This is the first in a two-part series of interviews and visits to Northern California Fibershed producer members Shepherd’s Dream and the Woolgatherer Carding Mill. While intertwined, these individual businesses highlight the role of regional manufacturing using natural fibers. Both companies operate within the strategic geography of the Northern California Fibershed, which spans from San […]
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A Family History in Hats
Written by Koa Kalish and Carol Frechette; Photography by Koa Kalish, Lowell Downey, and Paige Green Photo by Koa Kalish In the early 1980s, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the small water-flanked town of Sausalito, lived Carol Frechette. There she lived and worked on boats, working with a sailmaker. Eventually, she started […]
Read MoreThe Hum of the Alpaca at Alpacas of Marin
Written by Amanda Fisk & Photographed by Paige Green Nicasio is a very scenic and attractive natural area, with forested and open ridge lines surrounding a wide rolling valley in Marin County, California. Oak, bay, and fir trees are common in the area, and wildlife is abundant. Nicasio is also home to Alpacas of Marin, a commercial […]
Read MorePatterns & Passions at Pont Family Farm
Written by Marie Hoff & Photographed by Noelle Gaberman The Fibonacci Sequence is an enchanting and mythic mathematical pattern. You might be familiar with it. Starting with 0, each number in the sequence is the sum of the two numbers before … so 0,1 and then 0+1, which is 1. So 0,1,1, and then 1+1, […]
Read MoreHerdshare & Healthy Soil at Free Hand Farm
Written & Photographed by Koa Kalish As far as the eye can see, soft and verdant grasslands roll out like a thick green carpet dotted with healthy, ancient oaks. A trodden path of tall grass leads the way past a few small creeks to the open pasture where the animals graze. In the foothills of […]
Read MoreA Legacy of Production at Valley Oak Wool & Fiber Mill
Written by Sarah Lillegard & Photographed by Paige Green At Valley Oak Wool Mill, the day starts early with hopes of beating the summer heat. Despite the morning hour, the mill’s owner and sole employee, Marcail McWilliams, is brightly moving between the buildings checking machines and running through a mental list of what there is […]
Read MoreJoshua Farm: Growing Diversity, Growing Family Farming
Written by Marie Hoff & Photographed by Alycia Lang A.L. Chaffin didn’t believe in banks. Born before the Great Depression, he stored his money in shoeboxes under the seat of his truck. After the stock market crashed in 1929, he used this personalized banking system to buy land in Butte County, California. In cash. Agriculture […]
Read MoreTranshumance: a Revival of Grassland Culture
Written by Ariel Greenwood & Photographed by Noelle Gaberman trans·hu·mance noun the action or practice of moving livestock from one grazing ground to another in a seasonal cycle, typically to lowlands in winter and highlands in summer. Grassland, prairie, savanna—in some regions these landscapes are so ubiquitous that they are paradoxically invisible. They are everywhere, […]
Read MoreRooted in Community: Chico Flax
Written by Sarah Lillegard & Photographed by Paige Green Tucked in by the entrance of the artisan barn at this year’s California Nut Festival is a booth that seems perfectly at home with its setting. The light from the open door is catching bundles of dry flax and the barn floor is slowly acquiring little […]
Read MoreAn Ear to the Ground at Flying Mule Farm
Written & Photographed by Sarah Lillegard 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 […]
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