July Farm Newsletter
The sun has finally returned, slowly drying up the barnyard and lower acres, but we continue to be thankful for some rain each week to keep the pastures healthy. Above is a picture of Jills Daughter From Last Year (yep that’s her name, she is 4 now…) walking through the woods in the lower acres. The lush vegetation has allowed the sheep to grow fat, and to grow a nice fleece so far. We are already looking forward to shearing in the late summer, excited to see the wool and how the crosses worked out. We are quickly approaching midsummer, which means the work is never quite done and the days are hot and slowly getting shorter. This summer has been quite cool thus far, the sheep are happy for that, as is the grass which grows well in this weather.
The lambs are growing fast, some are now larger than their mothers, and have such lovely fleeces on them. When little Nickles comes to visit us I take full advantage and feel up his fleece, and check out the colors in it. Our summers are typically quiet here on the farm, our other farmer friends are busy with harvest while we have a chance to work on projects or spend time exploring nearby areas hunting for mushrooms. Our first large harvest came early in this month when we said goodbye to our pals the chickens, they are now safely tucked away in our freezers. We also harvested some sheep to be turned into brats, which we will have available in the coming weeks. Our hay field looks great, so we will most likely cut that again before the days start to get cooler and shorter. The last days of summer are so busy for us as we harvest wool and lambs, and prepare the sheep for breeding and the cycle starts again.
In our downtime we will refurbish a small retro camper to become a mobile yarn store, this will be so exciting and I can’t wait to share more about that next month when we have a chance to dig into it! For now, I will enjoy the mild weather, the mushroom hunting, the sounds of sheep in the woods, and the delightful sunsets. Thank you Canadian wildfires.
A Word From The Flock
What are ewe looking at? Me?! Who me?! Oh yeah I guess this is what we do at this farm… I forgot.. See I was living on a different farm not too long ago, and now I am back home here. When I was at this other farm the lady who dyes the wool and yarn pretty colors and her children enjoyed trying to pet me. Ha ha ha silly two-legged sheep! I am Icelandic, I am a Viking sheep! I am too independent for cuddling! Unless you have some treats, I will allow a scratch if you have a treat. But that is it!!!
The two-legged sheep that dyes yarn pretty colors got other sheep that were not as vivacious as us Icelandic sheep, and decided she didn’t want to fear the wrath of the Icelandic ewe any longer so she sent me back to my homeland to be free once again. I do miss the treats. And the scratches, but don’t tell her…But I am back with my sister ewes, for I come from the long, proud line of sheep from the “Jill” clan! My great-great-great-grandmother Jill is the third sheep to come to this land, and she has given birth to many strong ewes that continue to thrive on the Get Bentz Farm. My mother is the one they call “Jill’s Daughter From Last Year”, the length of her name shows her value and status among the other sheep with much shorter names. Our clan is second only to the Billy clan, the one they say is named after an Ikea bookshelf. I do not know what this land of Ikea is, but to be named after a bookshelf must be a high, high honor.
Since returning to my homeland I found my sister ewes and took off to the woods to explore the lands of my youth. The rich grass has already filled my belly and given me strength to slowly roo this coat, you can find pieces of my winter wool on many low branches in the woods. I have even tasted the fresh veggies from the lands of Open Hands Farm, and enjoyed my first beet in a long time. Ah, ‘tis good to be back in my homelands, but yet I miss the children and the scratches. But don’t tell them…
Inspiration
Watching kids smash blueberries at a 4th of July event sparked the inspiration for the above skein of yarn, which has given me some much-needed spinning mojo and I am creating many new yarns in the coming weeks that will follow similar themes and inspirations. I am so thankful that I can follow my artistic vision when creating yarn, and that I am not always bound to a schedule and repeating yarns. The only downside to the way I make yarn is that I often do not repeat batches, so once something is gone it is gone. I often encourage people to gobble up as much as they want because they might not ever see this again. And maybe that is the way we should experience an agricultural product. Enjoying it while it is in season, knowing it will change from year to year and never be the same as it was at this moment.
I also made a “Breed it or Blend it” kit, many spinners ask about this class and now they can explore it at home or in a group. This kit contains two breeds, their blend, and their cross, and you get to decide if you think it should be bred or blended. If you haven’t played around with this, you should grab a kit and give it a try.
You will also notice that we have added dyestuff for sale on the website! Maddy has been busy in the garden growing lovely flowers and now has some that are harvested and ready for your dye pots! Sold by the ounce, and perfect for your next natural dyeing adventure. We hope to add more felted products next month now that they are getting comfortable with the new felting machines. Watch for updates! And heck take 14% off your next order with BIRTHDAY14 to celebrate my Birthday which happens to be July 14th!
Last month Jake and I traveled to Salt Lake City to pick up a large needle felter as well as a wet felting machine. Maddy has been busy learning this new machine and taking some batts I made out of meat breed sheep, and turning it into different products. We are excited to get started on making more products with the felting machines and developing a wool landscape fabric. I added some of Maddy’s newest items to the website, including wool sponges, scrubies, and trivet/hot pads. Make sure to check them out, they are pretty amazing. I’ve been using the wool sponges on my dishes and to clean with (the scrubbing power they have is amazing!), and a scrubby to scrub off grease and dirt after I clean the machines. I added quick links below to all the new items to make it easier, belive me website design is not my favorite thing to do.
Natural dye stuff
Maddy has been busy growing some lovely flowers in the flower garden, and has some extra flowers that they would love to get into the hands of dyers! Dye plants are sold by the oz, picked and fresh or dried (depending on choice) and ready for your next project.
$10.00
Breed it or blend it
Explore a Spin with Ewe in the comfort of your own home with this Breed it or Blend it kit. This kit explores cross breeding vs blending fibers and which one you prefer. This kit comes with 4 1 oz balls of roving, which include the Icelandic and Corriedale breeds, and their blended and crossed combination. The kit also comes with information about the breeds, so you can learn more about the different wool types.
Grab this lovely kit before it is gone, I only got one of the cross fleeces and oh boy is it delightful!
$25.00
Smashed blueberry
This is one fun yarn! I was watching kids smash blueberries during a 4th of July celebration and it sparked inspiration. This yarn is a lovely blend of wool and Alpaca that was dyed by my pal at Twisted Oak Farmstead, with drops of recycled indigo yarn scraps added to give the skein little pops of blue. Each skein is 250 yards of Worsted woolen weight.
$30.00
Wool felted trivets/hot pads
These wool felted sheets are pretty bomb for anything. You can use them for oven mitts, trivets, ironing pads, you name it! These are needle felted which means they have a lovely amount of air and squish.
Best part about it is that it’s wool! Which means it’s anti microbial and antibacterial, and when you are done just put it in the soil of a houseplant and let the wool decompose and turn into nitrogen. Amazing right?!
$25.00
Wool sponge
Yep you heard that correctly! We have wool sponges now! These sponges are made of a blend of wool that is resistant to wet felting, which means you can use them over and over again and they won’t really shrink. These sponges are great for dishes, cleaning (like a teenagers bathroom) and using in the shower. Best part about it is that it’s wool! Which means it’s anti microbial and antibacterial, and when you are done just put it in the soil of a houseplant and let the wool decompose and turn into nitrogen. Amazing right?!
$6.00
Wool scrub
Yep you heard that correctly! We have wool scrubbies now! These scrubbies are made of 100% wool and are wet felted to perfection. These scrubbies are perfect for getting the grease off of hard working hands. Best part about it is that it’s wool! Which means it’s anti microbial and antibacterial, and when you are done just put it in the soil of a houseplant and let the wool decompose and turn into nitrogen. Amazing right?!
$10.00
Where to find us!
July Dates
Knit and Brew with Ewe
July 20th at Surly Brewing 2-4pm
July 27
Mill City Farmers Market from 9-1
July 28th
Linden Hills Farmers Market 10-1
Upick will be August 3rd.
This is a bit of a shorter newsletter, that is because my coworkers are all sheep and we don’t talk often ha ha! Or because I am one year older and my brain is mush. But not mush enough to not find the beautiful mushrooms in the woods that are just waiting for me to pick them and put them on a pizza! Also, we just opened our whole/half lamb share for the upcoming fall. The lambs go in at the end of October, and this is the perfect time to secure your meat for the whole winter. You can find the order form on the website.
Thank you,
The Bentz Family, the sheep, nickles, the turkeys that now sleep in the yard where the chickens were, you should come to see them they are pretty cute.
PS, did you find the discount code????