Spanish Goat Chat with Justin B. Pitts

Welcome to our Spanish Goat Chat! This week Justin B. Pitts joins Cindra Kerscher and Brittany Sweeney for a chat about this Watch-listed breed.

Justin B. Pitts is a seventh generation Jones Countian that is dedicated to the preservation and use of traditional Southern breeds and species of livestock, seed, and plants in his farming operation. He has founded several breed associations and serves on the board of them or in other capacities. Through his efforts several species of rare and endangered species of livestock have been added to the Ark of Taste as he believes that you have to “eat them to save them.”

Learn more about Spanish Goats from the National Spanish Goat Association at https://spanishgoat.com/

Thank you to Manna Pro for sponsoring Goat Chats this month! https://www.mannapro.com/

American Mammoth Jackstock Donkey Chat

Welcome to the American Mammoth Jackstock Donkey Chat! This week Brittany Sweeney and Cindra Kerscher are chatting with Audrey Cadle of Donkey Meadows Farm (https://www.donkeymeadows.org/ and @DonkeyMeadows).

Wooly Wednesday - Needle Felting Challenge

Are you ready for the next Shave 'Em to Save 'Em Fiber Challenge? Register for the Felted Friends Challenge today with expert needle felter and shepherdess Teresa Perleberg of Bear Creek Felting and The Nome Schoolhouse at https://bit.ly/SE2FeltedFriends

Get to know Teresa and her passion for wool and felting during this chat with Cindra Kerscher about the next challenge, which begins September 22. Teresa Perleberg has been raising a flock of sheep and teaching others the art of needle felting since 2006 and began designing and selling needle felting kits containing her own wool in 2008. She lives on a farm in North Dakota with 270 sheep including Romney, Cormo, BFL, Corriedale and CVM.

Teresa loves to make realistic needle felted animal sculptures that each have a unique personality all their own. The facial features and expressions are a very important part of what makes her sculptures special. Teresa opened an online Needle Felting Academy in 2017 where members have direct contact with her and access to a variety of video courses. Another unique aspect of Teresa's needle felting kits and supplies is that all the fiber is grown and processed in North Dakota at the Nome Schoolhouse, A Fiber Arts Center, where you can stay, meet the sheep, and learn all about fiber arts. Teresa and her business partner Chris also host a weekly EweTube show sharing their fiber art knowledge.

Poitou Donkey Chat with Patrick Archer

Welcome to our first Donkey Chat! This week we're chatting about the critically-endangered Poitou Donkey with Patrick Archer of Texas Poitou Donkeys (@TexasPoitouDonkeys).

 

 

Duck Chat with Chef and Author Hank Shaw

Welcome to another Duck Chat! This week Jeannette Beranger and Brittany Sweeney are chatting about how to cook and prepare duck with renowned chef and author Hank Shaw. Brittany's Welsh Harlequin duck Triscuit also makes a surprise appearance. 

Learn more about Hank Shaw at https://honest-food.net/about/ and more about cooking duck from his book "Duck, Duck, Goose: Recipes and Techniques for Ducks and Geese, both Wild and Domesticated" at https://honest-food.net/hank-shaw-books/ 

Thank you to Manna Pro for sponsoring today's Duck Chat! https://www.mannapro.com/

Ancona Duck Chat with Amy McKamey

Welcome to another edition of Duck Chats, sponsored by Manna Pro (https://www.mannapro.com/). This week Jeannette Beranger and Brittany Sweeney chat with Amy McKamey about Ancona ducks and her journey to get them recognized by the American Poultry Association. Learn more about Ancona Ducks from Amy's Facebook Group @AnconaDucks.

 

 

Amy grew up on a small farm in Butler, Indiana. Farming runs deep in her family, dating back as early as 1340. Amy was a 10 year 4-H member, went to Purdue University and graduated in Veterinary Technology, worked in the Veterinary Field for over 20 years and now farms full time. She and her husband own and operate Heritage Meadows Farm (http://heritagemeadowsfarm.net/) in Clayton, Indiana, where they raise heritage hogs, sheep, and poultry.

 

Amy showed her first ducks in 1986, and they are still her favorite animal on the farm. Anconas have always held a special place in her heart, and she hopes to someday get them recognized by the APA.

Wooly Wednesday Round Table with the 15+ Club

This month we are chatting with members of the Shave ‘Em to Save ‘Em (SE2SE) 15+ Club to discuss working with rare breed fibers. Joining Cindra Kerscher for this chat will be SE2SE Fiber Artists Diane Barrows, Susan Vanderford, Kathy O’Reilly, and Lori Holder-Webb. Join in to learn tips and ask questions on sourcing, processing and creating with interesting wools.

Lori Holder-Webb created fiber art in the form of handmade paper collages until the arrival of rambunctious kittens in the household, and their "assistance" brought that chapter to a close. While casting about for a kitten-resistant alternative, she stumbled across some online wet-felting videos on YouTube. These were the standard-issue nuno-felted scarves, but she instantly saw how it would be possible to shift her aesthetic into this new medium. By 2019, she really wanted to expand her horizons beyond Merino and was fortunate to encounter Ashford Heights Farm at her local sheep and wool festival. Ashford Heights supplied her with a bag of Leicester Longwool roving and an information packet for Shave 'Em to Save 'Em. The rest of it - the spinning, and whole raw fleeces, and weaving - had an air of inevitability.

Kathy O’Reilly started knitting very young, taught by her mother. In 2015, after mumbling for years about the quality and cost of yarn, she started spinning after her husband gave her a spinning wheel for Christmas. He created a monster. She had no idea there were so many types of wool and fiber, so she started trying as many as she could. She had already spun CVM, Shetland, Jacob, and Black Welsh Mountain when she stumbled upon the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em Initiative. She thinks it has been so much fun to interact with a group of like-minded people.

After watching the Guild spinners at countless county fairs, Diane Barrows ached to learn and set out doing so once her five children flew the nest. She joined the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em Initiative soon after its launch, and soon discovered herself adding to her repertoire, spinning the new fibers she was encountering. Diane has enjoyed knitting, crocheting, sewing, and quilting for decades. She is a beginner weaver and is working on her HGA Master Spinner’s certificate.

Susan Vanderford has been a fiber artist since she was a kid, but most recently got into spinning during the pandemic. She got involved with the Shave 'Em to Save 'Em Initiative during the WAFA sales in early 2020. She kept seeing the SE2SE acronym and got curious, which led her to the program. Susan's big love though is knitting and her favorite part is trying different techniques to see what you get!

Want to become a Fiber Artist for the Save 'Em to Shave 'Em Initiative? Sign up at RareWool.org.

Duck Chat with Jon Alden of Hoover’s Hatchery

Welcome to Duck Chats! Special Guest Jon Alden, Breeding Flock Manager at Hoover's Hatchery, is chatting with Jeannette Beranger and Brittany Sweeney about duck husbandry. (https://hoovershatchery.com/)

 

 

Marketing Monday with the Rocky Mountain Horse Association

Welcome to another Marketing Monday! This month Rhyne Cureton and Brittany Sweeney are celebrating Horse Month and will be chatting with special guest Gina Purdue about Rocky Mountain Horses.

Gina is the current Secretary of the Rocky Mountain Horse Association (RMHA) and an active committee member. She has had horses since she was a child and has been involved with the RMHA since the late 90's. Learn more about RMHA at https://www.rmhorse.com/

Horse Chats Puerto Rican Paso Fino with Cesar Alejandro Romero

Welcome to another Horse Chat! This week Charlene Couch and Brittany Sweeney are chatting with Cesar Alejandro Romero about the Puerto Rican Paso Fino horse. 

Alejandro received a BA,MA, Certificate in Equine Colour Genetics, and has been a Puerto Rican Paso Fino breeder since 1988 in the USA, Canada and Puerto Rico. He has also been in Horse Management since 1992 and created the Paso Fino Guayama Trainers Academy in Puerto Rico. 

The former Executive Director of the Paso Fino Office, Alejandro is a 
Consultant in breeding, pedigrees and appraising, an International Judge, and a graduate from the Guaynabo City Paso Fino judges Academy. He's also a member of the Asociacion Insular as an International Representative, Feria Dulce Sueno, Inc. as an International Rep and Registrar, the Pure Puerto Rican Paso Fino Federation of America; and a founding member of the Hacienda Paso Fino, Hacienda Puerta del Sol, Yeguada Fundación, Alianza de Paso Fino, and Paso Fino Cultural Heritage. 

Alejandro is also a writer, speaker, and podcaster. You can find him online at www.iamalejandro.com

Download today's slide presentation by Alejandro Romero on the Puerto Rican Paso Fino at https://bit.ly/PRPasoFinoPresentation