The PlacerGROWN Food and Farm Conference will feature two workshops on wool and fiber. The conference is scheduled for Saturday, February 4th at Lincoln High School. There is more to selling wool than raising sheep and hiring a shearer. In these two workshops you will learn what it takes to grow a quality product from selecting the breed of sheep to management of the flock. We will discuss what to do with the wool after it is off the sheep including skirting fleeces and processing options. We will also explore ideas for adding value to your wool and how to market your fiber products. You will have a chance to see and feel different types of wool and help skirt a fleece.
In the second workshop you will get hands-on experience class and learn what to do with your wool after it is off the sheep including processing options. You will learn how to skirt fleeces and evaluate fleece quality and will have an opportunity to handle different types of wool.
Topics covered will include:
Growing quality wool
- Choice of breeds
- Management
Harvesting wool
- Shearing
- Processing
Selling wool
- Raw fleece and value added products
- Marketing
Robin Lynde of Meridian Jacobs (www.meridianjacobs.com) started weaving about 28 years ago and will teach this workshop. On her 10-acre farm north of Vacaville, she raises Jacob sheep, a rare breed, and promote their unique spotted wool. Robin markets the wool as carded sliver, yarn, or handwoven blankets and scarves. She actively promotes conservation of the Jacob sheep breed, working as Registrar for the Jacob Sheep Breeders Association and she enjoys exhibiting my sheep, and selling other products including lamb. Robin weaves other products for sale, including popular cotton baby blankets and rayon chenille scarves In addition, She weaves custom blankets and scarves for people who raise sheep, but don’t work with the wool themselves. Robin teaches classes in spinning, weaving, and dyeing, and is a member of several local fiber guilds. Robin is pictured below modeling a shawl she made and showing her Jacob Sheep in Eugene, OR. The first photo is of a shawl class at Meridian Jacobs in the Dixon/Vacaville area.
These fiber workshops will be one of 25 workshops to be held on February 4th at the Lincoln High School, Lincoln,CA. For more information, including registration, visit either http://placergrown.org/wp/ or http://ucanr.org/sites/PGFFC, or call PlacerGROWN at (530) 889-7398 or UC Cooperative Extension at (530) 889-7385.
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