Now that Juniper Moon Farm is serenely settled in our new beautiful location, Erin and I are very excited to be starting up Shepherding Camp again!
Our Shepherding Camp is a six-day, five-night fiber vacation at our farm You’ll stay at our farmhouse, help us take care of the flock, and knit and spin yourselves silly.
The price for Shepherding Camp is $1300 for up to two people. The accommodations are a private room with two twin beds, so it’s a great trip for two girlfriends or a Mother and Daughter. We can, in some cases, host a third person for an additional charge. While we encourage you to spend some time with our flock, you can do as much (or as little) farm work as you choose. If you’ve ever considered having a flock of sheep or herd of Alpaca of your own, Shepherding Camp is a great way to find out if shepherding is for you.
[2009 Shepherding Camper Kay snorgling Colorado]
When you’re not helping out on the farm you are free to explore the Charlottesville area. There are some lovely Vineyards nearby, as well as Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, The fee for Camp includes all meals, served family-style with the farm staff, but we can recommend some amazing restaurants nearby.
Space at Shepherding Camp is very limited! We can only accommodate two people at a time and we will only be doing three week-long Camps this year. However, we will be offering several mini-camps this year for the first time ever. The mini-camp will be a shorter, long weekend version of Shepherding Camp, with arrivals scheduled for Thursday evening/Friday morning and departures on Sunday. Just like with the week-long camp, all meals are included and we will keep you busy while you’re here. The cost for the Weekend Shepherding Camp is $600 for two people.
We will only be booking six weekends throughout 2010 so reserve your weekend early. I highly recommend the weekends during our lambing and kidding season, although we can’t make any promises that you’ll get to witness a birth. (Although, I will say that one lucky camper this summer saw twins being born half an hour after she arrived!) Kidding will begin in March and lambing will hopefully start in April.
And now, for the giveaway! You can enter here to win a Shepherding Camp Weekend for up to two people, all meals included. All you have to do is leave a comment here telling me why you’d like to spend a weekend at Juniper Moon Farm and who you’d bring with you if you win AND help us spread the word about the giveaway. Post the info and link on Facebook, twitter, your blog, in your Rav group, everywhere you can think of, cause we have to have 1000 comments before I’ll pick the winner. Fair enough?
One winner will be chosen at random from among all the entries. One entry per person, please. The winner’s name will be posted on the blog- then winner then has 48 hours to email us at prizes AT fiberfarm DOT com to claim his/her prize. A second drawing will be held in the event of an unclaimed prize and the clock will start again when the new winner’s name is posted.
The winner will work with Erin to schedule a mutually agreeable weekend for the visit. The winner will be responsible for all travel expenses to and from our farm.
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I would LOVE to win that weekend! I would bring my husband. If my hsuband couldn’t come I would invite my cousin, Leslie who’s a fiber fiend like me. It would be great for us to catch up over a little front porch knitting and doing a little shepherding! My husband and I want to have a small working farm somewhere and I so want to raise goats and sheep! It would be fabulous to have a weekend for some practice at being a shepherd and meet the folks behind one of my favorite blogs ever! It would be soothing to my soul!
I would love to win this trip because I’ve always wanted to have a farm of my own. I love animals and it would be an amazing trip to take with my matron of honor also my favorite knitter before my wedding. So we can have some time together. As it is now we live a few states away from one another and don’t really get a chance to have any girl talk/ knit and chat time. Also I would love to see all the sheep in person, I love following the blog!!!
I’d love to spend a weekend at Juniper Moon Farm because I grew up on a farm and have fond memories of helping my dad do morning chores. I’d bring along my spouse, who sometimes thinks my knitting is crazy, but I know he’d have a great time seeing the animals and the workings of a farm.
I would love to come and snuggle with all the cute critters! Also, having an excuse to spend a weekend outdoors on your beautiful farm would be an ideal vacation. I would bring my husband as a thanks for all his hard work renovating our basement.
I wrote about it on Facebook. And I’m not sure who I would bring with me. Maybe I would meet my sister there since we live 1500 miles apart. I don’t have any friends who knit, but maybe I could bring one into the fold.
What an incredible idea! If I were to win, I’d choose to take my sister. She’s a new mom and has gone through some crazy things in the last year (including baby, cancer, and her husband losing his job). I totally admire her – and would love to snatch her away to somewhere beautiful. Inside, she’s always been a country girl – and I’m sure it’d delight her!
I have been a student my whole life and am about to finish my PhD this spring. So even though I’m in my 30s, I still have “when-I-grow-up” dreams about having a job, owning a home and–one day–living on enough land to raise goats. One thing at a time…but I think shepherding camp would be such a great glimpse into one of the directions my life might eventually take. I would share the experience with my mum…she raised me around horses, entered her own sheep in 4H when she was young, and I think she would absolutely love a trip out east to stay at the farm.
I would love to visit the farm! My mom owns a yarn store, and it would be so much fun to see the other side of the business
Plus, I could use a break from college, and I can’t think of a better place to go. I would definitely bring my mom because I think we’d both have a great time! Thanks!
I would love to come with my daughter, who is 17. She is a knitter, but doesn’t spin…yet. She loves knitting, though. Or maybe I’d take my 15 year old son, he doesn’t particularly enjoy knitting, although I expect that if I teach him to spin, he might well get into it. What he really likes is animals, and he’d spend the entire time out helping you with all the really really dirty work. I just want to hold some animals and spin and knit myself silly and talk with you people….a lot!
Oh, how I would love to visit Juniper Moon Farm! I would bring my niece, Rachel – my goat shepherdess in training/animal guru along as well. See, I had one of the top ten essays in the Goat Giveaway contest and Rachel so desperately wanted me to win. She texted, she emailed, she contacted everyone she knew asking for a vote. When I told her my essay was not chosen, I think she felt worse than I did. A trip to your farm would give her a small glimpse into what Aunt Sue might attempt to do next year. I would love the opportunity to see first-hand just what goes into all you do, Susie. And I’d have my sidekick, Rachel, with me to remember what I forget, to soak up the experience and to see just what fun (yes, I know – work) it will be if Aunt Sue can finagle a small herd of goats in 2010.
I recently started working for the 4-H. While I’ve got plenty of experience with kids with two legs, I don’t know a lot about those with 4. I would love to expand my knowledge so I could expand our county’s program offerings. If you pick me I promise to pass what I learn on to my 4-Her’s. I’ve also acquired my Great-Grandmother’s spinning wheel and weasel. I’m interested in making them more than just decoration. I would probably bring my good friend Heidi. She has done a lot for me and I would love to pay her back.
I would love to spend a week at your farm because I have a fantasy of leaving my career in law and policy to have a sheep farm from which I could run a yarn and cheese CSA and could get an idea of how feasible that idea actually is. I’d bring my friend April since she brought this contest to my attention.
Wowie! My boyfriend and I have the City Living blues. We’ve been completely enchanted by the window that you’ve opened to the CSA model and the beauty of a shepard’s life.
We’d love a chance to get muddy with the Juniper Moon Farm crew!!
I have been interested lately in what exactly it takes to have sheep and the opportunity to be away from a noisy office and get my hands dirty. I keep threatening that I am going to sell my life and start up a flock of Icelandic sheep. I’m not exactly sure who I’d bring along.
The idea of being able to spend a vacation with you, Erin, and the sheep makes me giggle. I promise I won’t talk incessantly or follow you around forcing you to hide from me in the basement. I will knit too much, laugh too much, help you watch too many dvds, and hopefully have a couple amusing stories saved up to share. And if I can peel her away from the MVCC, I’ll drag Alissa with me!
Ohhhhh I so want to win! The knitting and visiting is lovely but I want to spend more time outside working with the animals or other farm chores and getting dirty. I’ll even buy my own boots! And I’ll remember to hold the feed bucket above Ernie’s head! I’d bring Suzy because she would make sure I actually found my way there! Hey, I know…I could bring an air mattress and sleep in the garage and Suzy and Frank could have the bedroom. See, I’m planning already! Three workers for the price of two..well maybe not, since I eat a lot of cheese!
My city-boy husband has totally surprised me by being enamored with the sheep he saw at the Mass. Sheep and Wool Fest. This would be an incredible learning experience for both of us, an experience of a lifetime…
because i keep telling my boyfriend that one day we will up and move to the countryside and start an alpaca farm. only he thinks i am joking. and because i worked in a barn for two years and really miss it. i would bring my best friend who would also enjoy the experience very, very much.
I would love to win the weekend because I think the Charlottesville area is beautiful, and who wouldn’t want to spend the weekend there. I am a fan of the outdoors and would love to help out with the animals, as I think your farm is great. I would bring my sister who also knits for a fun sister’s weekend.
I would bring my husband. We have two small children, and time together is few and far between. When we do have the rare time alone together, we really enjoy working together on projects – and this would be great. He’s an agricultural farm boy, so no animals, and I’m a city girl with daydreams of the farm life so this would be so great for us.
I’d LOVE to spend a week at Juniper Moon Farm. I would bring my partner, Julie with me. Julie is from Australia, where there are LOTS of sheep, but she has never been to the United States, and I think working on a sheep farm would be a great vacation for both of us. We both come from farm stock a few generations back, and we are both avid knitters!
Susan in HK
seriously wonderful! i would love to spend the weekend at the new amazingly beautiful farm with my daughter and husband, they are my favorite people to travel with and i think that we would all enjoy it so much. we would love to have our own farm some day with all of the wonderful animals like you do.
also i would love to see you and erin again, i met you at the squam art sale in june and really enjoyed visiting with you both.
thanks for the opportunity to take a chance!
Honestly, I’ve love to come to the farm just to help out with everyday barn chores. My favourite part about visiting my great-aunt’s farm is helping out doing tasks. It feels more rewarding then my day job! Manure scooping? Weed pulling? I’m your woman!
My mom & I have always wanted a farm of our own to raise animals (and horses in the case of mom) so I’d bring her & our cameras & knitting. Plus she deserves the holiday away.
I had no idea there was anything like this available to “wanna be farmers”. Hands on trining? I have owned 4 horses in my lifetime. All boarded off my property as a teen. My dream is to have either Alpaca’s or pygora goats one day. This is wonderful oppertunity. ‘Hats off to you for reaching out to others, and allowing them to enjoy your lifestyle” I would bring my friend Donna along for sure. My hubby is not interested, but Donna and I have co-dreamed of starting a farm of our own one day. This would allow us to see if we are cut out for it or not. We are both avid spinners, and knitters. This would also be a vacation well deserved by us both. No hubby’s, no kids….no worries……”Pick me, pick me”!!!
I donate my entry to Melissa Morgan-Oakes if my comment happens to be the one picked. While I’d love to play with sheepies I have a local friend I could do the same thing with if I really needed to. Not ready for livestock yet.
I would like to win so I can see upclose why my wife is so obsessed with knittting. That is who I would take with me by the way.
I would love to spend time at the Juniper Moon farm because I would love to reconnect with animals. When I grew up my parents let us girls, my 2 sisters and I, have so many pets. We had the traditional cats, dogs and fish but we also had chickens, rabbits and horses. I would love to know what it is like to have sheep and goats, a dream of mine, too. I guess I would love to bring my mom as she has a soft spot in her heart for animals. Also, because she never really gets away from home very often. I think she would love spending her day doing crafts and working and loving the animals.
This sounds like so much fun! When I was little, I spent a couple of weeks on a farm and it was one of the best times of my life. I also loved camp so I’d love to do something like that again! I’d bring my husband because he thinks it sounds like a lot of fun as well.
I would love to go to Shepharding Camp because I think there may be a country girl trapped inside this city girl and I need to let her out every so often or she gets antsy. I would bring my sister since we take crafty trips together or one of my knittas but it would hard to choose which one….
I’ve wanted to visit the farm and meet Susie, Erin and the flock since I “met” you all via the lambcam. My daughter Victoria and I spent hours watching, waiting and cheering for each new arrival. If I was the lucky winner, I’d have to choose between my friend Meredith , who introduced to me your wonderful farm and my daughter. hmmm I wonder who…
Top 10 Reasons I should Win
1. Petting real sheep is much more cool than the sheep on Farmville on Facebook.
2. I haven’t been around a goat since the one at the petting zoo chewed on my Easter dress in first grade.
3. I love the smell of hay and sheep.
4. I love wool.
5. I’m a city girl who would like to have some farm exposure with friends who will save me from any possible ravenous goats.
6. I want to learn the sheep to wool concept.
7. We share an accent and you would feel like you’re talking to someone from home.
8. I’m a fellow Texan.
9. I’ve never won a contest.
And fabulous Number Ten:
10. I’d help with the chores.
I’d bring my husband cuz that’s how we roll.
I’ve always loved sheep but never had a flock of my own.
As a child, my great grandmother gave me an antique picture of sheep grazing – I still have it in my living room along with her spinning wheel (which I have never used.)
While living in Iceland, I’ve learned to knit Icelandic sweaters, Icelandic style of knitting(probably European method, not sure).Anyway, I would love to spend time at your farm. It would be a dream come true.
Thank you
Karen Vose
I like to learn about caring for goats and sheep. I
would bring my grand daughter, Heather with me.
What an exciting giveaway! Spending a weekend at your farm would be incredible. I would bring my mom because she loves animals more than anyone I’ve ever known and appreciates my healthy obsession with knitting. Thanks for the opportunity!
I’d bring my mom and I’d like to come because she needs a break! Since getting divorced, moving states and getting a new job, 2009 has been a heck of a year. Did I mention she has a 9 & 10 year old boys?
Since moving, she’s started her own farm: 2 sheep, 11 laying hens and a milking goat in December!
We’d love to visit your farm and learn how the pros do it!
I would like to attend your shepherding camp for precisely the reason you mentioned above. I am thinking about starting a farm, but as a city girl I don’t have any experience. It would be nice to know if I have what it takes to run a farm before I make that leap.
I’ve seen it, I loved it and I want it!!! I loved my visit this summer and all I wanted was for it to last longer. One afternoon was clearly not enough. I would love to see how grown up Dakota and Delaware are! I know my daddy will start a flock some day, so the more I know the more I’ll be able to help. I have 3 possibilities of travel partners 1) Daddy of course, if he can get away from his horses for a weekend. 2) My husband (cuz he loved our visit this summer as much as I did – thought Erin and Susie were adorable) or my best fiber friend Betsy cuz nobody else gets me like she does on the fiber thing. I still have to get my Oatmeal project back to the farm so I may just have to visit soon even if I don’t win. Pick me, Pick me!
I would like to bring my son to Juniper Creek Farm. he hasn’t met an animal he doesn’t like and loves being outside. We live in an apartment now so he hasn’t had as much chance to be in nature as he would like. This has also been a really tough year for him, he got braces and glasses plus major changes to his school. He is in a special gifted program of 10 kids and 5 of the older ones left and 5 new ones came in including a girl his age. 4 of the boys have been together for 3 years alone and the new girl has really made things different. It has been tough on Alex as he has ADHD and is very emotionally immature which drives Katy nuts so they’ve had a big schism in his 5 4th graders, plus this year the regular students have really noticed the gifted kids are different and the bullying has commenced. He would love to meet some of the sheep and goats and chickens in a place he could interact plus a weekend alone with Mom might help him destress.
I would bring my husband. We live in different states right now (I work, he’s in grad school), so we don’t get to spend a lot of time together. He cheerfully indulges my knitting habits (especially when I make him things), but mostly, I think he would enjoy playing with his camera the entire weekend.
I’ve just taken a Betsy Hershberg knitting class and I’d bring her patterns and knit beaded jewelry.
I know some about goats (but would sure could learn more) and nothing about fiber animals… I would love to learn about sheep and spinning. I’d bring a friend who is planning/hoping to have a small fiber farm someday…
I have dreamed of owning and running a fiber farm for quite some time. I would love the chance to spend a weekend learning all about it. I have yet to learn to spin, so that would be an added bonus! I would most likely bring my boyfriend, as this is a mutual dream of ours and we are heading south (from NH) for a couple of weeks in a few months, so it would be ideal.
Thanks!
Alison
What an amazing giveaway! I’d bring my husband, since I dream of having sheep and he is “eh” on the idea. It would be a great experience for us. I’m a knitter and he’s a woodworker. Both of us were raised with horses, cows, pigs, so sheep will be a new experience. Thank you!
I am dying to come see the new farm! There is nothing I find more relaxing than being around animals. I’d bring my husband, for sure, because he is the biggest animal lover I know. I’m trying to convince him to get chickens…hopefully a weekend at the farm would do that, and make him want sheep too!
I would love to spend a weekend at Juniper Moon Farm for a few reasons.
First and foremost, I would like to see how a fiber farm operates. I live in the suburbs so my own flock is not an option for me, although I would love to have sheep of my own (or a lamb to snorgle!). I would like to have the opportunity to see what it would be like to have a flock.
Second, I LOVE Charlottesville. I’m from Ohio, but my father was deployed to Charlottesville after 9/11 to work with NGIC and now my brother and sister-in-law live there because my brother now works for NGIC. I would love to visit the area again and have a nice dinner at the Bavarian Chef restaurant!
I would bring my husband along because I am a city girl and he has big dreams of buying a house in the country. If he ever convinces me to move to the country, I think a fiber farm would be wonderful. I want him see what he would be getting into if he allowed enough land for me to have my own sheep!
To spend a weekend at Juniper Moon Farm would be a treat. I’ve always wanted to be a “farm hand”. There’s just something so exciting about being out there and spending the day with the animals and taking care of them
I’d bring my friend Allison because she loves to knit and to be able to spend time with the sheep and spin her own yarn would be a wonderful experience.
I would love to visit, and would invite the friend who cares for the critters when I have to be away overnight to join me. She’s the one who will be looking after my future flock when I am away, so it seems perfect that we both get some “training” together
wow!!! u guys really do know how to come up with some rockin’, kick-ass giveaways!!!
how cool would it be to come to the farm for a weekend and dig in and get dirty? truly be a part of the next project you will create…
i would bring my 12 yr old niece. she is such an enthusiastic person. she will try ANYTHING once. she is a sponge and wants to learn about EVERYTING. i took her to the hopewell junction farm this past year for the sheep shearing and party and she completely enjoyed herself and was particularly impressed with how the fleece was sheared from the sheep in one piece and the weaving demonstration really caught her eye. she asked a million questions!
she could be a shepherdess in the making!
Excellent! What a great way to spend a week or weekend. Now I just need to learn how to knit! I’d love to spend a weekend at Juniper Moon Farm, to meet the sheep and learn how it’s done…I’d love to own/run a fiber farm someday!
Ooo OOoo Pick me! Pick me! LOL!
I hope all is going well on your new farm. We will miss you in NY, but your new farm sounds just lovely.
Give my best to the flock
Karen
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