Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Nathanael Siemens wants to bring regenerative and organic cotton to the San Joaquin Valley. He spends his mornings just walking the fields, trying to figure out what to do next, how to overcome the challenges that he faces daily from weed control to irrigation to simply getting a hold of enough seeds.
There is ample evidence that some level of cotton production could fit into an ecologically sensitive farming system, yet the future of this crop in our climate relies on re-building organic matter, carbon levels, and dynamic microbial communities in the soil where the cotton is grown.
Around 300 visitors have come to UC Elkus Ranch in Half Moon Bay for its annual Sheep to Shawl event when the farm gates are opened wide to anyone interested in getting a glimpse of the agrarian life.
Gracefully bringing together all the elements of locally grown, milled, and made organic fabric, Lydia Wendt’s work takes shape with California Cloth Foundry: textiles and apparel in collaboration with nature.
Inside our own closet is one place we may begin to make changes that will have lasting impacts on our biosphere, climate and personal health, and for this reason we created the Fibershed Clothing Guide to share a menu of actions and options.
Alison is equally dedicated to breeding preservation, quality wool production, pasture management, community building, agricultural education, and being a business owner. She manages to attend to each priority with grace and aplomb.
A few miles south and across the California border, I had just seen raw, local wool being carded and made into batting at Woolgatherer Carding Mill, then stuffed and hand sewn into mattresses, toppers and pillows to be sold by Shepherd’s Dream.
When Marcail first described Jane she called her fearless. The mill is not the only legacy shared between the two of them. It’s the same spirit of fortitude, community building, and that word for Jane: fearless.
In choosing the name of a place, The Chico Flax Project is pointing to more than the location of their farm — they’re highlighting the numerous community members interwoven with the vision to make a Chico-based cloth.
Arriving at Flying Mule Farm on the cusp of lambing season and on the heels of a snowstorm in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the fields are damp with recent rain. Ewes and lambs call to each other and in the morning light. It’s easy to get sentimental about spaces like this where the animals match the rhythms of the land.
In 2018, we are excited to design, develop, and pilot the model for a seed-to-fabric supply chain for industrial hemp fiber to be shared with the larger industrial hemp and fiber movement.
While many companies don’t question the practices employed by farms or source cheap materials from overseas, Abby and Matt have proudly kept their wool homegrown. And they haven’t stopped there. They’ve become one of several trailblazers for Fibershed’s new designation of wool altogether: Climate Beneficial Wool.
