Our
Programs
Moral Fiber | Gospel Greens
Moral Fiber
Moral Fiber is the livestock portion of our day program. Our Ranchers raise fiber producing animals that give us mountains of wool, alpaca, and mohair. This program has two portions: the livestock portion and the fiber processing portion.
The Ranchers care for four male alpacas that are shorn once a year in the spring, and a mixed group of angora goats that are shorn in the spring and fall, giving us loads of mohair. The Ranchers feed the animals twice daily and clean up the pens and pastures weekly. The manure is composted and worked into our garden patch and raised beds. Apart from the actual work experiences that they provide our Ranchers, the interactions with the animals are therapeutic at times, frustrating at others, and sometimes just fun. We'll be starting with new spring kids in late May or early June.
The fiber processing portion of this program is an ongoing project that continues year-round. Our Ranchers spend a large portion of their day in our Love House workshop carrying out the various tasks necessary to turn raw fiber into finished goods--skirting and sorting, picking and fluffing, carding, making sheets of hand made felt and finally, creating one of a kind hand made bags and mittens. There are tasks for every functioning level and every interest level. There are tasks that meet the need for sensory stimulation, repetition, predictability, creativity and everything in between.
Take a look at our photo albums for many pictures showing the Ranchers and Staff in the process of creation!
