would rain two days before the shearing, followed by 2 dry days, so that the sheep are washed but dry for the shearer. And of course, all those factors would coordinate with your schedule and the shearer’s. It would certainly be nice if everything fell into place so neatly, but let’s be honest. Sometimes, shearing just happens when shearing happens.
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Thinking of Raising Sheep...?

Thinking of Raising Sheep...?
Lots of people tell me it's their dream to have sheep one day. And the funny thing is, it was never something I hoped to do, until I was doing it. I’ve never been a real animal person; I love animals in a universal, do-no-harm kind of way, but in general, I've always preferred plants and babies to critters. I find caring for animals to be stressful because I’m never quite sure if they’re trying to tell me something important. Is it distress? Or simply gas? Or are they expressing affection?* And I was sure that my wimpy low tolerance for gore and muck disqualified me from farm life.
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