Fiber tour ready to go this weekend
GREENWICH, N.Y. >> The similarities are obvious and unmistakable.
The first thing people think of when meeting Sister Mary Elizabeth Garrett is her likeness to Julie Andrews’ role as Maria von Trapp in “The Sound of Music,” especially when singing the “The Lonely Goatherd.”
But she laughs when guests mention it.
“I remind them, Maria wasn’t a nun,” she said smiling.
However, the awe-inspiring hilly landscape at
Christ the King Spiritual Life Center, with views east to Mount Equinox in Vermont, is like something right out of the Academy Award-winning movie. Garrett manages a herd of several dozen cashmere goats that roam about there, one of 11 stops on this Saturday and Sunday’s Washington County Fiber Tour.
“Cashmere goats are fairly rare,” she said. “Angora goats produce mohair, the outer layer. Cashmere is the downy undergrowth.”
Finer, softer and more insulating than sheep’s wool, cashmere is primarily used for clothing such as sweaters.
To qualify as cashmere, fiber must meet three criteria — a certain curvature, length and diameter. It can’t be more than 19 microns in diameter and must be at least 1.5 inches long.
The are two main sources of cashmere goats, the Himalayas or a crossbreed between Spanish meat goats and Australian cashmere goats, Garrett said.
The Anglican/Episcopalian Sisters of St. Mary, which she belongs to, was given its goats by another religious order shortly after moving to rural Greenwich from Peekskill, in the Hudson Valley, in 2003.
At their former home, Sisters of St. Mary raised dairy goats at the request of a bishop in Africa. The goal was to have African girls come to America, learn subsistence farming and return home to help their families lead healthier, more prosperous lives.
When the program came to an end, the Sisters enjoyed goats so much they wanted to continue raising them. But fiber-producing animals are easier to manage than dairy. The Sisters couldn’t say no when the cashmere herd became available.
“It fits in with our ethos — ora et labora (pray and work),” Garrett said. “Others spin and knit. It just happens that the hand work I do is raising animals.”
The goats, ranging in age from newborns to several years old, have quickly become a big hit with local young people. Members of Cashmere Kids 4-H club lease and raise some of St. Mary’s goats each year as fun learning projects.
Also, the herd has produced five grand champion winners at the Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival in Tunbridge, Vt., and Garrett has taken some animals to the annual Cashmere Goat Association Show as well. Fifty percent of scoring is based on fiber quality, with the other half determined by the animal’s physical characteristics such as teeth and body weight.
The reputation of Sisters of St. Mary’s herd is so highly regarded that outside owners bring their goats there to be bred.
This weekend’s tour takes people throughout Washington County and features animals ranging from alpacas to angora rabbits.
Most farms offer fun workshops and demonstrations such as sheep shearing, sheepdog herding, felting, dyeing, spinning and finger puppets.
“We see this as an opportunity to teach about the animals we love,” Garrett said.
For more information, including a listing and directions to Fiber Tour farms, go to www.washingtoncountyfibertour.org.