Welcome to Fireweed Alpacas

WE’RE MOVING AGAIN! But not just yet…

For those of you who read our website in January about our moving sale with a move date of March 5th, the sale has been canceled. After a roller coaster ride of on, then off, then on, then off again counter-offers, acceptances, and then retraction the farm IS still for sale. While we are disappointed the sale did not go through, we have to admit it is nice to have a bit more time to plan our eventual move.

The farm is TURN KEY and ready for you and your alpacas or other livestock! We still plan to reduce the herd and are offering great deals to you.  Fireweed Farm has been a leader in the Alpaca business for nearly 18 years.  (Look here for a brief description of our longstanding and varied involvement in so many aspects of this industry).  Over the years, we’ve moved our farm and alpaca business three times, and now it’s time for “Number Four”!  You’re probably thinking, “who in their right mind would move their household, the business and their farm every 5-6 years??!” 

• Our first move was from Alaska to Colorado.  We purchased our first alpacas in Alaska while we were living up there for a few years.  They flew down to the Lower 48, when we returned to Colorado to set up our first alpaca farm. 
• Our second move was to the East Coast in order to be closer to our aging parents. David and I had each lost a parent to cancer, and our surviving parents were not getting any younger.  It was hard to be so far away from our family, and so we moved from Colorado to the cool mountains of North Carolina. 
• In the next move, the alpacas all followed David as he changed jobs and took an in-house position with a Richmond, Virginia company. 

Now, David’s starting to think about retiring from practicing law in 4 to 6 years, and returning to his previous music career.  (He thinks “cruise ship musician” sounds like a great retirement strategy!)  David’s current schedule of band practices and music gigs (as well as all of that “law-type” work) have cut deeply into Teri’s supply of unskilled labor for the farm (although Dave still has to do all of the contracts, bookkeeping and tax work!)  And for her part, Teri is starting to admit she is getting a little bit older and is not quite up to shearing 1,000 alpacas a season like she used to do.

Were not getting out of the alpaca business! Teri cannot imagine her work life without seeing those beautiful fuzzy faces on a regular basis.  We’re just looking to re-design our alpaca business in order to lighten the daily farm-management demands (fertilizing, bush hogging, weed eating, fence repairs) and better allow Teri to do more of what she loves to do in the alpaca business – local/regional promotions, event planning, involvement with local farmer’s market and promotion of alpaca end products, and providing continuing education to her clients and fellow breeders with a variety of seminars and events.

What is Fireweed Doing?  This time around, all of our animals will be boarded, which means reducing our herd size by about 50% to make our costs more manageable.  For their part, Teri and Dave plan to down-size into a house or condo in Richmond for the next several years where they’ll be closer to musical events and restaurants, all while hopefully increasing their savings rate for eventual retirement.

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