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Thanks for posting! 👍

حلو 😊😊😊

0:43 😂😂😂

This past spring I learned that planting very densely resulted in sorter plants but also finer fiber. I also learned that the plot that was the densest produced few to no seed and resulted in the tips of the plants having little to no branching that causes increased fuzziness. I purchased some old 100 year old flax from Germany and found that fiber was just as fine and short as what I have grown here this past spring. Im pleased to know that I can produce some very fine fiber suitable for some very thin thread for fine fabric on the loom. It takes forever to spin super thin lace weight thread. The quality of the thread however is very much worth the extra work needed. I think with some better feeding of the fibers I can get a bit longer plants and still retain the fine fibers.

I would live happily ever after on this farm.

I love that you are doing this. I understand that your focus, or initial focus, is on wool production. But, wool growing is limited to certain areas of the Country. The rare breeds, novelty breeds, meat breeds, have a Nation wide interest, and certainly a broader market among the pet and exotic animal breeders. It is exciting to see this happening. Is there a possibility that you would do semen or embryo imports for goats?

I had the pleasure of meeting Alvin very briefly when he visited Golden Eagle Flax Machinery Company in Zhoushan ,China where I was installing some MACKIE 528 spindle Wet Spinning Frames . Very knowledgeable gentleman and an interesting and informative video. A lot of this Knowledge on Flax has gone so it's great to see people learning and taking an interest. The more spindles producing Flax/Linen and Hemp in the world the better. I still work in this business and pre Pandemic was refurbishing MACKIE machinery in Muling Flax mill N.E China.

I’m gonna miss that place

Thank you! I will try this on the nettlefibers I´m processing!

not pure breed perhaps?

Seed and fiber. I now have two varieties. Suzanna and Natalie. I need to be sure to harvest sooner so the overall quality of the fiber is better. Then let some go to seed for the next year and to sell or barter some. Im in Northern California. About 1/4 acre for flax production. I now have my roller crimper for crimping down cover crops. Cover crops going in this weekend and will be for growing over winter. Looking for a small harvester so we don't have to hand harvest anymore. But until then we pull by hand.

Are these F1 lambs? What were your foundation ewes? I follow a Valais Blacknose breeding up program on Facebook and My goal is to have some of these sheep on my farm. From my understanding the rams should all be wethered until they are f5’s when they are considered pure and the ewes at f4. I am happy to be able to follow your process as well.

I love these black sheep, I've been wanting one and you're nearby (I'm in Washington!)...

Thank you for the information on how to grade the fiber. Learned quite a bit. Im ready to harvest my second year of fiber flax. I have Suzanna and Natalie flax growing here. I tilled up my soil and left the ground a bit course and planted without rolling the seed bed. Same as I did last year. I ended up with flax germinating at different times and some was very dense and produced very thin stalks and some very thick stalks. I now know what to do to help that problem. Similar this year but not quite as bad. My Suzanna was planted from seed I saved from last year and some germinated well and some not at all. Guess I did not let it mature quite long enough. My fine fiber is a joy to spin. Retting is difficult and is best done in warm weather and not cold. I like the testing method of 10 scrapes per bundle to see how well retted the fibers are and that is an important test. I have about an 1/8th acre of flax growing. Im in Northern California in Marysville. We are near Chico and I am friends with Chico Flax. I have helped them harvest last year and this year. I had taken my spinning wheel for a demonstration last year. Working on an automated scutching machine. Simple but functional that will speed the process. Hoping for a good result this year. Chico Flax has produced and harvested 4 times what they produced last year. We are getting pretty good at hand harvesting quickly. They planted in October and I planted at the end of January. Im almost ready to harvest.

Thank yo for bringing them to America!

Do you know if the Valais Blacknose sheep could thrive in the heat of the south, since they are originally from the cold?

Great video. We attended a worldwide McConville Family Gathering in 2002, and Eugene was there. He played the fiddle and escorted our tour. Then played the fiddle and entertained us more that night at dinner. Great trip.

They are so cute! They don't keep that coloring it looks like though, do they?

Baby...

This makes me want a black nose sheep even more

Congratulations on successfully importing the most red. I wish you much luck getting them established, and thank you on behalf of all American sheep and fiber lovers for opening the door to the import of the breed to us soil. Hurrah.

Wow! Incredible to see this video. Do you allow tours of your farm? I live in the U.S. and have recently become enamored with the Valais Blacknose Sheep but figured I’d have to leave the country to experience them.

Hey