Alpaca farm brings new agriculture experience to Johnson County

Ashlee Ossoway and Richard Brothers own Lavender Springs Alpaca at Oil Springs, which also produces honey.

By Jonathan Picklesimer

Richard Brothers tends Lavender Springs Alpaca’s bees, makes custom wood crafts, and attends nursing school. Brothers says he hopes to influence the local honey market

OIL SPRINGS — Lavender Springs Alpaca in Oil Springs is bringing a new agriculture experience to Johnson County with commercial alpaca farming.

Ashlee Ossoway and Richard Brothers moved to Pickle Fork in July 2020 from the St. Lawrence River area of upstate New York and opened an alpaca, honey, and lavender farm.

“Eastern Kentucky is so business friendly,” Ossoway said. “Our neighbors love the animals and have been so very welcoming. It was too hard to open a business in New York. So, we came here looking for better weather and more opportunity.”

While many people in Eastern Kentucky have raised alpacas as pets, Ossoway, a former parole officer, is raising their herd of 12 alpacas for their fleece.

Alpacas are related to camels and llamas. They were domesticated by the Incan people in Peru 5000 years ago and are prized for their fleece which is stronger, lighter, and warmer than sheep’s wool. Since the alpaca fleece does not contain lanolin, it does not produce the itch that is associated with woolen garments. Alpaca garments can be worn year-round, and the fiber used in a variety of arts like spinning, weaving, knitting, and felting.

“Alpacas are also very friendly to the farm,” Ossoway said. “They don’t rip up the grass when eating, their soft feet don’t kill the grass like you see on cattle lots, and they need less water than other animals their size.”

The animals also produce excellent fertilizer, and many products can be made from the fleece, like bio-degradable ground coverings for gardens and flower beds.

Brothers, a staff sergeant in the Army Reserves, tends the farm’s bees, makes custom wood crafts, and attends nursing school. Bee populations across the nation have declined, and bee keeping is not as common as it once was. With five thriving hives and a passion for sharing the importance of these insects, and their delicious honey, Brothers is hoping to influence the local honey market.

“Lavender honey is a delicious treat that is very difficult to obtain,” Ossoway said. “We are starting our lavender plots so that we may be certified as a lavender honey producer.”

Locally produced honey is valued not only as a sweetener but as a natural treatment for allergies. The beeswax left over from the honey harvest also makes excellent candles and wood protectant for Richard’s hand-crafted items.

Lavender Spring Alpaca is also bringing agricultural tourism to the area.

“People are disconnected from where their food and clothing come from,” she said. “We want people to reconnect with the animals that make their clothing.”

The farm is part of the Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl July 29-30. The Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl is a statewide event where fiber-producing farms welcome the community to the farm to meet the animals and see the products that are produced. The farm will host food vendors that day as well as demonstrating fiber arts. It holds the distinction of being the eastern most part of the event.

The farm is opening a farm store where locally produced goods will be available as the farm grows.

“We love it when people stop to meet the animals,” Ossoway said. “We are a working farm, so visitors see what farm life is really like.”

Ossoway and Brothers hope to encourage other people in the community to get involved as well. They want to help other alpaca owners find shearers and markets for their fleece. They welcome interest in secondary businesses related to the fiber industry – like hay producing, sheering, milling, and arts production.

“Mills turn the animal’s fleece into yarn and are working on an 18-to-24-month backlog,” said Brothers. “The community is always looking for new mills. The alpaca also prefer orchard grass hay, which is not easy to find in the area.”

You can find Lavender Springs Alpaca online at www.lavenderspringsalpaca.com. In July, they will be at the Farmers Market in Paintsville, the Paintsville Gun Show, the Mountain Grrl Festival in Pikeville, and the Bluegrass Yarn and Fiber Crawl. They are participating in the Johnson County Farmers Customer Appreciation Day on Aug. 11 and are planning activities for the National Alpaca Farm Days Sept. 24-25.

The farm is a member of the Alpaca Owners Association, Inc., the Kentucky Proud agriculture network, and the Kentucky Alpaca Association.

For more information or to schedule a farm visit, e-mail info@lavenderspringsalpaca.com.