About

Who I Am

Hello! I’m Francis Bates a longtime curious tinkerer, occasional homesteader, and passionate product tester. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, not far from where Lydia’s Flock used to call home. My early years were shaped by long summers helping with pasture rotations, turning wool, fixing fences, and breathing in that earthy smell of grass and lambs.

Though I wasn’t born into a large farm‑owner family, I spent enough time with neighbors and friends who raised sheep and managed small plots of land that I came to respect what goes into honest, hands‑on work.

After high school I studied Environmental Sciences at a state university, focusing on sustainable agriculture and land management. I then worked for several years in a nonprofit helping small farms improve soil health and productivity, especially through rotational grazing and regenerative practices.

It was satisfying, but after a while I realized I wanted to explore more broadly how everyday products tools, gear, home goods impact our daily lives, especially here in rural or semi‑rural settings where durability, local availability, and honest claims matter a lot.

Francis Bates
Francis Bates

What Lydia’s Flock Used To Be

Before 2025, lydiasflock.com was best known in its community for its sheep flock, fiber arts, pasture‑raised lamb, and work promoting soil health through regenerative shepherding. It was a place people turned to for stories about fiber from pasture, farm routines, and how to steward land kindly. Wool spinning, shepherding mentorship, small‑scale meat production, handcrafts, and sustainable land care were central. That heritage shaped the values and lens through which I see products today: quality, honesty, and a respect for how things are made and how they last.

Why I Started This Blog

Around early 2025 I decided to shift the focus of this space. I wanted to bring together two strands of what I care about: the practical, hands‑on wisdom from farming days, and the consumer side of figuring out what tools, gear, and everyday products truly deliver value. Lydia’s Flock had already built trust around honest work, so I felt it was a natural base from which to branch out into reviewing products. My goal here is to give you real‑world usage insights: how things hold up under muddy boots, frequent use, seasons of rain and sun; how tools age; what’s worth paying more for; what you can reasonably expect from budget options.

What to Expect from My Reviews

When I review something, I don’t just test it once and write something polished. I live with it. I use it until its strengths and weaknesses are obvious. If a claim seems too good to be true, I dig. If something breaks or just doesn’t deliver I’ll say so. I value transparency: I’ll tell you what I like, what I don’t, what I would’ve paid. I assume most readers here care about durability, honest value, and usefulness not flashy marketing. Whether it’s a waterproof jacket, a kitchen gadget, a gardening tool, or a piece of tech, I’m interested in how it fits into real life.

Where I’m Based, and How I Live

These days I live on a modest homestead on the outskirts of Whatcom County, Washington. The land is small but enough: a few pastures, a Big Sky above, rain that reminds you you’re alive, and boots that get muddy too often. I keep a small flock of sheep for fiber and soil health, a garden that forces me to learn patience, and a workshop where I tinker with tools, repair old things, and try to make sustainable choices whenever possible. I’m married, enjoy cooking with seasonal produce, and love hiking through moss‑covered forests when time allows.

Author Profile

Avatar
Francis Bates
I'm Francis Bates, a hands-on reviewer with roots in the rural Pacific Northwest. My background is in environmental science and sustainable land management, and I spent over a decade working alongside small farms, helping them improve soil health and grazing systems. Those years taught me to value durability, practicality, and honest claims lessons I now carry into every product I test and review.

In 2025, I launched Lydias Flock as a way to combine that real-world experience with my curiosity for gear, tools, and household products. Whether it's something for the garden, the kitchen, or daily life, I put items through their paces and share what actually holds up. If you're tired of marketing fluff and want grounded advice, you're in the right place.
Latest entries