Baby alpacas, Rachel and Amity, with their summer “poodle cuts” at dusk.
Participating in Wordless Wednesdays.

September 30th, 2009 | Tags: alpaca, Alpacas, cria, dusk, poodle cut, Wordless Wednesdays | Category: Alpacas, Wordless Wednesdays | Comments (12)

Last weekend was “National Alpaca Farm Days”. Both Saturday and Sunday we held an Open House for visitors to come and meet the alpacas. We had alpaca products available for sale. The weather was super hot and humid so we only sold a few skeins of yarn, but our new Paca Poo Tea was a [...]

September 28th, 2009 | Tags: alpaca, alpaca teddy bears, alpaca yarn, Alpacas, National Alpaca Farm Day, National Alpaca Farm Days, Open House | Category: Alpacas, Business Matters, Events, Farm Business | Comments (3)

I was already thinking about Christmas when Maya showed me this lovely yarn she spun the other day. Then it dawned on me that if you were making products to sell for Christmas you probably had to get them ready during the summer to have them available when people start Christmas shopping in the Fall.
I’ve [...]

September 25th, 2009 | Category: Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (7)

Organic fertilizers are beneficial to the soil.
Bruce Zimmerman at Hort-Pro tells us, “ They build up the organic content of the soil, which improves its drainage and structure. By improving a soils structure you increase its ability [...]

September 24th, 2009 | Tags: alpaca, Alpaca Poop Tea, Alpacas, fertilizer, Manure tea | Category: Alpacas, Farm Business, Husbandry | Comments (1)

Over the weekend I was sharing pictures and stories of our Great Pyrenees, Rusty. My twitter buddy, @billolga, sent me this picture of their Great Pyrenees, Daisy, with their grandson. These dogs are amazing. So glad they shared!
Participating in Wordless Wednesdays.

September 23rd, 2009 | Tags: great pyrenees, Wordless Wednesdays | Category: Weekly Web Finds, Wordless Wednesdays | Comments (4)

Alpacas are pseudo-ruminants. Their digestive system are different from humans. Their stomach has three compartments, and they chew their cud like cows do. However, cows can exist on low quality forage, while alpacas need higher quality grass and hay.
Alpacas should have access to young, tender pasture grass or good quality hay at all times. Alpaca [...]

September 21st, 2009 | Category: Alpacas, Husbandry | Comments (4)

From @Firefly2020’s TwitPics. She has some good ones!

September 20th, 2009 | Tags: dogs flying | Category: Weekly Web Finds | Comments (1)

I had no idea that you could raise silkworms until I read about it in the Fall issue of Spin-Off magazine. Fiber enthusiast Michael Cook writes about growing your own silk. He says that you can raise them in a plastic shoebox, and that they eat mulberry leaves. I found this to be a fascinating [...]

September 17th, 2009 | Tags: Coastal Silkworms, Fiber Arts Friday, Home school, Mulberry Farms, raising silkworms, silk, silkworms, Spin Off magazine, wormspit | Category: Fiber Arts, Fiber Arts Friday | Comments (9)

One of the first people I met in the alpaca industry was Joe. He is the farm manager for Creekwater Alpacas, and he has his own alpaca herd that he calls Creekwater East. When we met him we knew a lot of people named Joe, so I always called him “Alpaca Joe” when I spoke [...]

September 17th, 2009 | Tags: alpaca, Alpaca Joe, Alpacas, Creekwater Alpacas, Fairhope Alpacas, farm, farm stories | Category: Alpacas, Lifestyle, Our Farm Story, The Alpaca Lifestyle | Comments (6)