Farm to Philly Fiber
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Spinners, knitters, crocheters, there’s a fiber CSA worth mentioning here: Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm. (Where the sheep and goats go to the beach!) Just like with fruits and veg, you buy a share of the shearing. It’s a one-time dealio, and you can choose the format of your share: roving (for spinning) or yarn. I haven’t seen or handled it, but I am in love enough with the idea that I almost don’t care. (And besides, their herd is full of promosing stuff: Cormo, angora, Corriedale, etc.) Although an ideal situation would be a mid-Atlantic fiber CSA, until the idea catches on, this one will have to do.
Thanks for posting information about our CSA. I wanted to answer a couple of the questions I see here. We are estimating that each of our shareholders will receive 10 skeins of yarn (aprox. 180/skein). Of course, there are lots of things that can effect the size of the clip, but our cormo yarn sells for $6 per ounce, or $24 per skein, so in addition to supporting a small farm, our shareholders are getting a very good deal.
Additionally, each shareholder receives a weekly farm update and an invitation to our Shearing Day Celebration and FIber Festival. The festival is free to members and includes workshops on dying, weaving, spinning and animal care.
Finally, we are the first farm to use the CSA model for fiber, although I’m sure others will adopt it soon.
Thanks for the story. 
Interesting idea. It’s a shame it’s not local to us.
I have to wonder if some of our local goat and sheep farmers have something similar going on that we don’t know about. For instance, do any of the vendors/farmers at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival offer something like it?
I’m curious to see how much wool one actually gets for $100. I mean, it’s really great to help the farmer defray the cost of feeding the animal, etc. but I have to wonder a CSA is really advantageous to the farmer or the buyer, etc. It’s really nice to know what goes in to the wool you’re spinning, but you get the same information when you buy a fleece at a wool or farm show.