The Family Farm

Fibre Farm and Artisan Studio
Open for the 2009 season May 1 to October 17th.
Tues to Sat. 10am to 5pm or by appointment

Eco-farm tours $5 per person
Family and group rates
Children under 4 free when accompanied by a paying adult

Are you looking for an uncommon agritourism adventure?  Our eco-farm tours offer you and your family hands on fiber art experiences.  Touch the fleece, blow at a llama, break flax at the flax demonstration garden, see the eco-colours in the dye garden, discover the "colour of the day" in the dye pot.  You can even try your hand at spinning, weaving or felting.  

Looking for an unusual hand made gift or souvenir? -- our fibre art studio offers naturally dyed yarns from Joybilee Farm mohair, and wool, one of a kind fiber art, and goat's milk soaps made with natural, moisturizing goat's milk from the Joybilee Farm Saanans.

Stop in to see us if your vacation will take you through the Kootenay-Boundary--we are located right on Hwy. 3 between Greenwood and Grand Forks -- only 2 hours from all regional airports -- Kelowna, Castlegar and Spokane, WA.

Our Story:

Robin Dalziel (pronounced D-L) at Joybilee Farm, grew up in the Kootenays and learned to knit as a wee bairn.  His Great Uncle, Alexander Crum Brown of Edinborough was an Organic Chemist who knit complicated mathematical models with wool.  His Grand Father, Gordon Rutherford Brown, was the knitter in the family and the skill was passed on.   In fact Robin comes from a long line of Scottish knitters, weavers and shepherds.

His education in business, statistics, accounting and wild land recreation, with a generous portion of art and music, prepared him to establish a wilderness farm where he could practice his fiberart, while living in harmony with the environment.  Robin is an accomplished hand spinner, knit designer and wood worker, but what delights him about Joybilee Farm is spending each day surrounded by his family, working together.   

Joybilee Farm’s mountain and pastoral views inspire creativity.  Ecofriendly, even the animals at Joybilee Farm follow the 100 mile diet.   Robin raises angora bunnies, long wool sheep and angora goats for their lustrous and soft, renewable fiber.  From shearing, spinning the yarn, dyeing, to designing and creating the finished product – each step is done by hand.

	Ready for a break from the hustle and stress of city life?  Head to Joybilee Farm and feel the peace of our mountains and the rythm of the seasons.  "Its so peaceful here" is a comment we hear over and over again from our visitors. Spend an hour or a day and enjoy the serenity.  Pet a goat, play with a fleece, learn a new skill  and practice an ancient art.
The Sustainable Farm We are committed to sustainable farming practices.  Our animals provide the fertility for our soil and the browse growing here nourishes them.  We just completed an environmental assessment of our farm and passed with glowing success.

Why goats and sheep?  Our pastures were full of rocks, weeds and the left over stumps from decade old logging.  This offers the browse that goats thrive on and the forbes and grasses that sheep enjoy.  Sheep were called the “golden hooved” animals in Ancient Greece, because they tread softly on marginal pastures bringing them into productivity. Our goats and sheep provide quality spinning fiber which we offer for sale as raw fleece, prepare for spinner's or make in to handspun yarns and wearable art garments.  For a limited time after Spring and Fall shearing we have raw fleeces available, from our white and coloured angora goats and our white and coloured sheep (Romney, Cotswold and Rambouillet) for spinning and felting.  Many of our fleeces are reserved prior to shearing, so if you are looking for a specific fleece please contact us. Our goats also provide us with wholesome, nutritious milk.  We pour it into our handmade, cold processed soaps and shampoo bars making them super fatted, mild and extra rich and gentle on sensitive skin.  We also feed our bottle lambs and kids with this perfect mother substitute.

Sheep and Goats for sale

	Rabbits, too?  Our rabbits are pure bred French Angora, that provide us with luxury handspinning fiber, groomed from the rabbit during its seasonal molt.   This Prime Groomed French Angora fiber is made into yarns and garments with both beauty and therapeutic benefit. No, harvesting the fiber doesn’t hurt the bunny and is necessary for its good health. Our rabbits get regular time outside their cages for exercise and grooming.
	Joybilee Farm is predator friendly. Our guard llamas, Cappucino and Laddie are always watching out for the best interest of our flocks.    They are very good watching the babies in the barn at night.  When a goat or sheep is giving birth the llamas lie down surrounding them  so that no one can interfere with the new mother.   Missey was 6 this year.   She was a pb Great Pyrenees guardian dog and proved herself to be very adept at overseeing the safety of our flock.  When each new lamb, cria or kid is born she aquainted herself with its smell and bonded with it.  She tiptoed around the new babies but was fiercely protective if a predator entered her territory --throwing herself, with thunderous barking,  in their direction.  Missey passed away this Spring -- but not before training Gelato and Donder in their Guardian duties. Gelato is a pure bred Marema.  Donder is another pb Great Pyrenees.     With two dogs working together the stock will be safe from cougars and bears.  Using livestock guardian dogs and llamas enables us to protect our flocks while maintaining respect with the local predator population--cougars, coyotes, black bear and grizzly. Livestock protectors for sale.	Ian shears our flock of angora goats, long luster wool sheep,  and guardian llamas having completed his apprenticeship in shearing in 2004 and his Advance Shearing Certificate from Olds College/CCWG in 2006.  He is a full time custom shearer, specializing in small flocks.

   The Organic Practices