New Event: First Branch
Farm and Fiber Tour
By Emily Marshia

A unique opportunity to experience a primary source of Vermont’s heritage is debuting with the first-ever First Branch Farm & Fiber Tour on Saturday, July 21.

The concept struck Kim Goodling of South Washington as "one of those crazy, middle-of-the-night ideas," and has evolved into an intentional approach to educating Vermonters about a quiet industry that is alive and flourishing in the hills and valleys of the First Branch of the White River.

Goodling, along with two other sheep farmers, will host open houses at their respective farms and offer demonstrations in their specialties with their fiber products.

"There are a lot of people who don’t know about the sheep industry in Vermont and I just want to educate them so they know we are here," shared Goodling, who lives on the Vermont Grand View Farm with her husband, Chuck. They raise about a dozen Romney sheep as well as angora rabbits. Goodling spins her own wool and sells it at area farmer’s markets and craft fairs.

When she recently participated in a craft fair, she was disappointed when patrons sauntered past her tent, taking only a brief inventory of her wares. Rather than settling for their disinterest, she began walking out to greet people.

"If I could get out there and talk to them and tell them a little bit about myself and where my yarn comes from, then they would stop to listen. I had to pick up the yarn and put it in their hands. And I would have to say, ‘This is wool from my sheep.‘ Then their eyes would light up and they’d say ’Wow!’"

This experience reaffirmed Goodling’s mission in organizing the tour. She is thoughtfully determined to share her knowledge. Granted not everyone will take on her passion, she acknowledges, but to her, there is innate value in understanding where products come from, especially when their production involves a way of life.

Goodling has been shepherding her herd for four years now and she admires fellow farmers who raise heritage breeds, some simply for the sake of preserving the breed. "There is so much emphasis on dairy in Vermont," but much of our state’s history is embedded in the sheep industry, argues Goodling, "Sheep cleared the land and brought so many people here."

The farms participating in the tour are Land & Lamb Company in Tunbridge, which features Navajo Churro sheep and operates Tunbridge Woolworks, a fleece and fiber scouring operation, Hollow Hills Farm, featuring Shetland sheep, and Goodling’s farm. There is no particular sequence to the tour as it allows for visitors to peruse each of the farms at their own pace from 10 am to 4 pm.

Demonstration topics will include shearing, fleecing, skirting, hand-spinning, and felting. Each of the three breeds of sheep is distinctly different from the others, points out Goodling. "They have different body types, different dispositions, different wool," she says. Visit www.grandviewfarmvt.net/FirstBranchFarmandFiberTour.html
for more information and to obtain a map.