Raw Icelandic Fleeces For Sale . . . Part 1

We started shearing our sheep over the last weekend . . and are doing something quite different with our shearing technique.

Mark went to the shearing school at Cornell in March of 2007 and learned how to shear "New Zealand" style. He was really good at it but our sheep just hated being shorn this way. Most of them would fight after a while while in certain positions and it got to be a battle and after a while not only Mark would become frustrated but the sheep would as well.

This year we decided to shear them standing up. No more struggling. Our sheep are quite calm and they are very good when I am handling the shears . . . Mark has been holding them for me as I shear . . 16 more sheep to shear next weekend and then all of our ewes will be done:)

Breeding groups will be formed up the following weekend. I will be listing which ewes go with each of our rams at that time . . . after the groups are posted we will be accepting reservations for breeding stock. A $100 deposit is requested and you will be put on a list for either ewe or ram lambs. Just like last year, only our very best lambs will be available for breeding stock and we were so fortunate to meet so many new Icelandic sheep breeders . . . thanks so much everyone!

We sold out of all of our breeding quality lambs this past year. It is strongly encouraged that you visit us and spend time with our sheep to see for yourself the quality that is produced at Kilby Ridge Farm.

Below are photo's of our raw Icelandic fleeces . . .I will post prices . . . typically for raw fleeces we charge $1.00 per ounce for adult and $1.25 per lamb. We can only sell the entire fleece. (For pricing examples: Daisy's fleece would be $51.60 and Cookie's lamb fleece would be $21.25).

Photo's show fleeces right off the sheep but I will be skirting them heavily before they are sent to you removing all second cuts (unless you wish to keep them), dung tags, vegetable matter and belly wool. We ship all fleeces via US parcel post with delivery confirmation.














Buy local . . . . eat well . . . .

Open Farm Day . . . October 15th, 2011

Around 100 people joined us for a sunny day of touring the farm, listening to music, taste testing our lamb and turkey, cider pressing, and most importantly hearing from our three speakers all talking about the the local food movement, and government crackdowns on buying clubs and raw milk, food choice and food sovereignty. The farm store was open and customers were able to purchase our full range of fiber products and produce.







Our first speaker at our Open Farm Day was David Gumpert . . . I am so honored that he was a guest on our farm. I discovered David's blog: The Complete Patient . .http://www.thecompletepatient.com., over five years ago. I wanted to know what the big deal was about drinking raw milk since we had just started drinking raw milk from a nearby farm. Our son was thriving on it and I just loved the taste . . . so much different from pasteurized milk. Our family has enjoyed very good health from drinking raw milk . . .I began posting on David's blog a few years ago and promised him a lamb dinner if he ever decided to visit our farm . . . as it turned out this year I was planning on having our open farm day the weekend of his visit so I asked him to speak at our event. Here is David's Bio:

"David E. Gumpert reports and writes about health and food issues. He writes for a number of online publications, including Grist.org and Huffington Post. He is the author of The Raw Milk Revolution: Behind America’s Emerging Battle Over Food Rights, which includes a preface by Joel Salatin. His popular blog, The Complete Patient (www.thecompletepatient.com), has over the last five years aggressively covered a number of health and food rights issues, focusing heavily on regulatory excesses involving raw milk and food safety. It has been instrumental in launching a national discussion about restrictions on the availability of unpasteurized dairy products, and in highlighting an emerging debate over food rights."



David's speech was the highlight of our day . . .




Next up as speaker was Scott D'Amboise who is running for US Senate against Olympia Snowe. Scott and his wife have become very good friends. We gave them some of our chicks to start their own backyard flock a few months ago . . . Scott comes from a farm background and I know that he will be the next US Senator for Maine:) All of us farmers and independent minded Mainers must get behind his campaign . . .he is a real person . . . we know that all his hard work will pay off and that Scott will be the first US Senator with a backyard flock of chickens for many generations . . .



Bob St. Peter was our final speaker . . he is the head of "Food for Maine's Future". . . . and is a leader of the food sovereignty movement in Maine. Bob and other farmers were instrumental in the passing of Local Food Ordinances in Hancock County. I am hoping that this movement will take off . . . if we get over 50% of Maine towns adopting this ordinance . . . the state will have to listen to us! Bob is a small sustainable farmer like we are and Mark and I hope to visit Hancock county soon for a promised Farm Tour.



A Maine Seafood Paella dinner rounded out our day. We hope to do our Open Farm Day again next year. . . .

Buy local . . . eat well . . . .