Integrated farm systems yield eye candy: Meadowfed Lamb is a source of local yarns

“My love for spinning (wool into yarn) is how I got into fiber,” said Rachel Haas of the Hadley farm known as Meadowfed Lamb. This column featured Meadowfed on Aug. 1, 2023, with an overview of their many agricultural projects based at Preservation Orchard, a local treasure that includes Carr’s Ciderhouse.

Haas and her partner Matt Kaminsky engage in silvopasture, the intentional combination of tree crops and livestock that prioritizes both animal and ecosystem health. Meadowfed is a spectacular collaboration between humans, sheep, chickens, dogs, and several types of trees and other crops; today we focus on their wool production, piggybacking onto my most recent feature on the same topic, when we visited Bigfoot Food Forest in Montague. 

“While teaching sewing at a summer camp, I got into spinning,” said Haas. Using a drop spindle to turn wool into yarn is an ancient art, seven to ten thousand years old. “Once I started,” said Haas, “I couldn’t stop!” She’s always loved animals and textiles of all kinds. “When I discovered farming, I started putting those pieces together.” While apprenticing at a farm where sheep were raised for meat, Haas tended a flock of 300 and “developed a lot of personal relationships with special sheep.”

Haas and Kaminsky dreamed of farming as a career and lifestyle. “We had rabbits, but talked about getting other animals,” said Haas. “An opportunity came up for us to acquire sheep. We’re both first-generation farmers and needed access to land. Everything fell into place when we met the folks where we now farm. They allowed us to experiment with raising sheep in their orchard to help manage the grasses.” Haas and Kaminsky did tree work for a customer in trade for six sheep and, “in raising those sheep the first year, we found it was the best thing ever,” said Haas. “We now raise 75 for both meat and wool, and would like to have 100. But it’s important to grow the flock slowly.”

Choosing a breed is of utmost importance, said Haas, because some are known for great meat production, others for wonderful wool, and just a few for both. “We chose Finnsheep, because they have nice wool, delicious meat, and good milk potential, too.” Originally from Finland, Finnsheep are a landrace breed: they’re bred in a way that’s shaped more by natural selection than by human-influenced breeding programs. Such sheep adapt well to specific environmental conditions, which represents a valuable genetic resource.   

After the sheep are shorn, the next steps for Haas are to skirt the fleeces–removing shorter and coarser fibers–and then to pick out vegetation and other detritus from the fleeces overall. Then she sends them to a fiber mill. “We tried to do it all in-house,” said Haas, “but our fall harvest yields 100 to 120 pounds of wool – too much to do on our own.” The wool gets washed at the mill, and “Finn sheep have a lower grease (lanolin) content than other breeds,” said Haas, “so it’s less gunky on the machines.”

Their wool comes back spun into four-ounce skeins, whereupon Haas separates the white variety into halves, leaving one part undyed, and dyeing the other half with a wide array of natural materials, some of which she grows herself. “Dyeing is not as complicated as some people think,” said Haas. “I grow the indigo myself and extract the blue. Indigo loves our New England climate.” Her other favorites include cosmos (for orange), marigold and goldenrod (for yellow), and scabiosa (for grey/blue and green). For red tones, Haas purchases lac, a resinous substance secreted by scale insects. 

Raising sheep involves a crucial factor: protecting the woolly darlings from predators. That’s where guardian dogs come in. As it happens, Haas and Kaminsky attended Hampshire College, the birthplace of the Livestock Guarding Dog Project. (Readers are encouraged to look up the recent obituary of longtime Montague resident Lorna Lowry Coppinger to learn how she and her husband, Raymond, were instrumental in bringing Old World methods of livestock production to our modern age.) When Haas and Kaminsky speak of their working dogs, it’s with utmost respect and great affection. A line from Meadowfed’s website is evidence of the dogs’ significance: “They provide the safety and companionship the sheep need to revel in their innate ovine joy.”

Meadowfed’s sheep graze the north-facing slope of Mt. Warner. enjoying a rich, diverse forage diet of both ground-based vegetation and tree fodder. “We rotate our animals between rows of cider apple, chestnut, and heartnut trees,” said Haas. “They’re moved to fresh paddocks every day. Our animals enjoy shelter from the trees, which provide wind protection and a reliable source of shade.” Because they’re less stressed by the elements than animals grazing in wide-open fields, the livestock gain weight more efficiently and require less water. Meanwhile, the trees benefit from added fertility, also known as poop. It’s a good system. 

The resulting yarns are eye candy and hold the promise of becoming stunning sweaters, socks, hats, and other apparel, along with useful products like dish cloths and other household items. To take a look at (and touch!) fiber treasures from Meadowfed, head to farmers’ markets in Greenfield and Northampton. For online info, visit meadowfedlamb.com.

Eveline MacDougall is the author of “Fiery Hope.” Her family has farmed in Saint-Germain-de-Grantham, Québec, for 10 generations.