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PAGE A-6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2004.
On the farm
0
Couple combines hobby with business
Steeles' wool
Marg and Rick Steele of RR3, Blyth wear two of her original wool designs. She has created
a full-line of sweater kits for children, women and men. (Bonnie Gropp photo)
By Bonnie Gropp.
Citizen editor
When it comes to Steele Wool
Farms' vision, you might say, it's all
in the name - a sense of family, the
skill to find your niche, and a love
and respect for agriculture.
The family began when Rick and
Marg Steele of RR3, Blyth met as
students at the University of
Guelph's science of agriculture
program. Rick, a city boy whose
heart's in the country, got a job with
the Maitland Valley Conservation
Authority, bringing the young
couple to the area.
"I knew I wanted a grazing
operation and between my job and
the land prices, it pushed us this
way."
When they first moved onto the
land, half of the farm was cropped. A
neighbour rented some of the
acreage, and the Steeles began
seeding their 100 acres.
The area now is getting pretty
small to rent so we will probably
seed that down," says Rick. "I guess
you'd say our operation is actually
grass, so we are going to try
•anything that grazes."
Today they have 150 sheep, a
Berkshire pig and her eight
offspring, as well as some chickens.
The latter are pastured in moveable
pens. "Which I guess was good
because one day Rick went to move
them and a hawk was sitting on the
cage," said Marg
While Rick tends to daily chores
and Marg looks after the lambing
duties, it was another skill that she
discovered which has helped her
find a niche. Growing up on a farm
in eastern Ontario she watched her
mother, talented, at a variety of
handicrafts, and learned from her the
magic that can be created by wool.
"I guess I absorbed all of that.
When we moved here, I realized I
had a passion for knitting and I
realized was sitting on all this fibre."
She sent some of her wool to a
mill in Prince Edward Island, then
after Rick bought her a computer
program, began designing her own
patterns, and putting together kits.
All the designs have been tested by.
Marg.
"I don't want to put out a kit that I
aven't knit myself. If someone
needs advice I want to be able to
provide them with feedback."
She also does her best to keep the
instructions easy to follow. including
a full-colour chart for the pattern.
Until this year, her venture has
been fairly low-key. "We decided
when we had children that one of us
would stay home with them. It
turned out to be me."
With their youngest now in school,
however, Marg said she's ready to
take a little more aggressive
approach to promoting her work.
With the help of her mother, who
jokingly refers to her farm as the
eastern division, Marg dyes her own
wool. "I wanted different colours. It
took awhile to develop, but we've
got it now."
Each dye can have up to five
colours, adding diversity to Marg's
creative designs.
Any concern about hard, _itchy
wool she is quick to dispel as well.
Marg believes that today's wool is
softer than the older type due to
more lanolin being left in. "Your
hands get really soft when you're
shearing because of the lanolin. Now
they're not washing as much of that
out."
In addition to her kits, the Steeles
also sell lamb's wool blankets.
Lamb's wool is the first shearing of
a ewe. It is during pregnancy that the
coat will lose some of its softness.
"More of the energy goes to the lamb
rather than to the back of the sheep.
So lamb's wool is just very soft. You
just want to sink your hands in it."
The blankets, which come in twin,
double and queen sizes, are all in
natural colour because, said Marg,
it goes with every colour scheme.
Continued on A-7