YOU WILL RECEIVE FOUR SEASONAL KITS FOR FIBER ARTS
Winter: Spinning. Includes Cheviot and Leicester Longwool roving for spinning your own yarn, a Walnut wood drop spindle that is great for beginners, a diz, an instructional booklet, inspiring online resources, and a reading list. Bonus: cordage instruction!
Spring: Felting. Includes Leicester Longwool for felting, an instructional booklet, inspiring online resources, a reading list and all products (white vinegar and fiber conditioner) needed for a successful felting project.
Summer: Dyeing. Includes plant materials such as indigo, calendula, coreopsis and madder root for natural dyeing, an instructional booklet, inspiring online resources, a reading list and additional products needed experiments in natural dyeing.
Fall: Weaving. Includes NM Churro yarn for weaving, a portable wooden rigid heddle, an instructional booklet, inspiring online resources, a reading list and tools needed for weaving a bracelet, hat band or woven tape.
THE KITS
Each kit has over $75.00 worth of materials, plus instructions
and the tools you need for a project that is suitable for a variety of ages and
skill levels. The CSA subscription of $350.00 includes an invitation to two farm visit days and a newsletter. These kits
are great for fiber artists who wish to expand their skills; home schooling
families who want hands-on learning units; and fiber-interested folks who desire
an easy introduction to the world of fiber arts.
YOUR SUBSCRIPTION
In addition to the kits described above, a subscription holders are invited to two farm visits,
one in the summer and
fall. During these visits the CSA community can meet each other and visit the
animals, see the dye gardens, help with enjoyable farm activities, eat local foods and
occasionally experience additional fiber arts techniques while building our
local community ties. Subscribers also receive learning materials such
as reading lists and inspiring resource links to immerse themselves in the cultural,
scientific and artistic context of fiber arts. These materials are designed and
curated by a professional educator with decades of teaching experience.
SUPPORT RARE BREEDS AND SMALL FARMS
Your subscription supports small fiber farms. Iron and
Indigo Farm raises Leicester Longwool sheep, an endangered breed known for its
shiny, lustrous wool that grows in long locks of crimped fleece. This wool dyes
especially well and is prized by hand spinners, knitters and crafters. Your subscription will also support Navajo Churro sheep, as Churro wool from NM farms will be included in your subscription as well. Navajo Churro sheep are an endangered breed that are the backbone of Southwest Fiber Arts. Sacred to the Diné (Navajo) people, Churro sheep have exceptionally strong, beautiful wool that is prized for blankets, rugs and outerwear.
ABOUT COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA)
Why join a CSA? The CSA is a partnership between the
farmers and the community that is “good
for people, planet and producer.” Members pay in advance and then
receive shares four times a year. This is a viable business model in use
around the world that provides money up front to farmers and helps them survive
in a marketplace that is geared towards corporate-scale production. A CSA is a local
values-driven economic model that includes education, farm visits,
community-building and saving rare breeds of fiber producing animals- all while
receiving the best of the harvest. A CSA gives you lower prices, because
a CSA avoids the “middleman” (be it
Etsy, a store increasing the price to cover overhead costs, or the farms’
advertising and farmstand costs) and allows the farmer and buyer work together building
a stronger community.
