Riverdance Farm Tasmania

19/03/2026

There’s something special about cria season… the stillness, the watching, the becoming 🤎 These little ones are the very beginning of our fibre story, growing into what will one day pass through our hands at the mill.

18/03/2026

Even when I’m mostly off-farm, the seasons still guide everything at Riverdance Farm Tasmania.

Autumn softens the light and stretches the shadows across the paddocks. It’s the season for finishing slashing, prepping laneway trees, dragging limbs to burn piles by the river, and spot-treating the stubborn weeds before winter.

Farming is less about being everywhere at once and more about listening—observing the land, following its rhythms, and planning ahead. Autumn reminds me that preparation, patience, and attention shape the season that follows.

Read more about Week 7 and the autumn rhythm: https://www.riverdancefarmtasmania.com/farmjournal

14/03/2026

🤎 Leif 🤎
Welcome to Riverdance Farm Leif, our 5th cria of the season.

A rich chocolate-brown boy, born to one of our friendliest mummas who has taken to parenting like a duck to water.

Safe, strong and already stealing hearts around the paddock.

11/03/2026

In January our herd of 31 Alpacas went through for shearing. Almost 31.

Our 18-year-old matriarch sat this one out. Alpacas do not shed naturally and annual shearing is a core part of alpaca welfare and responsible husbandry.

But good livestock management is not rigid. It is informed. It is responsive. At 18 years of age her fleece growth slows and we choose to prioritise her comfort through winter that is coming.

As we move toward cria season, herd hierarchy becomes just as important as physical care. Alpaca herds operate with a defined social structure and experienced hembras play a quiet but significant role during birthing.

A calm settled herd supports safer deliveries.
Shearing also marks the beginning of the alpaca fibre production cycle. The fleece removed each year reflect nutrition, pasture quality, stress levels and management decisions fibre is evidence of welfare.

For small scale producers across Tasmania, transparency in fibre processing remains a challenge. While not every fleece needs to become yarn but every grower deserves clear pathways and respect for fibre raised with care.

The matriarch watches as they expected hembras grow heavier. Healthy hembras. Healthy cria and fibre that begins with welfare.

This week’s journal is live, link is in the bio.

08/03/2026

Happy International Womens Day - our farm is shaped by women. Not in one single way, but in all the different ways we show up.

Learning as we go. Backing ourselves. Asking questions. Caring for animals. Building something that didn’t exist here before. Pushing through the tough moments, celebrating the small rewards.

Our future fibre mill carries that same thread.

It’s not just about fibre, it’s about creating space. For women in farming. For women in fibre arts. For women with ideas they’re brave enough to follow.

Today feels like a good day to acknowledge that, and to keep going.

06/03/2026

Little Frieda marking over a week old - she is a pure white bundle of cheekiness, making sure her Mum doesn’t enjoy too much rest!

05/03/2026

03/03/2026

I’ve shared a new journal entry called Dog Woman.

It reflects, memory and how animals shape our daily lives alongside the very practical realities, her management and preparing for new life on the farm.

Some weeks. Summer hope. Often they’re both at once.

You’re welcome to read along. Link in bio.

01/03/2026

🤎🤎 Bjorn update from the nursery wing at Riverdance 🤎🤎

After a few tender days of teamwork, patience and a fair bit of creative problem solving, our brave little man is turning a corner.

Mumma has made beautiful progress, calmly allowing me to express alongside Bjorn’s bottle feeds so we could keep building her supply while he found his rhythm. We swapped out slippery hay for carpet rugs in their stable suite and that simple change worked a treat. No more Bambi-on-ice moments, just steady legs and growing confidence.

After a couple of days in their cosy, confined quarters, Bjorn is now feeding exclusively from his mum. And today… they rejoined the herd.

There is something quietly triumphant about watching a cria who needed a village step back into the paddock on his own steam. Small steps. Strong hearts. And a very relieved farm mum.

28/02/2026

This week’s journal was about planning the move of Riverdance farm Tasmania was still working full-time off farm.

It’s not romantic. It’s spreadsheets, lists, late night notes and careful decisions, all while planning for animals arriving in months and a fibre mill still a little while away.

This is a scaffolding phase. The part no one applauds but everything depend upon.

If you’re building something quietly in the margins of your life, you’re not behind - you’re laying foundations.

Week 4 is live, link is in the bio

26/02/2026

🤎 Born 25 February - meet Bjorn 🤎

Our brave little male cria arrived after a slow and dramatic birth and an even slower start. It was one of those moments where time feels thick and everyone holds their breath. We are incredibly grateful for our wonderful rural vet - she has been so supportive in guiding us, stepping in and steadied the ship when we needed it most.

Bjorn is a solid weight, drinking like a boss, and taking his bottle feeds seriously.

Every feed is a small victory.
Every wobble forward is progress.

He’s currently enjoying a fully catered stable accommodation with his devoted Mumma, plus some daily PT sessions to help build strength and coordination so he can one day tear around the paddocks with the herd like he owns the place.

We are committed to giving this little Viking every chance.

Slow and steady.
Strong and supported.
Welcome to the world, Bjorn. 🤎