What is Lagniappe?

(pronounced "lan-yap")

Used primarily in southern Louisiana, the word lagniappe refers to an "unexpected something extra". It could be an additional doughnut (as in "baker's dozen"), a free "one for the road" drink, an unanticipated tip for someone who provides a special service or possibly a complimentary dessert for a regular customer.

At our farm, you can always expect Lagniappe, whether it's from the care we show our animals and farm, the extra time we spend with visitors or the continued support you can expect long after the sale.

Now that you know what Lagniappe means, why did we choose that as our farm name? The name reflects our attitude for doing business and allows us to bring a little Cajun culture to Virginia. Merian was born and raised in southern Louisiana in the heart of Cajun county - "on the bayou".

While we are a relatively new Alpaca farm, we are not new to Alpacas. After first seeing Alpacas at the Virginia State Fair many years ago, we began gathering information about raising them and processing their fiber. We had planned to purchase some acreage with the intent of starting a small farm. Alpacas fit into the type of lifestyle that we envisioned.

We are committed to supporting and promoting the North American fiber industry.

Merian is a hand-crafter and is always looking for her next project. Alpaca fiber is it! Our goal is to have a farm store where raw fiber to finished products will be available for purchase. We have already started with raw fiber from another Virginia farm, a Strauch "Finest" drum carder, a hand spindle and numerous books and research materials. We have started both wet and needle felting to develop unique products.

Mark is a software consultant and was raised on a farm. He has been looking forward to getting out of the crowded suburbs and back to the country. He is working on developing herd management software that is both designed and developed in the U.S.

In addition to starting the farm and building our dream home (and hopefully the last home we'll live in), we just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.

Our barn is virtually complete (see Our Farm for some pictures) and we have brought our herd to their new home after their "visit" at Cameron Mountain Alpacas. We consider ourselves extremely lucky that this farm, owned by Carolyn Hitchcock and Roy Jacobson, is only 4 miles from us. They were the first farm we visited and have been an invaluable source of information and guidance.