Ep 115 Heritage Breed Stamp(ede) Forever - Thank You USPS!

Andrea Tibbets of Clover Brooke Farm is our guest on today’s podcast.  We usually see her at the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (Rhinebeck), but since at that fine event we see her running the Camelid Barn and running the Leaping Llama contest and running the Spitters’ Club and…well, just plain running, we decided it was way past time to visit her home turf.  For a walk.

One of the most peaceful things you can do, we found, is to take a hike through Hyde Park with a llama on a leash.  It sounds like something for people with way too much time on their hands, but were schooled about 10 minutes in, when Zen and an overall feeling of wellbeing descended.  We are converted, and will recommend a camelid stroll to anyone who just need a little bit of peace.  Peace, with a tippy tappy song in our hearts, that is.

 
Links:
https://cloverbrookefarm.com/
https://sheepandwool.com/events/competitions-shows/leaping-llamas/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhapsody_in_Blue
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043278/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

It’s another stop on our Devon Pre-Tour run.  This time, we’re bringing you the sights and sounds from a delightful and delicious visit to Lakota Ranch in Remington, Virginia.  Lakota is the home of Jeremy Engh, President of Red Devon USA, Dr. Jerry Engh, the founder of the herd itself (and Jeremy, for that matter), and Patty Engh, who runs them both, we’re fairly sure.

 We had a visit that included pasture rotation avec spicy herding dogs and spicier cows, a 30-year old Devon cow with calf (yes, we said that correctly), a stunning and mouthwatering winery luncheon experience (thank you, Chef Tim at Early Mountain Winery – what an amazing spread!), a hilltop hike to meet a tolerant bull and a world-travelling vet, and…well, we could go on, but we’ll let you hear for yourself.  And you can not only hear, but also see parts of it as well if you go to our Backyard Green Films YouTube channel.  We’re going to have to put it in a few episodes, as this visit was a two-day adventure and it was hard to put the camera down.  The hospitality of the Devonites was phenomenal, yet again.  Wow.

Links:

https://www.britannica.com/place/Mason-and-Dixon-Line
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_in_the_American_Civil_War
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/old-dominion/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Chancellorsville
www.reddevonusa.com
www.milkingdevons.org
https://reddevonusa.com/lakota_ranch
https://www.earlymountain.com/
https://youtu.be/VhI0L26rs_E?si=tmESo1d41eJiUY4Y

Don’t you love talking to people who know their stuff?  While crashing the Kilnsey Show in Yorkshire on our UK trip last August, we came across Clive Richardson, Field Officer for the Jacob Sheep Society.  It was a spontaneous tailgate conversation, but we magically ended up with not only someone who raises some of the most interesting-looking sheep you’ll ever lay eyes on, but he was a truly well-spoken and well-researched man.  He has more than one book on his author creds page, and we’re thinking it might be well worth a trip back across the pond.  He did write about Fell Ponies, after all.  

 
Links:

https://site.jacobsheepsociety.com/clive-richardson-pic/
https://site.jacobsheepsociety.com/
https://www.facebook.com/jacobsheepsocietyuk/
https://site.jacobsheepsociety.com/breed-standard/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_sheep
https://www.southwestfarmer.co.uk/news/4523265.top-wool-award-jacob-sheep-breeder/
http://bideaweefarm.com/

It’s the Devon Congress 2024 - Coming soon to an east-coast back road near you (if you live on the east coast and are there in April, that is).  This April, people are coming from all over the world to celebrate the Devon Cattle breed and all of its many shapes and sizes.  And if you live in the U.S., 400 years of Devon history is something even more amazing to celebrate.

Red Devon USA is the host organization for this amazing road trip, and they gave us a little taste of the families and farms that would be on the tour (Okay, not a little taste.  Lots of tastes.  They feed you constantly.).  We visited in December, so there will be teeth chattering coming through the mics.  The hearts were warm, though, and hospitality abounded!

We’re starting with Bob and Diana VanKirk of 4 Seasons Farm in Tyrone, Pennsylvania.  On this visit there was pot roast, a Pink Lady Razor (Rick forgot his – thank you, Diana), and a pregnancy progression.  They were two of the most welcoming people we’ve met, and a wonderful start to the Devon Congress in April.

Links:
https://www.4seasonscattle.com/
https://www.reddevonusa.com/

It’s time for the mashup!  The Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Growers’ Association once again hosted 30,000 (plus) attendees at the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival, and we were there to see (and interview, and livestream, and…everything) all of it! Maybe lots of it.  Part of it.  Okay, so we got what we could again this year, but this is the kind of wonderful occasion that we still haven’t seen most of, no matter how much we run or how many relatives we co-opt to help out.

You can visit the Backyard Green Films YouTube channel to see the livestream part for yourself, and we’ll be posting new videos for you to see as we edit them in the upcoming year.  We’re working on cloning editor Rick, but still can’t get the copy right yet (get it?  Copy?  Editor?  Still jet lagged, we think).

Links:
https://www.dcswga.org/
https://sheepandwool.com/
https://greatbaywoolworks.com/
https://www.daisyandcloverdesigns.com/
http://www.helderherdwyckfarm.com/index.html
https://www.dreareneeknits.com/

Here at Backyard Green Films, we’re getting ready to celebrate the 400-year anniversary of the Devons coming to America with our Plymouth to Plimoth documentary.  In preparation for this event (and our film!), we spoke with Tom Begley, Deputy Director for Collections Research and Public Engagement at Plimoth Patuxet Museum.  Doesn’t the site of the Pilgrim connection seem like a wonderful podcast for today’s Thanksgiving holiday?  We thought so, too.

In addition, we hope you join us in April and May, as we follow the Devon World Congress tour 2024.  People come from all over the world to celebrate the glories of the beef side of the Devon Cattle breed, and the American Milking Devon side of the family will be there, too.  More excitement to come in the upcoming year, we assure you.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate both our differences and our similarities, all with good food and good company.  We send our best wishes, and grateful thanks, to all of our listeners and our sponsors.

Links:
https://plimoth.org/

Our podcast guests today are Jeri Robinson Lawrence and daughter Irina Lawrence Mathias.  This hardworking mother/daughter team has contributed a few soundbites in between Points A, B, C and X in the rush of the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival every year, but as they’re the ones that everyone needs something from at all times, a relaxed moment has been hard to come by with these two.

So we went to the mountain (so to speak, although it’s southern Pennsylvania just west of the Susquehanna River, so there were a few hills in there).  They have plenty of things available on their website for anyone who might want some delicious shades, colors, and types of fiber, but the physical location of the farm and shop known as Flying Fibers is a place for the senses.  

Sheep (mostly Shetlands, with a few Leicester and Wensleydale in the mix), chickens, dogs, cats, toddlers, and what seems like every other creature in Noah’s Ark are napping, creating, munching, gamboling or just sitting picturesquely on this little homestead, with green pastures surrounded by waving wheat and banks of bee-covered lavender.  We don’t know how they trained all the critters to perform so beautifully for the cameras (but not the husband, I’m afraid – he ran when we pushed “record”), but the visuals were absolutely lovely.  The scents were fantastic too -- lavender AND lanolin included.

Our Shetland mascot, Jane, could not have a better home with better people.  And the world is a better place because of pretty much everything connected with this little spot of heaven.

Links:
https://www.flyingfibers.com/
https://www.shetland-sheep.org/
https://sheepandwool.com/

You know how there’s always someone who not only goes the extra mile, but looks good while they do it?  And does it with a genuine smile, to top it off.  That’s Christine Hulse, from Hulse Hill Farm.  Just outside of Cooperstown on a little slice of heaven, this tireless woman has set up shop (and her farm shop).  She excels at all things she puts her mind to:  She runs a blissful farm stay B&B and is a hostess extraordinaire; she’s a businesswoman and the co-owner of her fiber company Clean Cashmere; she’s a member of the Board of Directors for the Cashmere Goat Association, and she’s gracious as all heck.  And, of course, every animal on the place seems to think she’s Dr. Dolittle.  Martha Stewart, look out.

We’ve met the hubby and think he’s pretty darn nice as well, but he’s going to have to step lively to keep up with this one, because she’s as fantastic as could be.  He probably agrees with us, we think.

(And did we mention that she understands the blissful joy of organic cotton sheets, good coffee and real half and half?  Zen, defined.)

Links:
https://hulsehillfarm.com/
https://www.cleancashmere.farm/
https://cashmeregoatassociation.org/
https://americangoatfederation.org/
https://www.goatusa.org/

On today’s podcast, transport yourself to the lonely, glorious green pastures of the eastern side of Scotland.  We have a lovely conversation with Jillian McEwen of Lunan Bay Farms, and among many of our topics, we spoke of the joys of farming on the shores of the North Sea, the differences between her Cashmere and Boer goats (two of her three varieties), some out-of-the-box ideas to diversify goat farming, and the ways goats can contribute to education.  Never thought those words might go together, right?

Frankly, between Jillian’s gentle Scottish brogue, the salt-laden breezes in our hair, the sun on our faces, and a very sweet and friendly Cashmere leaning in to be petted, it was sometimes hard to stay focused on the conversation, but this is one very interesting lady.

 
Links:
https://www.lunanbayfarm.com/
https://cashmeregoatassociation.org/
https://www.britishgoatsociety.com/about-us/breeds/cashmere/
https://www.rbst.org.uk/
https://sheepandwool.com/
https://www.cleancashmere.farm/
https://hulsehillfarm.com/
https://elder-statesman.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashmere_goat
https://www.goatusa.org/

Elara and I met Phil Pass last month on our travels in Scotland at the House of Tartan in Crieff. We struck up a conversation with him and noticed that they had a Go Fund Me campaign that said Keep Scottish Bonnets Alive in Scotland. He described what it was for and so we grabbed our camera and mics and said this is too important and you need to tell us all about this.

THE STORY:
We've just lost Scotland's last Bonnet production line.
The one that's been making Traditional Scottish Headwear in Stewarton, East Ayrshire for the last 178 years. (That's a Yes. We've just lost the last production line making this quality product in Scotland, in the UK, or anywhere else in the World.)

Stewarton itself is known as ‘the Bonnet Toun’ and has been since the 1600’s, so we’re also losing the last Bonnet Maker in Bonnet Toun.

THE PLAN:
To establish a new mini factory to continue making these products in Stewarton. Where visitors to The Bonnet Factory will be able to see the hats being finished, learn about the area's history of bonnet making and buy Scottish headwear products whilst there.

We are looking for your help with immediate funding to set up this new Bonnet Factory & Shop and start training some younger workers. Urgent action is needed to preserve this craft and its skills while we still have one or two highly experienced folk (albeit semi-retired) to teach them! This will not happen without you.

We need help to preserve this important piece of Scotland’s history; win back lost export sales and keep 'Making Bonnets in Bonnet Toun'.

Now is the only chance we’re going to get to keep this truly iconic Scottish Product alive. (And thank you so much to all those wonderful folk who have already given!!!)

Gies a hand?


Links:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/keep-scott...
https://www.houseoftartan.com