Long Way Homestead

Long Way Homestead is a small fibre farm and wool processing mill in Eastern Manitoba, Treaty One Territory. We process raw wool and fibre and turn it into yarn, fibre and other proucts. We work with small farmers, textile designers, natural dyers and fibre artists to build resilient textile systems in Canada.

Vision and Mission

We work to connect users with the source of their clothing and textiles. We work to create a world where our clothing and textiles are connected to the land they come from, and after use can be returned to that land.

We prioritize the long-term effects of our mill and farming on our landbase. We see the role that grazing animals can play in sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and utilize holistic management practices on our farm and in our mill.

We focus on processing fibre from local farmers, supporting producers, makers, and dyers within our own fibreshed. We are working to build resiliency in our small and medium scale Canadian fibre economy through advocacy, research and education.

Challenges and Opportunities

The largest bottleneck for processing raw wool is scouring (the process of washing dirt and lanolin off wool using very hot water).  Currently we wash between 10 - 15pounds of wool a day, and this limits the amount of wool we can process per day.  With an hot water on demand system we can double the amount of wool we wash and thus process.

With double the clean wool to process we will double our output and be able to scale up our manufacturing to include two more employees. We prioritize hiring rural women, and BIPOC women with a goal of growing textile production in Canada within rural communities.  

We have a vertical integration model that we believe will strengthen rural communities and economies and build resilience within the textile system that has long been disconnected from the source it draws from. 

Products and Services

Currently LWH sells yarn, fibre, natural dyes and wool bedding products. We would like to add both a knitting mill and a textile mill to begin producing cloth that can then be used by designers and sewists to produce 100% locally grown and manufactured clothing.

We also process the wool and fibre of other small farmers in 'small batches' which makes processing accessible and feasible for the smaller scale sheep farmers in Canada.