and the Chesapeake Fibershed was born .
The Chesapeake Fibershed , fittingly , is composed of the land in the Chesapeake watershed — DC , Baltimore as well as portions of Virginia , Maryland , Delaware , Pennsylvania , and West Virginia .
“ The Fibershed out there in California is defined as a radius from a certain point ,” Marian said . “ But on the East Coast , we ’ re closer together , partly because of how our resources are organized . So , instead of having some artificial circle , we decided to follow the lay them going again .”
Lisa Check , owner of Flying Goat Farms and a member of the Chesapeake Fibershed , said she noticed an uptick in local mills about 12 years ago , but progress on the processing front has been difficult .
“ It ’ s a really big learning curve to be able to make nice yarn , and the equipment is expensive as well ,” Lisa said . “ Unfortunately , lately we ’ ve seen a lot of these mini mills going out of business somewhat because of the pandemic and also just because of the lack of business .” on a line of yarn that is Fibershed compliant , meaning it is grown , processed , spun , and dyed within 150 miles of the farm .
One of the biggest aspects of Fibershed is empowering people to purchase locally produced textiles and support their communities . This year , the Chesapeake Fibershed will be hosting a competition to energize these efforts .
“ We want to invite artisans and makers to come up with an item of clothing or home textile so that people can see that having something that ’ s made locally can-
The Chesapeake Fibershed has a solid number of fiber producers with a variety of different types of wool . However , the area lacks processors . This makes it difficult to create the product from start to finish locally .
of the land . And that ’ s when we decided on the using the Chesapeake Bay Watershed .”
Marian says that right now , the Chesapeake Fibershed has a solid number of fiber producers with a variety of different types of wool . However , the area lacks processors . This makes it difficult to create the product from start to finish locally .
“ A lot of our national local mills , most of which have been on the East Coast , have ceased operations because of competition from China ,” she said . “ So , these factories are sitting there and not doing anything . And it ’ s going to take a really special effort to get
For the past 17 years , Lisa has been raising angora goats and producing beautiful yarn that she dyes herself . The Flying Goat Farm is committed to sustainability , so it is solar powered and no till in order to promote carbon sequestration .
Lisa decided to get involved with the Chesapeake Fibershed after reading Rebecca Burgess ’ book .
“ It just really struck a chord with me because we are trying to be stewards of this land . I just knew I wanted to be part of this movement because it so aligns with my value system ,” she said .
Since joining the Chesapeake Fibershed , Lisa has been focusing on natural dyes and working not only be beautiful , but could be something worth having ,” Marian Bruno explained .
The details of the challenge , set to launch this fall , are still in the works , but creators will have a year to create a product from start to finish within the Chesapeake Fibershed .
“ I ’ m really interested in helping to educate people about sustainable textiles ,” Lisa said . “ I started working on my project for the challenge , which will be my second sweater that is made in the Fibershed , so I keep trying to promote that to educate others and having them ask questions like ‘ why is it important to buy local , buy quality ?’”
10 plenty I autumn harvest 2021