NSA Farm News
WHAT'S NEW!!
Coming up at Northern Solstice in 2011
Our RentAlpaca Program has been an overwhelming success! The interest in the program has been diverse and we have renters from all over Maine and others in Florida, Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts and more. We are looking forward to the next year, sharing our Alpacas with all of our Renters. It is an amazing opportunity for us to educate our community about Alpacas. As we move into the new year, we are putting together some other educational opportunities to offer our customers and friends. We will be sending out a newsletter to all of our contacts on a regular basis, this the intent of providing updates on farm activities and upcoming events, as well as some interesting and educational stories. We are starting a fiber arts group called Friends & Fiber that will meet monthly at the farm, offering an opportunity for people with an interest in fiber to come together and share in a experiential learning environment. We will be holding a number of classes this year, beginning with Alpaca 101 classes on January 30th and February 8th, and many other topics as the year goes on.We have six cria (babies) on the way in 2011, five of which have been sired by our own Space Cowboy. We are expanding our pastures to accomodate this growth.We have shows to attend in the spring with our 2010 cria, Laelia, Maestro, and Archimedes. We're looking forward to some great results from these little ones.Check back with us often. There is always something new and exciting happening at the farm.
Events
Want to talk Alpaca with us? You can call us for a farm visit, or you might catch us out in the community at a fair, alpaca show or competition. The 2011 schedule of Alpaca-related events is as follows. 2012 Schedule »
YARN ARRIVAL!!
Fleece and Fashion
The alpaca yarn and roving has arrived in our Gift Gallery from our 2010 shearing. Get yours now, while it lasts!!! Choose from Splenda & Paxson (White), Murphy, Cowboy, MaryLou or Posie (Fawn), Hamilton & Salsa (Brown) or Eclipse (Black), plus many shades in between! We are very excited to share our 2010 harvest with you. Our alpacas spent a whole year growing this beautiful fiber and our fiber mill made it into a wonderful, quality product our alpacas are proud to call their own! For all the knitters and spinners in our audience, come now to get the best variety! Make something for yourself or others and get to know the animal it came from!
Cria, Cria, Cria!
Babies
The 2010 birthing season was quite eventful at the farm this year! Our first blessed event happened early on the 4th of July. It was doubly special because Posie gave birth to the first female cria we have had born on the farm that we own ourselves. Her name is Laelia (Lay-Lia) and she is beautiful! We call her Lia for short. Her Father is a beautiful rose-gray and Mom is medium fawn. Lia has the markings of a rose-grey, with a white/beige face, but has a fawn body. It will be interesting to take her into the show ring this spring and see what the judges call her. We just call her "sweet". Next on the roster came "Grand Maestro". Aria stayed with the important dates theme giving birth to Maestro on 9/11. It was a text book birth, even with Mom being a maiden and Maestro was up on his feet in no time and introducing himself to the herd. Aria was very attentive to him and was very, very proud! Aria and Maestro are owned by our friend, Janis Piper, and are boarded at Northern Solstice. Maestro will test his skills in the spring show arena, too.
The final baby for the season was the most anticipated…our first Space Cowboy baby born on the farm. Cowboy had already sired babies on other farms earlier this summer…a bay black girl to a white Mom in central Maine, a white girl to a white Mom in New Hampshire and a brown boy to a brown Mom in southern Maine. The quality of his cria is fantastic but with the colors so diverse, we could only wait and see. And to make it more interesting, we bred him to our Firestar who is black and white. Well, it was time!
For more information on the babies, click here: more »
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Consider Raising Alpacas!!!
Now is the time! Whether you're just getting started or adding to your existing herd, Northern Solstice offers wonderful animals for sale. Whether you're looking for show animals, fiber animals, pet quality companion animals, a starter herd or something else, we have it for you. In collaboration with the Alpaca Center of New England group, we can offer you any type alpaca you would like to own. What a tremendous opportunity for you. We have a wide and diverse variety of packages available or let's be creative and put one together of your choice. Call us to set up a farm visit and start your new life with alpacas. We would like to introduce you to our herd and the alpaca lifestyle. It's a perfect time for an alpaca investment. Tax incentives are available, prices are very reasonable and the market is growing. If you've ever considered a future with alpacas, come see us for a complete and honest representation of the business and set up a "hands-on" visit with the animals. Our alpacas are listed on this website or on Openherd at www.openherd.com .
ALPACAS HAVEN'T "GONE GREEN,"
THEY'VE BEEN THAT WAY SINCE THE BEGINNING!!
Raising alpacas is indeed eco-friendly, environmentally sound, socially conscious, and offers real potential in pursuit of agricultural sustainability.
So how do alpacas think and act green? They don't. For alpacas it is easy being green. It just comes naturally. Let us take a look at just how softly the alpaca itself treads on the earth:
Alpacas are designed according to the environment in which they originated. Just as the bird species of the Galapagos Islands evolved over time to meet the challenges of their environment, so alpacas evolved to meet the requirements of the Andes Mountains in South America. more »