I’ve been talking about waste wool to lots of folks for months and finally people are excited and listening. Can you imagine if farmers weren’t throwing away their “waste wool” and instead creating valuable building materials, packaging, fertilizer, soil remediation, wool sheeting for environmental cleanups, erosion and more? I mentioned last month that Uncommon Strands […]

I have been working with the amazing Rhode Island School of Design’s The Nature Lab on the Regeneration virtual series. The live Zoom discussions have taken place once per month since October 2020 and we’ll be wrapping up the conversations May 2021. This online speaker event explores diverse perspectives on how making can integrate with […]

Check out my newest article “A Zapotec Artist & Weaver Rebuilds His Own History for Generations to Come,” in the 41st issue of Taproot Magazine, an independent, bimonthly, ad-free print magazine. Taproot celebrates farm, food, family and craft through writing, photography and the arts, both fine and domestic. In my article, I interview Zapotec weaver, […]

I was honored to partner with the RISD Nature Lab for a 4-part series called “Common Thread.” The four conversations explored the commonalities within regional systems (Massachusetts and Rhode Island) tied to land, waste, material, and color and how they can intersect with various modes of thought to drive positive change. The conversation was moderated […]

The thirty-eighth issue of Taproot, an independent, bimonthly, ad-free print magazine. Taproot celebrates farm, food, family and craft through writing, photography and the arts, both fine and domestic. Check out my article “Foraging For Self” in Issue 38 of Taproot Magazine. I get personal about what it means to find oneself while looking for natural dye […]

At least one scientist sincerely believes that making clothes out of molten rocks mined in space is the future of fashion. From a sustainability perspective, that’s complicated. Have you ever looked out at the night sky and wondered if the materials for your next dress were floating through space on an asteroid? Believe it or […]

Sallie Whitlow has been in love with natural fibers for as long as she can remember. She is a knitter and long-time hand spinner who first became interested in alpacas (back in 1994) through working with their beautiful fleece. Her business, Sallie’s Fen Fibers, a mini-mill in Barrington, New Hampshire mostly processes alpaca, but also […]

The Holyoke Bicycle Shoe was created as part of the Western Massachusetts Fibershed by Daphne Board of Holyoke, MA. The new Western Mass Fibershed’s debut project is currently on display at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment in Amherst, MA. The exhibit, titled “FIBERSHED: Woven Together,” celebrates the successful production of bioregional wool fabric that […]

As part of our carbon farming cohort, Plain View Alpaca Farm owners Keith and Debbie Tetreault took on practices this spring and summer to better their pasture grazing area for their (“aggressive eating”) 41 alpaca herd. Plain View has been one of 5 farms participating in strengthening the Southeastern New England fiber farming community with […]

When I arrive at Sippican River Farm, a small alpaca farm located in the beautiful town of Rochester, Massachusetts, I am greeted by rolling green fields of fescue and orchard grass on both sides of the long driveway, one side now covered in a new layer of compost. The farm’s idea to spread their alpaca’s […]