Experience the expertise of The Rustic Ram
Where nature and creativity collide. Where family come together to create a full circle farm experience and where a vision becomes a reality!
The Rare Flocks and Rustic Ram Collision
Where it all Started
Prior to the Rustic Ram, this vision all started with a farm called Rare Flocks Farm. This farm is small, specialised and run by Michelle; the younger sister of Tracy. Michelle has spent much of her working career specialising in environmental management, ethical practice and sustainable methods of farming. She finally bought her property and in 2020, Rare flocks farm commenced. Her focus is the re-establishment of rare heritage breeds of Angora goat and Romney Marsh sheep whose fleece are warm, thick and buttery soft making them ideal for knitting, crochet and other forms of weaving.
Over time, Michelle started exploring options to take the fleece to mills to be processed. to be washed, dried and prepared for further use. The problem she ran into was she did not really have the required minimum quantity to work with the mills that were around. So, in true big sister fashion, Tracy said 'We don't need a mill... Let's do it ourself'. This is all it took. And so Rare Flocks Farm and Rustic Ram became intertwined forever.
The Rustic Ram Commenced
After coming to the realisation that Tracy was right, mills were not really an option for Rare Flocks Farm and we had to come up with other options; Tracy and her daughter Tess hopped on a plane and headed to Melbourne to work out how to make this work. After a five day trip, lots of planning, lots of discussions and of course lots of amazing food when staying with Grandma and Grandad, a plan was forged. With bags in tow and four suitcases more than we had planned, the first 200KG of fresh, untreated wool made its way to Brisbane and from there, Tracy got busy. Washing, drying, spinning, washing more, dying some and a whole lot of knitting. A routine started to emerge and it was more manageable than anyone really thought.
Skeining, Spinning and Creating
With time and practice, wool washing, drying and separating became second nature. Then Tracy was able to get stuck in to the second part... dying some, spinning lots, skeining some and knitting others. She was able to allow her creativity go wild and from here, she created whatever her little heart desired. A few jumpers here, a couple of vests there and before she knew it, it was time to head back to Melbourne to attend the 2026 Annual Seymour Alternative Farming Expo. To say the rest was history, is an understatement. Every day is history in the making with both the Rustic Ram and Rare Flocks Farm working towards a healthier, happier, sustainable and full circle farming.
Without Michelle there would be no goats, without Tracy, there would be no processing and fibre creation and without Tess, there would be no information making it out to the world from the websites to social media and everything in between. No one person in this process could possibly be an expert in any other area and so, a full circle process works for us and our family. On that note, we leave it with you to find where you fit within our company and place in history.