I’m here to tell You a Raw and Woolly Yarn!

Whether You spell it Woolly, or Wooly, it’s great! Even in the Raw! Warm in the Winter, Cool in the Summer, and naturally flame retardant! Great for everything from Liquid Fertilizer to Wool Pants, to Yarn for Sweaters and Mittens to Crafts like Felting! The things wool can be used for are almost endless, and the Yarns that have been told about it, and adventures with Sheep! Some of them are right down Wooly and Raw! 

When I was a kid, my Dad had about 30 Sheep, and before I come along at His Farm’s peak He had about 300 Sheep, 125 Cattle, and all the side trimmings. So, it’s always been my dream to own sheep! 

That dream was realized last Fall, and now, today, another dream come true! We got to shear them, well, technically not us, but Peter, the guy we hired to shear them. We found him great 5o work with, and we didn’t get fleeced, but we did get some beautiful fleece! 

A mixed bag really, while we kept the pure Babydoll Wool separate, and the Shetland Babydoll Mixed Breed Wool in bags of its own. We did have some mixed Arcott Friesian mixed bags of Wool. Yes Sir, Yes Sir! Three Bags Full! Unfortunately, none of it is Black Wool. 

So, now the question begs, what to do with our Wool!?

Goat Sings While Being Milked

Snowball the Singing Goat at Briden Farm

This is Snowball, our Saanen Dairy Goat. Since goats pick up on your stress level, and mood, while milking, I often sing to them! 

Even more surprising is that for the past few days, Snowball has been singing back! Listen closely and You’ll hear her…

Sorry for the wind noise, we don’t get to choose the weather we milk in! 

Would You like to hear Snowball in person? 
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Question? Call Brian at Briden Farm 902-907-0770

Using Animals to turn Fields of Invasive Plants into Gardens

Pig Worked Hill 2024

It’s been. a long process, when we went to The Barn Property on the 31 August 2022 it was at the request of the Family there, and the main goal was to keep the fields from becoming overgrown. 

The property consisted mostly old burnt out hay fields, Lupine, Hawthorns, Goldenrod, and Japanese Knotweed. Here are some photos from Fall 2022 …

Barn Property Fall 2022

Time Passes…. 18 months later… Spring 2024 

As You can see, the fields, even the area under the now thinned out Hawthorns has green grass growing. Actually, we had green grass by Mid-March. A true testament to the incredible work of our animals.

The following video shows a particular area that has not yet been worked as much as the other areas. An area where Hawthorn Saplings and Lupine has begun to take over. An area where our goats have grazed only briefly twice, and that our pigs turned up this Spring. Showing how persistent the Lupine are, and how much they’ve grown in the few weeks to a month since our pigs worked that ground. Here’s the Video…

The results are incredible, especially over time. As this year unfolds I’ll try to bring you updates as to the progress. I’m really not sure how the Corn, Sunflowers, and Peas will grow here, but we’ll find out and hopefully document our success here! We welcome Your Comments.