Lum Farm and 4th Seed Farm have collaborated to offer wool pellets for all you plant and soil lovers out there!
We're looking forward to introducing this opportunity to take part in a small solution towards protecting our planet. Using wool pellets begins again the cycle of enriching soil to grow healthy plants to support healthy animals (and people!)! Healthy sheep grow beautiful wool... and on shearing day we gather up that wool to press into pellets that can begin the cycle all over again!
Intrigued? Here's the scoop on this sustainable and environmentally beneficial use for waste wool!
What are Wool Pellets?
Wool pellets are compressed bits of raw wool, lanolin and organic material (yes, maybe just a wee bit of poop).
What Makes Wool Pellets Special?
• Wool pellets hold 20 times their weight in water. As a soil additive, they reduce watering frequency.
• Wool pellets provide aeration in the soil, creating space for roots to grow and spread.
• Wool pellets are a natural soil amendment, providing essential nutrients for plant health.
• Wool pellets repel slugs and snails.
• Wool pellets are a sustainable solution for wool waste, benefitting the environment and local communities.
How to Use Wool Pellets:
Mix 1/2 cup pellets with 1 gallon of soil for use in gardens, flower beds and containers.
Sprinkle pellets around existing plants and work into soil.
To repel snails and slugs, create a barricade of pellets around plants, using a 6” circumference.
What exactly is "Waste Wool"?
Amy Lum and Cathy Morris of Orcas Island Shearing hard at work with the Lum Farm flock.
Usually right before lambing season, shearing happens on the farm. Each member of the flock is sheared (think of it as simply a haircut for sheep). After shearing, the fleeces are spread out and "skirted". The waste wool is sorted out from the nicer quality wool, which will be washed and carded into fiber that can be used for clothing, bedding, yarn and more.
Often that waste wool is just tossed out. Instead, we gather up this wool to make pellets. First the waste wool is "crushed", which is a process that cuts the wool fibers into a size that will run through the pellet press. That wool is then fed into the press, which compresses the wool into small pieces easy to use as a soil amendment for everything from house plants to gardens.
The result?
Wool pellets are an ingenious way to make good use of a product that normally would be cast aside. Not only is the waste wool being put to use, it has become a wonderful addition to regenerative and sustainable farming practices.
For a deeper look into what a shearing day looks like on Lum Farm, please visit this blog post from Shearing Day 2023.
For more information about 4th Seed Farm on Orcas Island, please visit www.4thseedfarm.com.
Suzanne enjoys the Clun Forest sheep at 4th Seed Farm on Orcas.
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