Twice a year, Navajo-Churro sheep at City Farm San Luis Obispo receive quite the buzz cut.
This spring, the regenerative urban farm is opening its gates for the public to glean from the process free of cost.
“There’s a lot of real farming happening right here in SLO, and this is just one opportunity for people to come out and learn a little bit about agrarian life,” City Farm SLO Executive Director Kayla Rutland said. “We raise sheep because they help us with our regenerative farming. They are rotationally grazed, so they build healthy soils over time.”
On May 9, the fifth annual Sheep Shearing Shindig and Ag Festival will take place from noon to 4 p.m. at 1221 Calle Joaquin, SLO.
SLO County residents can watch expert shearers like Brittany App trim the raw wool off the heritage breed sheep raised at the farm. They can meet the City Farm flock to learn more about the Navajo-Churro breed, and try their hand at washing, carding, spinning, and felting freshly shorn wool.
Rutland told New Times that the wool cleaning and carding process is done by Morro Bay Fleece Works, which in the past has donated its services to the farm.
Eight members of Central Coast Weavers will be showcasing the spinning process.
“Once it’s cleaned and carded, then it becomes a product called roving,” Rutland said. “That is available to be spun into things like yarn or belted into other textiles, and that process of spinning will also be demonstrated at the event.”
As of March 31, the farm had three pregnant ewes and a wether—a male sheep castrated to be less aggressive and easier to manage for farmers and ranchers.
‘We raise sheep because they help us with our regenerative farming. They are rotationally grazed. So they build healthy soils over time.’
—Kayla Rutland, City Farm SLO executive director.
Rutland anticipates a larger flock with new lambs once the shearing event rolls around. While she said the farm hasn’t officially measured the amount of wool sheared at past events, the executive director said the fleece usually fills “five gigantic trash bags.”
Yarn and wool rovings are available for purchase every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at City Farm SLO’s pay-what-you-can farm stand and through online farmers market Harvestly at harvestly.org.
While the farm has raised sheep since 2020, this year is the first Sheep Shearing Shindig that’s free to the public thanks to sponsorships from the city of SLO, Mechanics Bank, Carmel and Naccasha LLP, and Plantel Nurseries Inc. The farm is also welcoming donations from the public.
“We’re in the business of equity for our events, and we didn’t want the cost to be a deterrent for any families,” Rutland said. “So we’re turning instead to our corporate partners.”
The 2026 Sheep Shearing Shindig is also unique because it will unveil the Steven and Jan Marx Wash-Pack Pavilion—a facility named after the farm’s founders where vegetables will be washed and packaged for sale.
Four years in the making, the pavilion funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, AgWest Farm Credit, and individual donors, will also become the permanent home of the pay-what-you-can farm stand.
Register for free tickets to the shearing event at my805tix.com/e/sheep-shearing-shindig-3. The farm will also provide hayride tours, activity booths, and a scavenger hunt. There will be live music by Joy Polloi, and lunch from Sichuan Kitchen and Bear City Social.
“Five years in, it has transformed into this pretty lively and robust agricultural festival where people can not only see the sheep being shorn by our awesome shearer, but they can also learn more about our farm while they’re here,” Rutland said. “We are in the business of helping people connect with where their food comes from, so our regenerative processes are a big part of that, and our animals are a big part of that.”
Fast fact
• Robotics team T-Wave Tronics, comprising fifth to eighth graders from Valley View Adventist Academy in Arroyo Grande, qualified for the May 3 national LEGO Robotics championship in Orlando, Florida. The team is raising $5,000 to cover travel, lodging, and competition costs. Interested donors can contribute via GoFundMe at gofundme.com/f/send-vvaa-twave-tronics-to-nationals, or through Venmo @Bonna-Shreve, cash, and checks. ∆
Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in April 9-16, 2026.