Grassland Bird Trust Hats

They're 100% wool and 100% Washington County!

Shortly after we launched Bird Collective last December, with our first campaign recognizing the outstanding work of the Grassland Bird Trust in upstate New York, we got an email from Mary Jeanne Packer, whose Battenkill Fibers supports family-owned farms in that area -- and, by extension, its wildlife. And thus began a conversation that led to a trip later that winter to visit her carding and spinning mill (Washington County's 2015 small business of the year, by the way) to pick out the yarn that would produce our first line of ribbed winter hats.

All Local

Upon Mary Jeanne's recommendation, we sourced the wool from Crazy Legs Farm, a farm that practices sustainable land management and just so happens to border grasslands that the Grassland Bird Trust helped preserve. We spoke to the owner of Crazy Legs, Norma Johnson-Glancy, and she told us that half of the farm's 60 acres are preserved as woodlands and wetlands and the other half as pasture and small hayfields for her sheep. Her bird list at the farm, she said, includes “Barred, Short-eared, and Great-horned Owls, a variety of hawks and woodpeckers, and song, meadow and marsh birds of all types."

Upon Mary Jeanne's recommendation, we sourced the wool from Crazy Legs Farm, a farm that practices sustainable land management and just so happens to border grasslands that the Grassland Bird Trust helped preserve. We spoke to the owner of Crazy Legs, Norma Johnson-Glancy, and she told us that half of the farm's 60 acres are preserved as woodlands and wetlands and the other half as pasture and small hayfields for her sheep. Her bird list at the farm, she said, includes “Barred, Short-eared, and Great-horned Owls, a variety of hawks and woodpeckers, and song, meadow and marsh birds of all types."

Giving Back

We love everything that went into these hats, and we love how they feel too. They're warm enough for even the coldest winter birding days. We're going to donate 20% of the profits from their sale to the Grassland Bird Trust, as it continues working to protect grassland habitats and species in both New York and the entire Northeast.

We love everything that went into these hats, and we love how they feel too. They're warm enough for even the coldest winter birding days. We're going to donate 20% of the profits from their sale to the Grassland Bird Trust, as it continues working to protect grassland habitats and species in both New York and the entire Northeast.