About Plum Blossom Farm

Plum Blossom Farm began with a simple desire: to build a life that felt meaningful.

I wasn’t raised on a farm. For years, I worked a job that left me stressed and unfulfilled, waking up each morning already dreading the day ahead. I wanted something different—more purpose, more connection, and a life that allowed me to spend my days doing something I genuinely loved.

I have always loved animals and being outdoors, so I began exploring different kinds of farming. Eventually, I found my way to sheep.

Where It All Began

There was something about sheep that drew me in. They are gentle, intelligent animals with distinct personalities, and caring for them requires patience, observation, and a quiet kind of attentiveness.

I had a business plan.

What I didn’t have was a plan for what would happen when I actually fell in love with the sheep.

That became clear during my very first lambing season.

I watched mothers give birth and bond with their babies. I helped with difficult deliveries and cared for newborn lambs, some of whom were born with my hands assisting their mothers. I watched families grow together and began to know each sheep as an individual.

And then I realized I couldn’t sell them.

I couldn’t bring myself to send a lamb away knowing that someone I had raised and cared and built a relationship with might be mistreated or end up at a slaughterhouse.

So I kept them.

And then I kept the next ones, too.

The business plan went out the window, but something much more meaningful took its place.

A Forever Home

Today, Plum Blossom Farm is built around a simple promise: the animals who live here have a forever home.

They are not livestock in the traditional sense of being raised for production and eventually replaced when they are no longer profitable. They are individuals, each with their own personality, relationships, quirks, and stories. Some are affectionate, some are shy, some are mischievous, and some would prefer that you admire them from a respectful distance.

They are family.

Caring for them is the foundation of everything I do here. My days are filled with the ordinary work of farm life—feeding, fencing, hoof care, veterinary care, shearing, lambing, cleaning, and all the unexpected things that come with caring for a flock.

It is a lot of work, but it is also the life I was looking for all those years ago.

From Sheep to Wool

Once I decided that my animals would stay, I had to figure out how to make that possible.

The answer was right there in the pasture.

Sheep naturally grow wool, and I began to wonder if I could create value from that wool without ever asking the animals to provide anything more than their fleece. That idea became the foundation of Plum Blossom Farm.

Using wool from my own flock, I handcraft felted soaps and other felted goods, transforming a beautiful, natural fiber into things that are useful, practical, and meant to be enjoyed.

Every piece begins with an animal I know by name and care for every day. I know the sheep who grew the wool, I know their personalities, and I know that they will remain here for the rest of their lives. There is something special about that connection—the journey from sheep, to fleece, to something made by hand and eventually finding its way into someone’s home.

I love sharing the beauty and versatility of wool, but I also love what it represents here. It is a way of creating something worthwhile from the animals I love without asking them to give anything more than what they naturally grow.

That philosophy guides everything I make.

A Different Kind of Farm

Plum Blossom Farm isn’t a traditional fiber farm. The animals aren’t here to produce as much as possible, and they aren’t here until they are no longer useful.

They are simply here.

They have names, personalities, friendships, bad habits, favorite foods, and a place to live for the rest of their lives. Their wool is a gift that happens naturally as part of caring for them.

My work is to take that gift and turn it into something beautiful.

I hope that when you bring something from Plum Blossom Farm into your home, you feel a little of that connection. I hope you see the beauty of the natural fiber, the care that went into making it, and perhaps imagine the sheep standing in the pasture who made it possible.

Every piece carries a little bit of the warmth of the wool—and the story of the animals behind it.

Thank you for being a part of this.

— Carole

 

One of the things I love most about my business is being able to support and give my animals the best care I can.  These sheep are so dear to me and I feel very fortunate to be able to give them the care and respect they deserve.  They are all individuals and contribute different dynamics to the flock.  They each grow such different fiber as well which makes shearing time a fascinating phase.  I also deeply enjoy having the sheep and working with the wool, as it connects me to a whole world of fiber arts and tradition.  I love watching the wool grow and then ending up with a finished product in my hands.  It is such a beautiful process and I feel it joins me and my sheep to history and to a fundamental way of being connected to nature.

 Check out this video made for us by Abra Marketing.  They were so generous with this project I just cannot thank them enough!

 

I was not raised on a farm. Shepherding wove its way into my life over several years. I was working at a job that left me stressed and unfulfilled. Waking up with dread every morning thinking about the day that lay ahead of me. I craved purpose and connection. I was longing for my calling.

That got me started looking around at my other options.

I love animals and being outdoors so I looked into different areas of farming. During my research I became interested in sheep.  Sheep have personalities that requires patience and calm. In my search of different breeds I found Wensleydales. They have long, lustrous fiber and are hardier than many of the modern American breeds. The plan was to buy a foundation flock of ewes and breed them. At the time Wenselydales were a rare breed in the States, expensive and hard to find. A Wensleydale lamb may have brought ten times the price of a regular breed. Breeding and selling is the typical business model as that is where the money is.

For many years I was a solo farmer. During the year I feed, fix fences, trim hooves, give vaccinations and minor vet care when required. These days I still do most things but my husband Aaron, luckily carries the 50 lb grain bags and rents a tractor to clean out the barn.  What used to take me weeks with a pitchfork and wheelbarrow now takes a day with a tractor! Sometimes I need a reminder to work hard and not just plow through tasks the hard way.

I’m a one woman show as for doing what the business requires. I built and maintain my website, handle all my print and packaging, apply to fairs, fill orders, respond to customers, participate in social media, build relationships with wholesale and retail customers. All with a feeling of purpose and gratitude because this business takes care of me and mine. It seems to me anyone who loves what they do can get meaning from even tedious tasks when it is part of their dream.

Lambing season is wonderful, exciting, and for me, anxiety causing! Watching a mother bond with her lamb is so rewarding. Although often the moms don’t need much help, I am there to dip the umbilical cord in betadine, give the ewes warm water and molasses and get Mom and lambs into a separate pen to bond.  I have had to step in to help deliver many lambs now.  Many of the members of the flock were born with my hands assisting their moms efforts.

But that first lambing season a fatal flaw in my business model struck. I could not bear to separate the lambs from their mamas or part with the lambs at all! How could I sell a sheep knowing it would be going to someone who probably would not have the compassionate approach I did. Worse, I knew those lambs would end up in the slaughter house someday. These were my babies. How could I live with myself after sending them to slaughter?

Well I didn’t. I kept them all. I was so embarrassed. Family and friends knew my big sheep breeding plans. And here I was protecting those sheep. Now how was I going to make money? No one makes enough money to survive just by selling wool. Wool prices are so low, many sheep farmers don’t even bother to sell it and just sell the lambs to market.

My only alternative was to start making products from the wool. Felted soaps and wall art, scarves and dryer balls. All products I could make myself and sell online and at crafts fairs. It was tough. I really had no brand or way to get my products to stand out. The focus was on the individual items not on the sheep or on what made Plum Blossom Farm unique.

The first year I didn’t even get accepted by half of the craft fairs I applied to. I am sure it was the amateur quality of the photos I had. I was starting to feel like a failure. That my emotions led me to abandon my business plan and here I was working so hard and earning so little.

It was then that I had stroke of luck to find out about a way to brand my business. To stand out and get customers really engaged with what I am doing.

I needed to open up about my values, my appreciation for time-honored farm methods, compassion for animals, the traditional family farm. It is a throw back to a simpler time. Maybe it sounds simplistic and nostalgic, but there are people who are attracted to this approach. My traditional farm is an antidote to the commercial large farms and big AG. People connect to keeping these traditions alive.

I used a web-based graphic artist to redesign my logo more in line with my values of organic, compassion, love of sheep, and affordable luxury. Then I used that to update my business cards and packaging. One bold move was to make the sheep the front of the business. I have some of their stories featured on the web site. I went further and have sponsorship options for one month, two months, six months, one year and lifetime.  The customer gets to know the story of their sheep, get a variety of products  as well as have the good feels that come from supporting something they believe in.  I get to highlight what really matters to me and have my flock support themselves. I have been working on improving my photography skills and the results are really paying off.

Customers have really noticed the difference. At fairs they tell me stories about their farm experiences and how my products are tied to these memories. They love the idea of my compassionate farm.

The results are the proof. I was part time for many years until I shifted my focus to put the sheep at the front of my business.   I would estimate that about half of my customers buy because they are interested in the products. But the other half buy because they are attracted to my stories and farm values. I don’t’ think it is a coincidence that this has become a solid full time job for me since I began nurturing this new brand.

You know what else?  Wensleydale prices sunk with the last economic recession and they are now a much more common breed. So I am actually making much more money with this approach than I would have if I stuck to my original breed and sell business idea. And I sleep so much better knowing my sheep are well cared for and have a forever home with me.