About Us
We're Peg and Ben Stephens and Jean Van Effen
and David Bagshaw. Peg and David are siblings who grew up on the Castetter
Farm, a successful family dairy farm run by their grandfather, James Castetter.
Ben and Jean are married to Peg and David, respectively.
Growing up on a dairy farm gave Peg and David livestock experience from early
on. Peg has always loved horses, and has trained and ridden them her entire
life. She also has extensive experience driving carriages in downtown Louisville,
Kentucky. Since llamas and alpacas have come to live at the Castetter Farm,
Peg has studied and experienced first hand the needs of these special creatures,
quickly becoming proficient at caring for them. Peg is also a seasoned show
superintendent, working with both AOBA and ALSA certified alpaca and llama
shows.
Ben is an experienced mechanic, and keeps all the farm machinery running.
He takes care of all the mechanical needs, and is often found tinkering on
the old tractor, mowing the lush pastures, or helping to bale and stack hay.
Jean learned to knit at age 13, and has been an avid needleworker since.
After our first shearing, she learned to spin the llama and alpaca fiber,
since at that time, there were no commercial mills that would produce yarn
from lama fiber. She has become an avid spinner, and has added weaving and
machine knitting to her skills. Her handspun yarn has won ribbons every time
it has been entered in shows. After attending a shearing seminar, Jean has
found that shearing is her favorite farm chore.
David loves to talk about llamas and alpacas, and makes sure that everyone
he meets learns about our passion. He's good at handling the animals, helping
with management chores and combing and carding fiber for spinning. He also
dabbles in machine knitting and weaving.
David and Jean currently live in Germany where Jean is an active duty French
horn player in the US Army Europe Band and Chorus, and David, a retired Army
percussionist, is employed by the Army. They stay as involved as they can,
making trips to the farm whenever possible.