Fiber Love: A Meditation on Texture at Rancho Borrego Negro

Field Day at the Fiber Farm

Monday was shearing day at Rancho Borrego Negro, the quaint family farm belonging to Kathy & Michael Lambert that is home to a colorful flock of sheep, llamas, and goats. It was our great privilege to be invited to witness this awesome, labor-intensive process to kick off the 3rd grade "Fiber Block" with Ms. Thea. In this Block, the children will learn where all of our useful and beautiful textiles come from and how they are made -- and they will learn, in true Waldorf style, by seeing, hearing, touching, and doing. 

We started at the source -- by stepping into the world of the earthy creatures who sacrifice their coats and homes for transformation into our own coats and homes. Farmer Kathy raises her diverse flock for their fleece and then spins the raw material into yarn for her textile creations. She greeted us in the chilly April Fallbrook mist and introduced us to her shearer, Amy, who shears goats and sheep for a living. 

And then introduced us to her "sheep" dogs, who protect the flocks from night-hunting coyotes. (They are very lovable!)

We said hello to three groups of fiber-producers... (and learned that while sheep provide wool, goats provide fiber.)

The deed begins.... Amy showed us how you hold a goat for shearing. We are looking at the goat's belly below. The head is between Amy's knees. A rather awkward position, and one that the goats have a difficult time getting out of. Amy said they bite sometimes, and she might get prodded with the horns now and then, but it doesn't hurt. (Probably not to be tried at home, though....)

She takes advantage of the goat's position to clip their hooves. They grow like fingernails. In a rocky environment they would naturally wear down, but must be clipped on the farm.

Ready for the buzzer -- looks like the kind used at the barber shop, with the detachable comb. She sprays oil on it regularly to keep it running smoothly and to prevent nicks and cuts to the goat's wrinkly skin.

She shared that goats, unlike sheep, tend to spread out like a pancake....

And of course they need their beards trimmed, but she tries to keep the long silky tufts on the billy goats.

Yearlings are squirrelier....

Time to shovel the llama manure.

And wash hands...

...before snack.

And off to see the chickens. Who don't provide any fiber, as far as I picked up. Just good eggs.

The Silkworm factory. Consisting of plastic bins filled with mulberry tree leaves. Silkworms' favorite food. 

And a demonstration at the spinning wheel.

A simpler way to spin yarn, with just a dowel and a disc of wood. A dowel rod and an old CD also does the trick. A good way to spin on the go.

Now time for the sheep. Trickier, Amy says, when they weigh more than the shearer.

The sheepless coat.

And the cochineal insect makes its home on cacti. There happens to be quite a colony just by the Lambert's front door. Coincidentally useful for dying wool a crimson color.

Silkworm cocoons. Each made from a single strand of silk, many miles long. 

Kathy sent us home with some freshly-harvested wool for the class to clean, spin, and use in their own beautiful creations. Thank you!