Madeline Rosenberg

Ballyhoo Farm & Fiber Emporium

What’s your story?

It all started with a half-blind horse...

Penny would panic and run through fences when I rode other horses off property. I'd read that the large Thoroughbred farms kept sheep as calming pasture companions. I wanted a breed small enough for me to handle on my own, hardy enough to survive my learning curve, and with wool that someone might buy. The Ballyhoo flock began with four pregnant Shetland ewes. I didn't grow up around fiber arts or animals; in fact, I had sheep for a year before I knew what people did with wool!

My neighbor kindly taught me to knit, and I taught myself to dye. My first sales encompassed three colors of millspun Shetland yarn (one naturally dyed), one natural shade, and some hand-dyed roving. A year or two later, after two weeks of fighting to park and draft on a top whorl drop spindle, I sold my beehives and bought my first spinning wheel. I sold the first skein of yarn I spun! As a vendor at fiber festivals, I'd often hear people disparage handspun as itchy, irregular, lumpy, and hard to work with. I made it my mission to prove them wrong! Most of my yarn is fingering to sport weight. I've won ribbons at fiber festivals and the state fair for my spinning; one skein was a finished 3-ply the width of dental floss.

The Ballyhoo flock has grown to nearly 60 head of Gotland, Shetland, and Icelandic sheep that regularly win fleece and livestock competitions. We're now expanding our services to include managed grazing. My husband Alex joined the fiber business when we joined our lives. He's learned to shear, sell fiber, and I'm proud to say he can spot acrylic from 100 yards! In large part, Alex's engineering skills and strength (both physical and emotional) enable me to focus on developing new products from our wool and new ways to share what I've learned with those just starting on their flock and fiber journeys.

(P.S. - We still have the half-blind horse.)

What are your values?

Authenticity - We act from a place of integrity and transparency. I don't hide the sorrows of shepherding. I'm overly honest about my sheep and I try to place them where I feel it's a good fit for both shepherd and sheep. We raise our animals naturally, on pasture in a mixed flock with other species, where they're allowed to form strong family bonds and lifelong friendships. We do the best we can; most of the time it's enough and sometimes it's not. Hopefully people know that I tried to make a difference on this land, in my breeds, in the sheep and fiber industries, and for the world.

Heritage - Our products have a story, and you are part of it! Not only do we raise heritage breed sheep, traditional practices are interwoven through production and creativity here. We don't own a tractor; all building, feeding, and farming are done by hand. I blade shear, treat my flock with herbal medicine (within reason), use natural dyes, and hand spin. Our dryer balls are hand wrapped. My dad hand-turns wooden darning eggs and Amish-style swifts from local fallen timber. There's traceability in our slow work, both on the human side and through generations of sheep raised as part of our family. In fact, a lot of things are single animal or nuclear family origin.

What can we find at Ballyhoo Farm & Fiber Emporium?

At Ballyhoo Farm you'll find high quality, heritage breed, wool sheep with ribbon-winning fleeces! We primarily raise Gotlands and Shetlands. In the Fiber Emporium, you'll find all things related to wool, from raw fleeces fresh off the shearing board to hand spun and hand dyed yarns, and everything in between! Additionally, we sell hand-turned darning eggs and swifts, home and garden goods, and herbs and dye plants. Not only can you feed your fiber addiction, you can sharpen your skills with our fiber and shepherding workshops and online courses.

Where can we learn more about you and your work?

Website: www.ballyhoofiberemporium.com | Instagram: @ballyhoo.fiber.emporium