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You are here: Home / Fauna of Mendonoma / The Sea Ranch Sheep and Textile Arts: The Cure for Insomnia

The Sea Ranch Sheep and Textile Arts: The Cure for Insomnia

August 26, 2015 by Donna Martinez 1 Comment

Did you know that Sea Ranch is the perfect place to cure your insomnia?

The Sea Ranch Sheep A Sure Cure to Insomnia

sea ranch sheep , Sea Ranch, Abalone BayAll you need to do is get a comfy chair, wrap yourself up in an organic woolen scarf or knitted throw, then go visit The Sea Ranch Sheep while they are busy at work.

Once settled, begin counting one-by-one the nearly 600 sheep and goats that can be found grazing along The Sea Ranch meadows under Leland Falk’s watchful care. If not cured of insomnia, you’re sure to become de-stressed, relaxed, and smiling as you return home.

Sea Ranch’s 4-legged WeedWhackers

sea ranch sheep, Sea Ranch, Abalone Bay, Vacation rental, things to do, cure for insomniaThese ruminants are The Sea Ranch’s quiet weed whackers! Known as prescribed grazing, The Sea Ranch has used sheep and goats since 2002 as a means to stop the encroachment of grasses, vines woody shrubs. These pesky plants pose both practical and aesthetic threats to the homes and residents through fire hazard and destruction of the meadows.  Their baaing and bleating, while not silent, are certainly more pleasurable and less polluting than the gasoline roars of a landscaper’s weed whacker.

Which Would You Prefer Blending with the Sound of the Ocean?

The Sea Ranch Sheep…

Or…A WeedWhacker?

 

sea ranch sheep, Sea Ranch, Abalone Bay, Vacation rental, things to do, cure for insomniaThe two flocks of sheep do a terrific job of keeping the grasses in check while the goats will eat most everything else: poison oak, baby pines, blackberry brambles. Through a carefully prescribed grazing plan The Sea Ranch Sheep not only have helped keep the area protected from fire danger but also have enhanced the natural health of the area.

 

Meet Leland Falk

The Sea Ranch Sheep
Leland Falk keeps vigil Photo: SFGate

The flock’s owner, Leland, is definitely no sleepy Little Boy Blue! His lanky, 6-foot-3 frame can often be seen working hard on the hillsides or along the meadows setting up bales of portable electric fencing that will encircle a 5-acre paddock for the sheep.

This paddock may be moved as much as twice a day, depending on how low the ruminants munched the grass. Set up next to the fence is a solar panel that feeds a battery charging the fence with an irritating, harmless pulse keeping the animals inside it.

Failing that there’s always Leland’s Border collie, Mac, as a backup plan.

 

Spring Tonic: Lambs-a-Leaping

Sea Ranch SheepAs spring comes to The Sea Ranch the grasses are green, the sheep grow fat and soon it’s lambing season. There is nothing more enchanting than to see the paddocks filled with the gleeful leaps and bounds of spring lambs sprinting about.

Enjoy counting these delights:

sea ranch sheep, Abalone Bay, vacation rentals, the sea ranch

sea ranch sheep, Abalone Bay, vacation rentals, the sea ranch

sea ranch sheep, Abalone Bay, vacation rentals, the sea ranch

sea ranch sheep, Abalone Bay, vacation rentals, the sea ranch

sea ranch sheep, Abalone Bay, vacation rentals, the sea ranch

How to Find The Sea Ranch Sheep

If you do decide to try to cure your insomnia or at least reduce your stress and recapture your smile by counting The Sea Ranch Sheep you’ll need to know how to find them. Just go to their website: http://thesearanchsheep.com

On The Sea Ranch Sheep Homepage, you’ll find a map with a bright green circle or two posted somewhere along the 10-mile stretch that is the community of Sea Ranch. Other pages have photos of Leland, his dog, and of course the sheep and goats.

The sheep also have their own Facebook page! Be sure you become a fan of theirs. You’ll find more photos or even a video of the day’s activity.

Be Mindful of The Sea Ranch Rules

If you plan to linger with the sheep it’s important to note…

Because The Sea Ranch is a private community, you must be a resident, guest of a resident or renting one of the vacation rental homes, such as Abalone Bay. A valid parking permit must also be displayed while on the private patrolled roads.

Sheep Counting √ …But What About Your Cozy Woolen Blanky?

Now that you are all set to count The Sea Ranch Sheep you’ll still need that cozy woolen blanket or scarf to snuggle up in.

We have all the information you’ll need to make your organically knitted textile creation. Or for those of you just as untalented and uncoordinated as I am, to purchase your handmade treasures locally.

First, of course, you’ll need to come by the wool that is milled into yarn.

Read on to see how a woolly sheep—sea ranch sheep here's looking at you

The Sea Ranch Sheep, Sea Ranch Woolworkstransforms into organic locally spun yarn —

and then into a beautiful scarf, blanket, sweater:

 

 

 

 

 

Shearing Time at Sea Ranch then Off to the Mill

As summer comes around it’s shearing time once again!

After the sheep are shorn, the wool is gathered and delivered to the Valley Ford Wool Mill for Sea Ranch Wool Works.  Delivering the wool to a local mill allows local fiber artists to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint while supporting our own local economy.

I highly recommend stopping by the Valley Ford Wool Mill and taking a look at the operation.  Its located in Valley Ford right off of Highway 1.

You can’t miss it!

The general storefront specializes in local, eco-friendly, naturally made clothing, organic bedding, local cheeses and organic foods, jewelry, and other unique crafts and gifts. In addition to over three dozen local artists, we feature the best of American West Purses, Pendleton Blankets, Ramblers Way Wool Clothing, Coyuchi bedding, and Cowboy Collectible Jewelry.

It also has some really good jerky made fresh daily if you need a snack.

Sea Ranch WoolWorks

In 2012 Harmett Dhillon founded Sea Ranch Woolworks using the wool gathered by Leland, processed locally at the Valley Ford Wool Mill. Local craftswomen turn it into durable and beautiful hand-knit scarves. They bring California grown and processed natural fibers to consumers of fine knitting yarn, roving for handspinners, and knitwear.

Their products, yarn, and knitwear are available online at Etsy.  Most their wool comes from their “Fibershed,” The Sea Ranch Sheep. They also gather wool from a small ranch in El Dorado County, which produces much of their alpaca for their wool/alpaca blended yarn.

The raw materials needed but located beyond the Fibershed, are still all natural — no synthetics — and found in United States.

Exploring Fiber Arts in Sonoma County: 3-Day Itinerary

After you have had your good night’s sleep dreaming of sheep leaping across the bed you’ll be ready to further explore Sonoma’s wonderful world of fiber arts. Sonoma County Tourism has compiled a 3-day itinerary. Each stop is fully described in the article along with recommendations for restaurants and lodging.

The textile stops only are outlined here.

Day 1 begins in Petaluma where you explore:

Hen Haus Boutique (1334 Ross St., Suite C, Petaluma, 707-364-2645)

Quilted Angel (200 G St., Petaluma, 707-763-0945)
Knitterly (No. 1 Fourth St., Petaluma, 707-762-9276)
Stitch Craft (170 Kentucky St., Petaluma, 707-773-4739)
Before leaving town, review Petaluma’s calendar of events for fiber-related activities. The Petaluma Quilt Guild hosts a number of exhibits and events, including the Great Petaluma Quilt Show & Boutique each fall.
Day 1 ends at Valley Ford Wool Mill and Mercantile (14390 Highway 1, Valley Ford, 707-876-1908). Traveling 10 miles further you spend the night at Bodega Bay.

Day 2 begins in Bodega Bay that includes stops at many of the tourist spots as well as:

Artisans Co-Op Gallery (17135 Bodega Highway, Bodega, 707-876-9830)
Hand-made Studio (17175 Bodega Highway, #4, Bodega)

Then travel north to Sebastopol:
 Yarnitudes (3598 Gravenstein Highway S., Sebastopol, 707-827-3618)
 The Legacy Thrift & Gift Shop (781 Gravenstein Highway S., Sebastopol, 707-823-7520)
Head east to Santa Rosa:
Cast Away & Folk (100 4th St., Santa Rosa, 707-546-9276)
Legendary Beads (111 4th St., Santa Rosa, 707-569-0338)
Helene’s Custom Framing & Scrapbooking (109 3rd St, Santa Rosa, 707-546-4760)
Day 2 closes in Santa Rosa.

Day 3 is made of choices- east to Sonoma or north to Healdsburg and Cloverdale

Option 1: Eastern Sonoma County
Broadway Quilts (20525 Broadway, Sonoma, 707-938-7312)
Option 2: Northern Sonoma County
Purls of Joy (461 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-433-5697)
Alma’s Oilcloth and Chucherias (437 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-395-0956)
Fabrications (106B Matheson St., Healdsburg, 707-433-6243)
Cloverdale located 17miles north on Highway 101 is the last stop

 Other Fibershed Producers In the Mendonoma Area

The Sea Ranch Sheep is just one producing a resource for many within the Mendonoma Fibershed region. Below, taken form the Fibershed directory are others you may wish to explore as well.
  • Sonoma County
    Abigail Myers and Hazel Flett / Bodega Pastures – Columbia, Corriedale, Romney, Suffolk & Churro sheep
    Ariana Strozzi & Casey Mazzucchi / Valley Ford Mercantile & Wool Mill – Dorset, Romney, Navajo Churro and Shetland sheep
    Beverly Fleming / Ewe & Me 2 Ranch – Romeldale, Cotswald, Romney sheep, red angora goats
    Cindy Studdert / Studdert Family Farm – East Friesian sheep
    Craig Wilkinson / Quantum Culture – natural dyes (indigo), colored cotton (as The Biodynamic Cotton Initiative)
    Debbie & Mark Emery / Brookfarm Alpacas – Huacaya alpacas
    Deborah Walton / Canvas Ranch – Babydoll Southdown sheep & cashmere goats
    Harmeet Dhillon / Sea Ranch Woolworks
    Lauren Ohlsen / Permaculture Skills Center – sheep, alpacas, llamas
    Leslie Adkins / Heartfelt Fiber Farm – Icelandic sheep, Ouessant/Shetland sheep, angora goats
    Lisa Colorado / Sonrisa Family Farms – angora goats
    Marie Hoff / the Capella Grazing Project – Ouessant/Shetland sheep
    Mimi Luebbermann / Windrush Farms – Shetlands, Corriedale/Finn and CVM sheep & alpacas
    Noelle Gaberman / West County Alpacas – alpacas
    Sarah Keiser / Wild Oat Hollow – Romney Sheep
    Vicki Arns / Alpaca Shire – Huacaya & Suri alpacas
  • Mendocino County
    Janet Heppler / Nebo Rock Ranch – Merino sheep, Angora goats, angora rabbits
    Jean Near
     / Utopia Ranch – Merino sheep
    Kathy & Richard Varian / Merry Meadows Farm – Merino & Cormo sheep
    Peggy Agnew / Red Creek Farm – Merino sheep

Follow Our YouTube- The Sea Ranch Sheep Playlist

Are you still in the need for a sheep fix before you drift off asleep? Follow us on YouTube. There we have a gathered a playlist of videos of The Sea Ranch Sheep for your enjoyment!

~Enjoy counting and sleep tight!

Filed Under: Fauna of Mendonoma, Things to do, Vacation Tips Tagged With: cure for insomnia, fibershed, Leland Falk, Mendonoma, organic wool, prescribed grazing, road trip, roadtrip, ruminants, Sea Ranch, Sea Ranch Wool Works, sheep, Sonoma County, Textile Arts, The Sea Ranch Sheep

About Donna Martinez

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