Local Pastures was started in 2011 by Mimi Luebbermann and Marlie de Swart, as a partnership to source, mill and sell local wools and fiber from West Marin and Sonoma farmers and shepherds.

Mimi Luebbermann owns and manages Windrush Farm in Petaluma, West Marin, where she has dual purpose sheep, (sheep that give meat as well as superior wool) as well as cows, milk goats, llamas and alpacas. 
Marlie de Swart is a fiber artist who owns Black Mountain Artisans in Point Reyes Station,  a cooperative brick and mortar store  where local and Bay Area fiber artists can show and sell their work.. This inclludes many spinners and their hand spun yarns.

Both Mimi and Marlie have been in the wool " business"  for a long time and individually collected fleeces from local ranchers, worked with local  shepherds to get optimum fleeces for hand spinners, and educated the younger generation  how to value add to local resources and create the best yarns available. The fleeces are hand chosen, usually during  shearing, where you get to see the fleece as it comes off the animal. We work closely with the shearer, Johnie, who lets us know where the best fleeces are and when he is shearing them. At shearing time we help skirt the fleeces to get the worst debris off the fleece, then  have the fleeces processed in Yolo, the closest woolen mill.

Many of the West Marin and West Sonoma small shepherds have asked us to represent them, either at Black Mountain Artisans or in our Local Pastures CSA.  We currently represent Windrush Farm, of Chileno Valley, West Marin, Cedar Textiles of San Rafael,  Marin,  Weaver's Oaks of Marin all  under the Local pastures label, as well as 10 Acre Ranch of Tomales West Sonoma under her own brand name.