Wool, for the people!

ABOUT ABUNDANCIA

We are a working fiber farm based in the Finger Lakes region of NY. Our farm follows a regenerative approach to farming and as agroforestry professionals we pay close attention to our impact on the landscape, and our deeply reciprocal relationship with our flock.

Our Regenerative Practices

As trained agroforestry professionals, we are closely attuned to our flock’s impact on the landscape. We have seen the marked positive impacts that a well managed flock can have on the land, especially the species diversity that grazing environments can support, from dung beetles to migrating grassland birds such as bobolinks. We practice daily rotational grazing in our silvopasture system, which refers to grazing areas that integrate productive tree cover for shade and tree crops and animal fodder. We manage our grazing parcels for plant fodder at different strata as well. What this looks like at the pasture level is plantings of perennial fruit and nut trees, selectively protecting taller canopy trees in grazing areas, while also managing “shade islands” of shorter bushes for shelter and fodder, and improving pasture diversity by seeding in palatable legumes such as clover, trefoil and vetches. Feeding and distributing hay residues on pastures also helps to promote pasture health through seed and adding organic matter. We carefully manage winter bedding through composting to recycle nutrients in our farm and reduce nutrient losses and methane.

Our Mission

We proudly grow, process and wear wool from our flock. As farmers, we love wool for its warmth and utilitarian appeal. We love exploring ways of using and creating with our wool, such as handcrafting wet-felted creations and making handwoven textiles. Education about local farming and fiber protection plays a key role. We enjoy sharing with our community about the material and environmental virtues of wool, the beauty of fiber arts, and highlighting the deep, reciprocal relationship we have with our flock and local landscape.

Our Vision

Our vision is to produce high quality and functional, 100% wool based items for everyday use. We aspire towards a closed loop, regenerative and diversified production system that produces quality wool (alongside a diverse offering of food crops), processed as locally as possible within our local fibershed. We also want to elevate wool as a superior, local alternative to petroleum-based synthetic fibers in the context of converging microplastics pollution and climate crisis.

OUR OFFERINGS

Abundancia also works closely with wonderful local and regional processors to value-added wool products, such as mill spun yarns, sweaters and pelletized wool fertilizer. We offer registered Finnsheep breeding stock, and occasionally we also produce purpose-driven fiber crosses. Our flock is coated year-round to ensure fiber high quality fleece. We also breed dairy sheep, with a focus on producing healthy dairy animals that also have a lustrous, hand spinner quality fleece. We are members of "Local Fiber", an Ithaca-based shepherd's collective that promotes local wool, and are excited to be new members to the Hudson Valley Textile Project.

Abundancia invites friendship and collaboration from handweavers, knitters and other fiber artists, small businesses, as well as clothing and textile designers, and anyone with a love of sheep and natural fiber!

Abundanciafarm.com or email us at abundanciafarm@gmail.com