Dear friends,
Tomorrow we begin shearing!!
It’s one of my favorite times of year.
There’s something so satisfying about watching the mohair fall away in soft, shimmering ringlets.
I get to handle each fleece as I sort through it - feeling its softness and fineness, and at the same time its strength.
It’s amazing to think that what begins here will become a pair of socks, a throw, or even a rug.
Every shearing season, I find myself thinking back to a childhood memory.
Saturday mornings. Sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, a bowl of Lucky Charms in my lap, cartoons playing loudly on the TV.
The music was always part of the magic: bright, cheerful, and full of movement.
And then Vivaldi’s “Spring” would begin, a joyous melody with musical imagery of nature.
On the screen, fluffy sheep danced their way through a hollow tree…only to come out the other side perfectly shorn.
Oh, if only it were that easy.
Here on the ranch, shearing is a thoughtful and hands-on process, and Rachel does all of it.
She handles each goat with care and confidence, working with their individual personalities to keep the experience as calm and low-stress as possible.
Our process begins by walking each goat to the garage bay we’ve set aside for shearing.
The first stop is blowing their mohair to help free up collected bits of hay and dirt with a dog grooming blower.
Next is the scale, where I record their weight.
From there, they step up onto the shearing stand.
I clip a few small locks and place them into a labeled bag for micron testing, and then Rachel begins shearing.
As the fleece comes off, I gather the locks and lay them out on a screen for skirting.
Skirting is where I carefully go through the fleece, removing anything that doesn’t belong such as small bits of hay, or the coarser leg and belly fibers.
Each fleece is sorted with intention.
The finest will become socks and throws. Some I set aside for rugs.
And what we can’t use returns to the garden as mulch.
Nothing is wasted.
Once shearing is complete, Rachel trims hooves, and we give each goat a quick health check.
They’re vaccinated as a preventative measure and dewormed if needed.
Then, freshly shorn and a bit lighter, they head back out to the herd.
And we begin again.
For the next week, we’ll shear more than 70 goats.
When we’re done, the cycle begins again as their mohair grows over the next six months.
Life on the ranch moves in these rhythms. Spring shearing. Fall shearing.
And everything in between is done with one goal in mind: caring for our goats well and with love so they can produce the very best mohair.
It’s not quite as simple as a cartoon. But I still hear “Spring” playing in my head.
There’s something grounding about this season - the work, the repetition, the care woven into each step.
Thank you for being part of it with us, for valuing where things come from and how they’re made.
Every pair of socks, every throw, begins here on the ranch. And it means so much to share that with you.
With love,
Angela
p.s. click here to see what all our mohair turns into!