Fernhill Fibre Experience - to identify, grow, harvest, process and utilise natural, native, regenerative, real, organic fibres, food and fuel
This one day event will continue to focus on the inclusion of many natural fibres alongside our wool harvesting systems, with a key focus on holistic agriculture. As well as talks and films focussed on reviving natural fibre industries, we will be discussing how to rehabilitate the land with animals grazing in rotation, conserving soils and building biodiversity whilst harvesting replenishing resources that can benefit water, plant and mineral cycles.
This is a continuation of our Farm Open Day, be held at Fernhill Farm during our Autumn 2024 Blade Shearing season and will enable you to observe some of the top blade shearers in the Northern Hemisphere do their master craft and choose your fleece as it falls onto the boards in our 4 stand sheep shearing shed.
The Blade Shearing Tournament will take place on Sunday 22nd September - details here
Our lovely Horseshoe Barns will become the main hub, with traders, café, bar and relaxed seating situated around our nature pond, with cosy warm spaces whatever the weather.
Talks and Films, Workshops and Farm Walks will also be available around the farm and fields throughout the day.
Fibre Experience will showcase the Wonder of Wool, with displays of many British wool products, available for everyone to benefit from each and every day and Fernhill Fibre will deliver a decade of wool research into innovation and product awareness, to include acoustic drapes, insulation, packaging, carpets and underlay, bedding, furniture, mulch, historic re-enactments etc
Willow coppice rotations happen annually here, creating kindling and fireside supplies of dried firewood, all grown from nutrients from toilet flushes here - growing our own fuel is as key to survival as growing our own food and fibres too.
Saturday 21st September - a full day @ Fernhill Farm:
Welcoming tutors and exhibitors with natural, low-impact plant & animal fibres, natural dyes and earthy crafts - applications open from 1 July 2024 here
Full programme of traditional skills, talks, films and textile workshops to be announced on our newsletters and social media accounts
Fernhill farm “off the Hoof” café will be open around the site from 10am - 4pm
Local food and drink traders will complete our relaxed food and fibre market areas here on site
Demonstrations will continue throughout the day - themes include free spinning demonstrations, Black Smiting, Willow Weaving, Working Sheep Dogs, plus free to attend farm walks and talks plus more to be announced.
Cooking skills, adding flavours to Fernhill Farm meats - details to be announced
After harvesting approx. 800 freshly BLADE shorn, 1st clip lamb fleeces from the 18th September 2024, we will be offering you the opportunity to browse our fleece collections. - these fleeces will not be available online, are the cream of our crop and available to purchase in bags ready to take away on the day - if you have been before, please feel free to bring you own fibre bag back again so we can refill it for you as we love to reuse and recycle here wherever we can
This Fernhill Fleece Sale will be running all day, where after you have seen how we throw each fleece from the boards and onto our grading tables for hand picking and sorting, we label ready to takeaway - all this happens in the shearing shed, next to the sheep being shorn on this day
Fleeces include:
Romney X Shetland - cream, white, coloured freshly shorn lambs fleeces - plus ewes, shearling from our Spring harvest
Lustre fleeces - blends of BFL, Teeswater, Leicester Long Wool, Wensleydale breeds in bright whites and native shades of extra long curls - full fleeces, part fleeces, shearling, lambs and sample boxes, mini craft options etc
Bargain bags - range of skirt curls, VM curls, 2023 fleeces, felted fleeces, peg loom fleeces etc - all within the sale range
The Fernhill Fibre shop will be selling craft items, natural yarns, felts, sheepskins, socks, jumpers, blankets, scarves etc - We will also have our own leather goods and meat boxes for sale from our mini farm shop here on site, alongside many finished ready to wear products made from our verified regenerative wool fibres.
Wool Workshops - Beginners Spinning, Distaff Spinning, Wet Felting, Weaving, Natural Dying, Peg Loom Weaving - follow these details here
Workshops in Wool Handling / Adding Value to Fleece are usually available in our programme of events for full-wool ewes - if your interested in learning wool handling, grading and sorting for lambs fleece, please register here
Blade Shearing - shearers will be in the shed shearing all day - with commentary explaining the process and benefits of using blades
Blade Shearing workshops will be available on Saturday, where expert tutors will guide you through shearing a sheep using traditional hand shears we call blades - please book your slot here
Gear Courses - Sharpen your own set of blades - if you would like us to invite the expert Clive Hamer back here again please let us know thanks - maximum 3 participants per session from 10am and 2pm - please book here
Good to know information:
We can accept cash or card here on the day and come prepared for all weathers
Please do make contact if you wish to be involved in the our Fernhill Fibre Experience events at Fernhill Farm - we would be delighted to hear from you
This event has been partially funded by the Mendip Hills AONB under their new initiative Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) project and its a huge help to continue to offer this as a Free Farm Open Day - Thank You Mendip Natural Landscapes - an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
We can welcome you here from 10am - 4pm and please leave your dogs at home - we are a working livestock farm with sheep onsite at all times
We shall have our own meat boxes available to click and collect and browse here on the day - to pre-order you meat box, click Fernhill Farm Shop - our online platform to pre-order, click and collect home-grown farm products — Fernhill Farm (fernhill-farm.co.uk)