Getting ready for the festival

The Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival is just two weeks away, so things are in high gear here at the farm. Greg spent yesterday in the greenhouse transplanting seedlings with the radio going full blast -- blues and zydeco music on WPFW. Since we have had so many rainy days this spring, we are hoping for two weeks of sunny weather to really get the plants jumping!

My job is to dye yarn, which has been a pleasure this year. At the old farm, I had to use the kitchen stove, which meant clearing everything out of the kitchen on dyeing days. One of the many great things about the new farm is that prior owners had converted the lower level of the bank barn to a garage, complete with a hot water heater and kitchen sink. There is even plumbing for a washing machine. Instant dye kitchen!

Photo of the bank barn taken last summer. Future plans include a fiber studio and farm stand, but right now it houses my dye kitchen. The garden plot on the right has been replaced by the greenhouse.


Greenhouse and house as seen from the bank barn on a rainy spring day.

My dye kitchen, functional but still a work in progress.

It's so nice to have a place for all of my dyeing supplies, instead of dragging them out from a back bedroom each time I want to dye!

For now, I am using a 1500-watt electric hot plate as a heat source.

Yarn drys in the early morning sunshine on the side porch of the house. The antique laundry rack came from a shop in Frederick.

That's all for now. I have a couple of hours before we head off for Easter dinner with my family, so I think I will work on labels for the yarn.

Stop by and see us May 7 & 8th at the festival. Turn left just past the information tent and look for our booth on the left.