Wooly Garden: Turning Agricultural Waste into a Resource
It’s no secret that sustainable agriculture and innovation go hand in hand – and M&J Farm’s Wooly Garden brand only proves that point. This Central California dairy farm is using sheep wool previously destined for a landfill to produce a specialty fertilizer for fruits, vegetables and flowers!
Sustainable from the start
When Marcie and Josh Davis founded M&J Farms in 2016, sustainability was top of mind. Before settling on a sheep dairy, they briefly considered goats. But after talking with creameries throughout the state, they realized there was more demand—and less competition—for sheep milk. In fact, M&J Farms remains the only source of sheep milk in the Central Valley.
From the beginning, Marcie and Josh have looked for creative ways to put farm byproducts to good use. All of their sheep milk is sold to Northern California producer Bellwether Farms, where it’s used to make sheep milk yogurt. The manure is collected and used as fertilizer by neighboring farms.
The one outlier was wool. Because of the Central Valley’s hot weather, the sheep need to be sheared twice a year. With a flock of around 700 sheep, that adds up to a lot of wool.
Agricultural innovation
Marcie and Josh started looking for creative ways to repurpose the wool and soon discovered that some sheep farmers were turning it into pellets. The pellets make an excellent soil amendment. Compressed wool expands when it gets wet, helping the soil retain moisture, while the wool fibers slowly break down and release nitrogen.
That combination is especially useful in arid climates and sandy soils – both of which are hallmarks of California’s Central Valley.
Marcie and Josh were intrigued, and the couple went out on a limb and purchased a pelletizing machine. In 2025, they began selling their wool pellets under the newly formed label: Wooly Garden.
The pellets have been a hit with home gardeners. Marcie explains the appeal: “When you take some of those pellets and you mix them into the soil, they’re gonna hold on to that extra moisture. So you don’t have to water as often. The wool itself is your slow-release fertilizer, giving nitrogen to your plants.”
Nourishing nursery plants
Wooly Garden pellets aren’t just for backyard gardens. They’ve also shown promise in helping nursery plants grow.
Marcie says the Davis family has been working with Morris Wholesale Nursery in Riverbank, where the pellets are being incorporated into soil mixes.
“When they mix it into their soils, it helps to retain moisture in those six packs that they had problems with drying out,” she explains. “So they were doing experiments – putting them in different containers, in different types of plants, and monitoring the growth. We did see a really big improvement in the growth of those plants that had the wool pellets in them.”
Creating economic sustainability for generational farms
For the Davis family, Wooly Garden pellets are a way to diversify the farm’s revenue streams – not just an environmentally sustainable way to reduce waste. Marcie and Josh hope to one day pass their farm down to their children, and that requires economic sustainability.
As of 2026, sheep milk remains the farm’s primary income source. Currently, 100% of their sheep milk is sold to Bellwether Farms and used to make sheep milk yogurt. Male sheep don’t produce milk and are sold for meat.
In 2026, Marcie and Josh plan to introduce their own line of sheep milk and kefir to meet local demand. “This year we’ve started bottling our own sheep milk under the label BaaDaBoom. We had so many people ask, ‘Where can I buy the milk?’, and I would have to tell them, ‘You can’t’,” Marcie says. “By bottling the milk on the farm, we’re able to offer people the option of sheep milk where it’s really hard to find in stores.”
On a small family farm, every little bit counts and wool pellets are just another piece of the puzzle. Josh has even planted a few peach and avocado trees on the farm, and they’ve considered letting their kids open an on-site farmstand to sell the family’s produce. Marcie admits, “That’s another venture we’re playing with. It’s fun and keeps the kids involved.” Grinning, she adds, “Maybe we’ll have peaches and avocados for sale on the side of the road. Creating multiple avenues this farm can expand to – I think that’s really beneficial.”
Supporting family farms
When you choose Wooly Garden wool pellets, shop at a local farmstand, or buy milk from a local dairy, you’re supporting small family farms and the community as a whole. Marcie states, “It’s important to support small family farms because this is our livelihood. We take the money that we make, and what do we do with it? We invest it back into the farm, but we’re also using it to buy shoes for the kids. Our farm supports multiple employees, who in turn can support their families. It kind of goes full circle, where everyone benefits from purchasing products from a small family-owned farm.
Buy Wooly Garden wool pellets
If you’re interested in using Wooly Garden wool pellets in your home garden, you can purchase two- and five-pound bags on Amazon.
If you’re interested in trying sheep milk, look for Bellweather Farms yogurt at well-stocked grocers like Safeway and Whole Foods. Follow BaaDaBoom on Instagram or sign up for emails for updates on their upcoming BaaDaBoom sheep milk and kefir!
Article by Hilary Rance. Photography by James Collier.