Story by Caroline Spurgin, photography by Alycia Lang. The air at Mimi Luebbermann’s farm hums with organic magic. We arrive at Windrush Farm under a rainbow relinquished by the early morning showers that left the earth damp and the air fresh. Purpled mustard greens poke up out of the grass around stoops and sidewalks, opalescent […]
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Cooperatives & the Next Clothing Industry
Text and photographs by Jess Daniels, unless otherwise credited. Three simple words: Made In _________. This phrase, adorning nearly every item of clothing in our closets, is a frustratingly simple explanation of garment manufacturing. In fact, the sweater I’m wearing as I type this offers multilingual instructions for washing and drying, but offers nothing about […]
Read MoreKentucky Hemp
Thanks to grants from Patagonia’s Environmental Grants program and the Blackie Foundation, Fibershed has been in collaboration with various organizations to support the raw plant processing and cloth creation processes for this historic project. On June 1st of 2014, the fields of Eastern Kentucky became the site of a healing return of veterans and an […]
Read MoreFrom Sheep to Shop
Photos by Paige Green Jackie Post is living the fiber lover’s dream at her farm in Vacaville, California, where she settled around four years ago with her husband Leonard, who works as a scientist, but grew up on a farm in Michigan and raised sheep in 4H. The flock consists of 18 sheep of varying breeds (Shetland, Jacob, Navajo-Churro, Karakul, Herdwick and […]
Read MoreFibershed’s Colorado Hemp Research Project
Fiber systems are best designed to minimize detrimental impacts on the biosphere, and to enhance ecosystem function where possible. Fibershed has chosen to research the use of industrial hemp as a fiber crop because it fits both of these criteria. Background Fibershed worked during the summer and fall of 2013 to prepare for a 2014 research crop in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. […]
Read MoreBarinaga Ranch — Inspired by Ancestral Traditions
Overlooking Tomales Bay, in the hills above the small town of Marshall, lies Barinaga Ranch. This special place in the Marin countryside grew out of a vision inspired by Basque ancestors and plenty of hard work by Fibershed producer member Marcia Barinaga and her husband Corey Goodman, a neuroscientist and biotech entrepreneur. The Barinaga family began sheep ranching […]
Read MoreMonica Paz Soldan: Tiny Textiles’ Big Philosophy
Story by Jess Daniels / photos by Alycia Lang and Jess Daniels One of Fibershed’s first official artisan producers, Monica Paz Soldan of Tiny Textiles in San Francisco, is a self-proclaimed “comfort junkie.” Stepping into her Portola home on a drizzly San Francisco day wraps you in this sense: the walkways and floors are lined with […]
Read MoreBlack Mountain Farm — Where Old World Meets New World
Story by Caroline Spurgin, photos by Alycia Lang The process of arriving at Marnie Jackson’s farm is an experience in itself. As Lucas Valley Road vanishes into a distant point point behind us and Nicasio Valley Road rolls out ahead, the Nicasio valley appears to bloom before our eyes. Velveteen hills roll out on all […]
Read MoreDownhome Fibers: A River of Creativity, Care & Quality
Story by Rebecca Burgess, photos by Alycia Lang Clear decision making accompanied by determination and hard work has landed Kim Bethel into a life extraordinarily well suited to her. While in her presence you can observe and viscerally feel the satisfaction and contentedness that emanates from someone living a life rooted in place and grounded […]
Read MoreHarvests from Hemp Heroes
Text and photos by Erin Axelrod. Historical photos courtesy of Kentucky Hemp Museum. An earlier blog post by Ongeleigh Gipson, Kentucky Veterans Cultivate a Hemp Resurgence, discussed the promises of hemp cultivation to employ US veterans, grow a generation of new farmers, and revitalize a cellulose-based alternative to our current resource-intensive fiber industries. During the two days […]
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