Each month on the first and fifteenth, we will spotlight our members in a new series. We want to promote you, our members, to showcase the work you put into raising sheep. If you are interested in having your farm spotlighted, email Education Committee Chair: Amy Kidd at followyourarrowfarm@gmail.com OR Marketing and Promotion Chair: Helene Dooley at skybrookefarm@gmail.com
The first of each month will spotlight a member farm that primarily markets their lamb products and the fifteenth of the month will spotlight a member farm that primarily markets their fiber products. We look forward to promoting our members and hope you are enjoying our series.
February Fiber Farm Spotlight: Heelside Farm
Heelside Farms has focused on breeding beautiful wool breed sheep for almost twenty years in Four Oaks, N.C. Carolyn Beasley shared the following summary of her farm.
We fell in love with hand spinning wool before we had sheep. The joy of creating our own yarn for knitting, crochetwork, and weaving led us to make an enlightened decision. Our son suggested that we should have our own sheep instead of buying wool. As we lived on a farm it was a logical step. Had we only known the adventures ahead! We purchased a variety herd of six sheep that included a beautiful moorit Border Leicester ram lamb, named Celebrity. He became our foundation sire. We were in the sheep business!
We have enjoyed different breeds of wool breed sheep over the years; Border Leicester, Finnsheep, Icelandics (our son’s favorite), Cormos, and recently CVMs the colored side of the Romeldale breed. We breed for beautiful wool as we have our wool processed into yarn, roving, batts, top, blankets, and socks for sale. Our Red Barn Studio is the place to shop for our luscious products here on the farm when we are not at fiber events. We have an online store….www.heelsidefarms.com. We are on Facebook, Ravelry, and Instagram.
Wool has so many wonderful properties, keeping us warm yet allowing breathability, wicking away moisture with a cushiony comfort. Wool has many more uses than just for clothing. Mattresses, pillows, insulation, quilt batting, and as a water control measure on washout areas are just some of the uses.
If you have cold feet, try our wool socks. If you want to curl up and be cozy, try our wool blankets. Both are machine washable in cold water. Our yarn weights range from fingering to Lopi. They can be ordered at our online store or when you visit the farm. We have been breeding our sheep for sale as well as fiber. When you are ready for your own sheep adventure we have spinning flocks available. Sheep bring us enjoyment and so much happiness that we would be lost without them.
Please support Heelside Farm at their website
Here is a short video about the farm.
Thank you for supporting our North Carolina Sheep Producers Association Members!
