Mesta Meadows Farm hosts Fiber Festival

Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian

Monday, March 28, 2022

Fibers, Fun and Food. Ed and Terri Crowley hosted their annual Fiber Festival at Mesta Meadows farms on March 26-27. Guests could pet Highland cows, Pyrenean Mountain dogs, Rambouillet sheep and goats the Crowley's own. Multiple vendors were on site for the fiber event including KISS Looms, Green Dirt Farm, and 1 Up Catering food truck. Visitors could also view sheep shearing demonstrations throughout the day on Saturday to learn about fiber microns of wool.

Ed Crowley, owner of Mesta Meadows, greets Sampson, one of the many Great Pyrenees dogs the Crowley's own that protect their sheep. (Beau Nations ~Southeast Missourian)
The Crowley's recently sheared Rambouillet sheep rest on the hillside at Mesta Meadows. The Crowley's own around 80 acres outside Marble Hill, Mo where they raise sheep and produce an estimated 300 pounds of wool each year. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian)
Bonnie the sheep and her newborn unnamed lamb are kept inside for safety and warmth at Mesta Meadows. A sheep can produce up to 8-9 pounds of wool per year once they are fully grown. The Crowley's livestock produce a super fine wool charted at 19.5 microns and sell the wool mostly over Etsy, with their farthest customer being in Ireland. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian)
The Crowley's goats Nikki and Stevie greeted guests who attended Mesta Meadow's Fiber Festival and enjoyed visitor's petting them throughout the day. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian)

Millie the Highland cow was the star of the fiber event and visitors took pictures with the Scottish breed of cow. Highland cattle are bred to withstand the harsh temperatures of Scotland and are known to have a docile temperament. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian)
Brooke and Ian Angle, two of the many guests the Crowley's hosted at the Fiber Festival, pet Millie the cow on Sunday. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian)
Terri Crowley skirts, or removes debris, from the wool sheared from sheep from Saturday. A sample from each sheep sheared is sent to Texas to be measured micron levels. A human hair is charted at 60 microns and anything below 22 microns is considered to be super fine. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian)
KISS Looms, for Keep it Simple Silly, was one of the many vendors at the fiber event. The organization is based out of Murphysboro, Il and creates and looms and teaches members of their club how to create different styles of looms. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian)
Katy Turbeville of Yarn Adventure sold yarn and other items out of her store-on-wheels to guests at Mesta Meadow's Fiber Festival over the weekend. Yarn Adventures is based out of Eureka, AR and covers an area of 700 miles outside Eureka. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missouri)

A small selection of the yarn sold by Yarn Adventure from inside Katy's yarn truck. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian)
Josh Chenoweth and Eliza Spertus from Green Dirt Farm, from Weston, MO, sold sheep cheese and provided visitors with information on how the cheese they sell is produced. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian.)
1 Up, based out of Cape Girardeau, sold food to the guests who attended the fiber festival over the weekend. The owners, Minakata Moresto and Nick Carreras produce a variety of street food at different events around Cape. (Beau Nations ~ Southeast Missourian)