The Ninth Annual Sheep and Fiber Farm Tour, in pastoral Washington County, New York. Along with this event, we're celebrating our 15th year raising sheep. Here's an announcement. Please write privately if for more information: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ====== The Tradition Continues The Ninth Annual (Washington County, N.Y.) Sheep & Fiber Farm Tour The Ninth Annual (Washington County, N.Y.) Sheep & Fiber Farm Tour, will be held Saturday and Sunday, Apr. 28 & 29, 2001, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. This free, drive-it-yourself event of 10 farms is the longest running tour of its kind in New York. These friendly farm owners offer families, fiber artists, and prospective or experienced farmers an easy way to visit a wide variety of homestead-style or commercial farms. Featured are nearly every kind and color of fiber-producing livestock, including an array of sheep breeds, cashmere goats, llamas, and angora rabbits. Every farm has barn visits, demonstrations and discussions or scheduled workshops. Scheduled events include spinning with a drop spindle, spinning on the great wheel, selecting fleeces for hand spinning, dying with natural dyes, color blending, starting a young herding dog with sheep. The Washington County Cooperative Extension Office will be providing information resources. Most farms will also offer for sale fiber from their animals, and some will have roving, yarn or articles of clothing for sale. Others might feature cuts or lamb, maple syrup, or breeding stock. For a flyer with a map and directions, and activities for each farm, send an SASE to Debra St. Jacques, 58 Bain Road, Argyle NY 12809; 518-638-6453 or call Ed and Jean Hayes, 518-747-9186. For details by e-mail, contact Carol Rea, [EMAIL PROTECTED] or Ann Kenyon, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Remember to watch for the hot-pink direction signs as you drive throughout beautiful Southern Washington County. Here are highlights and general locations of each farm. CAMBRIDGE VILLAGE FARM, Fred and Ursula DePaul, 677-5405, Ash Grove Road, Cambridge. The DePauls have raised sheep for many years and currently have a commercial flock along with some Jacob and Scottish Blackface crosses. Fred will demonstrate sheep shearing and give horse-drawn wagon rides. The farm's shop will be open, and features a rainbow of wool yarns, along with articles of clothing and wool figurines. CAPRENDOOSE HILLS FARM, Elena Bruning, 259 Cobble Road, Cambridge, 677-5294. Elena invites visitors to join her for an interactive journey into sheep care and wool processing throughout the day. ELIHU FARM, Bob and Mary Pratt, 654 Beadle Hill Road, Easton, 753-7838, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Beginning with 10 bred ewes in 1986, the Pratts' flock has grown to 130 ewes, and 20 cashmere goats. The Romney, a hardy dual-purpose breed, both white and natural colored, makes up half their flock, along with some fine-wooled Rambouillets and various crossbreds. Mary and Bob specialize in fleeces for hand spinning and top quality, natural lamb. Be sure to sample the lamb stew. THE FIBER KINGDOM, Sylvia Graham, 137 East Broadway (Route 153), Salem, 854-7225, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sylvia has renovated an 1850s-era barn into a modern angora rabbitry, and this year has completed a fiber studio for spinning and weaving in a second barn, where she gives lessons in the fiber arts. She will be conducting workshops and demonstrations during the tour, as well as visits to the new German angora babies in the bunny barn. FROM EWE TO EWE, Carol Rea, 252 Reafield Farm Road, Cambridge, 854-7509, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Carol specializes in making Icelandic-style knitted sweaters from the wool grown by her own sheep, which she dyes, spins and knits by hand. Other area fiber-friends will demonstrate wool preparation, spinning and weaving. Her flock of Border-Leicester and Lincoln-cross sheep produces lambs in both spring and fall for the Easter and Christmas markets. HAZY HILL LLAMAS, Ed and Jean Hayes, 1154 Farley Road, Hudson Falls, 747-9186. At Hazy Hill everyone can 'lead a llama,' that the Hayes family has halter trained, or taught to work as a pack animal. They will have information on the care and raising of llamas. HOLLEY HILL FARM, Jeff and Lisa Cornell, 3188 County Route 43, Hartford, 747-7141. The Cornell's farm dates to the 1840s when the sheep breed on this farm, as well as throughout Washington County, was the Spanish Merino. Today the Cornells raise Dorset sheep, a breed known primarily for its carcass qualities. Visitors can tour their maple sugar house and see wool spinning, rug hooking, and an area that shows the events that take place on a sheep farm through the year. MONT 'BAA'TENKILL FARM, The Montgomery Family, 3674 State Route 29, Salem, 854-3164. The Montgomerys specialize in Tunis sheep, one of the rare breeds of sheep in the United States, and one that was developed in this country. SPRINGMEADOW FARM, The St. Jacques Family, 58 Bain Road, Argyle, 638-6453, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Debra, who has bred Australian Shepherd dogs for nearly 30 years, and her daughter Renee, will show visitors how this breed can herd both ducks and sheep. They will also be testing young dogs for herding instinct. Their sheep are primarily Romneys and Romney-Border Leicester crosses. Mark will show how he makes maple syrup from the trees right on the farm. WOOLY KNOLL FARM, The Kenyon Family, 11 Fundi Mountain Way, Cambridge, 677-5534, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Darrel and Earl invite you to visit their purebred Southdown, Cheviot and Tunis sheep, while their mother, Anne, will have her Corriedales on display. Darrel will be cooking lamb, and herding the sheep with his Border Collie, while his father Ed will take visitors to the greenhouse. Expect to meet 4H Club members with their annual bake sale, and see demonstrations of wool carding and spinning. To stop mail temporarily mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: set nomail To restore send: set mail
