When we purchased the Guest House next-door, in 2020, we weren’t sure how to utilize the 40 acres and beautiful that came with it. Having raised sheep as pets when she was a child, Carin suggested we start a small flock to help with property maintenance and keep a working landscape.
We did our research. We wanted a breed that had healthy hooves, took care of their lambs well, and that offered some genetic traits of value - preferably high quality wool. We were lucky to find a local mentor, Sue Johnson, who introduced us to her Border Leicesters. She had more than thirty years of experience and leadership in working with the breed and was paring down her flock. We were happy recipients of her knowledge and a few from her flock!
Sue helped us to find our feet as sheep farmers and was always on the other end of the phone if we had a question. Lucky for us, the guest house came with a beautiful barn, which had previously housed horses and goats. We made a few modifications, built some more appropriate feeding troughs, and we were ready to go.
Over the first summer, we brought home a few two year old ewes, who hadn’t lambed yet. Later in the season, we brought home a few yearlings. By winter, we had a flock of twelve. It was just the right amount of sheep for the acreage we had fenced. They even added a little extra charm to staying at the Guest House!
Thankfully, hay and straw are cultivated nearby. We were able to connect with Dave Russell of the Russell Farm and Tom Kenyon of Aurora Farms in time to stock up on 2nd cut hay and straw before the winter season. We filled the loft and readied ourselves and the flock for the colder months. Winter thawed without much issue. The barn has water that is heated, so thankfully, we didn’t have to crack too much ice from the drinking troughs. Luke rigged their water buckets to stay warm and created a wind block, so they would have an outdoor space that felt protected. Everyone stayed cozy through the season and were happy to see fresh grass come up in the spring.
The first year, we had the sheep shorn and we weren’t sure what to do about the wool. We knew there was a local artisan market for high quality fleeces but we didn’t have a huge amount of product and it was a very involved process. We did our own skirting (cleaning), washing, and drying of the wool, just to see how it would come out. It was gorgeous. And time consuming.
Our sheep have a variety of wool colors. The majority are white, with a few black sheep whose wool turns brown at the tips with summer sun, and one sheep who has truly silver-gray wool that is gorgeous. We call her Lady Gray. The Border Leicester breed is known for having longer wool with a decent curl to it, which lends to good spinning quality wool.
One of my favorite days on the farm is shearing day, when Siri, of Yankee Rock Farm, comes with her pup Jane to artfully remove their fleeces. To watch Siri at work is to be in awe. She gently, skillfully and decisively maneuvers the sheep, selecting and positioning them carefully so as to remove their clean wool in one piece. We bag up the wool and she takes it to market. She really is talented!
“We make rugs from the ground up, using 100% natural, renewable, and non-toxic materials. Our fiber is sourced directly from farmer cooperatives on the East Coast and manufactured in the Carolinas. No synthetic dyes, toxic chemicals, or petroleum based fibers, ever.”
We were ever so grateful to Siri when she introduced us to CICIL Home, which provided an ideal new market for our wool. We were able to connect with the founders, Caroline and Laura, through instagram and were were excited to learn about each of our roles in bringing the wool from farm to floor!
CICIL is a sustainability focused textile and home goods company, based on the East coast, that utilizes regionally sourced wool to make beautiful rugs. We were excited to see that our wool could have a positive impact and be used to support sustainably manufactured home goods.
CICIL stands by the following values, which we totally support:
NOTHING BUT NATURAL
Our products are made with all natural, renewable materials. No synthetic or petroleum based fibers, ever.
Low Impact
Our fibers are minimally processed with low impact manufacturing methods to maintain the natural beauty of the fiber. No dyes or toxic ‘performance’ additives often found in home textiles.
Source close
We source in small batches, working within our regional and domestic supply chains to keep our footprint minimal.
Traceable at every step
Transparency and collaboration are key to our process. We work directly with our supply chain partners all the way down to the farm level to provide traceability at every step.
Last a lifetime
We design and make beautiful, timeless, high-quality items that will last a lifetime (but not forever in a landfill.)
We are grateful to have found a partner who matches our values and provides a beautiful and useful function for our wool. We love thinking of the beauty and joy that is experienced in homes across the country, that started out on our little farm.
-Carin McCarthy