Librarian, Jean Schwartz
Hi, I’m Jean your new librarian for LOWS.
I’ve been a member of LOWS since I first got llamas in 1985. In those days we
didn’t have any library; in fact most people couldn’t find any written
information on llamas. Most of the information is what our wonderful creatures
taught us about themselves or what other llama owners shared with us at the LOWS
Farm Meetings. When my husband and I first started with llamas in 1985, we got
one male on a couple of acres of land in Roy. It didn’t take long before we
realized you just can’t have one. We had gone shopping a few days after we got
our first llama. When we got home he was nowhere to be found in the pasture.
After walking around the neighborhood for a while calling his name, like calling
for your dog to come home….right, we were told by a neighbor that he was down
the road in a pasture with some cows. That’s an example of how llamas train us
to their needs. After that we started building our herd. We decided to really
grow our herd but we needed a bigger place. After a year of searching we found
our dream place here in Rochester in 1988, a 27 acre farm with great pastures, a
solid older farm house, secluded on a hill top overlooking the Chehalis River.
The farm needed a lot of upgrades to make it work for llamas so we didn’t move
in until 1989. We started with the fencing by taking out all the barbed wire
on the farm, sinking posts, rewiring with New Zealand fencing, doing cross
fencing and putting in gates. Then we decided to tackle a larger project in
1993, we built a 36X32’ stud facility with six stalls and six separate pastures
to keep the studs and girls apart. Prior to this project the biggest thing we
had ever built was a chicken coop. We built some three sided sheds for the
girls until we could make something bigger; and bigger we made! In 1996, we
constructed a 44X80’ main herd facility for the females and crias. Over the
years we increased our herd from the original one to over 45, mostly through our
breeding program. We really enjoyed the crias while they were young, watching
them romp, tiger and play. The birthing was such a miraculous experience with
these wonderful creatures and all of our females were such great moms too. We
ended our breeding program several years ago but we dearly miss those cria
days.
In 1995 my husband and I became the first Superintendents of the newly formed
Llama Department at the Southwest Washington Fair. It took us a year to
persuade the Board of Directors that llamas would be a good addition to the
fair. There was strong opposition to having non-traditional livestock at the
fair. Over the years the local llama community proved we were good neighbors
and the department grew into a major attraction at the fair. Many of our local
farms contributed their time, livestock and knowledge to this endeavor.
Throughout the years we would annually participate in several local parades in
the area. We would dress our llamas in costumes and promote their virtues. We
went to charity events, walkathons, store promotions and nursing homes to
educate anyone that was interested in learning about these wonderful
creatures. We thoroughly enjoyed the annual Poker Runs at the McKinney &
Schimpf Farms, sponsored by LOWS. Over the years of owning llamas I’ve been able
to learn how to spin and weave llama fiber. I’m a member of several spinning
and weaving guilds in Western Washington. I’ve demonstrated spinning at the
Southwest Washington Fair, Thurston County Fair and the Puyallup Fair. I’ve
won several awards for products I’ve produced from llama fiber. I’ve been
successful in selling llama fiber, yarn and products throughout the years. I’ve
been a librarian for my spinning and weaving guilds in the past. Llamas have
been one of the joys of my life and I’m grateful to have been touched by their
magic. When I first started out with llamas I didn’t have the foggiest idea
about spinning, weaving, fiber, toenail trimming, shearing, grooming, bean piles
or any of the other wonders of llamas. Today our library covers many of these
subjects, they are available for you to enjoy and learn from.
I can best be reached at
lowslibrary09@yahoo.com