As winter’s icy silence settles upon Wauka Valley Farm in North Hall, the farm’s rustic gates are closed and the public is prohibited from catching a glimpse of daily life on the sheep farm.
But as the landscape of the Appalachian foothills bursts into bloom each spring, Lynn Johnson throws open her farm gates to the public and invites families to partake in picnicking and the spring shearing of her 59 sheep.
On March 29 and 30, Johnson will welcome to her farm anyone interested in celebrating the spring season with the age-old ritual of shearing sheep. She said folks, minus their canine companions, can visit the farm between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Johnson said Tommy Irvin, who has served as Georgia’s Agriculture Commissioner since 1969, plans to attend the Sunday celebration at Wauka Valley Farm. Irvin is distinguished as the longest-serving state official in Georgia as well as the United States.
White sheep, brown sheep, tan sheep, black sheep — Wauka Valley Farm has them all. And Cartersville shearer Randy Pinson will spend two full days in late March shearing wool from Johnson’s beloved English sheep.
"Right now they’re so itchy. They want their coats off," Johnson said. "They’re just getting a haircut and they’re so happy to be getting a haircut."
Pinson, who has been shearing sheep around the Southeast for about 20 years, said it takes him about 10 minutes to shear a sheep.
"It’s a very hard job to do," he said. "You’re bent over the whole time doing it. But there is a technique to get the wool off in a good condition.
"When you’re shearing, the technique is to get the fleece in one piece," Pinson added. "You always take the belly wool out, but the remainder of the fleece you keep it in one piece."
She said most of her sheep grow an inch of wool each month, and she has all of her Cotswold, Corriedale and Old English babydoll sheep sheared every spring and fall.
And even though winter’s chill hasn’t quite loosened its grip, Pinson said the sheep seem to enjoy their haircuts.
"You’d think shearing them in cold weather would hurt them but it doesn’t; actually, they feel better," he said. Pinson was recently shearing sheep at a farm in Tennessee, and said he noticed a change in the sheep the day after they were shorn.
"Like, you sheared them, the next morning the ones shorn are jumping and carrying on," he said. "If it’s just a frost in the morning they’re fine and happy with that."
Johnson has lived on Wauka Valley Farm with her family, including her two daughters and two granddaughters, since 1992. She purchased two sheep in 1993, and called them Babaaran and Baabatte.
That was just the beginning. Fifty-seven sheep later, Johnson and her family members consider the woolly flock family pets, and have even taken the time to name each one of them.
"They’re very gentle, very loving and affectionate," Johnson said.
There’s carrot-loving Casper, and triplets Peter, Paul and Mary. And then there is Zach, Jack and Jill, Patches and Timmy, a big grey sheep Johnson affectionately refers to as "Brother."
And last, there’s Johnson’s granddaughters’ favorite, 9-year-old Madeline. Arthritic and unhurried, she resides in what Johnson calls the "assisted living" quarters in a paddock away from the rest of the flock.
Johnson said she holds public shearing celebrations each spring and fall to allow locals the opportunity to learn about the wool production process from where it starts in the pasture to where it ends in the form of a colorful scarf, sweater or set of gloves.
"It’s a family affair," she said, and nearly all of it takes place on Wauka Valley Farm.
Johnson’s family members are stationed at a picking table, where Pinson tosses wool after he has sheared it from the sheep. He said a sheep can give between 4 and 15 pounds of wool, depending on their age (they grow less as they get older) and the amount of lanolin in the wool, which is linked with the weather and nutrition.
"We pick out hay and anything that shouldn’t be in there," Johnson said. "Then we ship it up to a mill in Michigan, and they process it and send it back. Then we pull it out of the bags, dye it if we want and spin it on a spinning wheel. We ply it, twisting two threads, and then set the twist by putting it in the washer for 20 minutes in warm water."
After the yarn is hung out to dry, Johnson and her daughters and granddaughters get busy knitting crafts and clothing of all kinds, including blankets, shawls and handbags.
Johnson and her clan will also have their home-grown handmade goods for sale at the spring shearing, as well as glass jewelry made by Johnson’s daughter, Marci Rheinschild.
Sheep aren’t the only species roaming the green pastures under Wauka Mountain. Fifteen cats, six dogs, three llamas, two alpacas and two cows also call the farm home.
Johnson said she will be celebrating the spring sheep shearing for the seventh year, and expects about 200 visitors to venture out to the farm.
"Families can sit out and have picnics under the shade of the trees," Johnson said. "It’s a nice time. It’s a busy time."