Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel, went to mass and then headed to Albany, OR for lunch with one of AC’s former Texas colleagues, Joy, who now works at Oregon State. Albany had a cute little downtown with restaurants, shops and boutiques. We wandered around for a bit while we waited for our table. We spent several hours visiting with Joy and discussing national parks. Joy, like us, loves traveling and hiking, especially in the national parks.
We finally wrapped up our meal and headed for our next farm stay in Cottage Grove, a small town about 30 minutes outside of Eugene. When we arrived, we were greeted by our host Ruthann, who was outside working in the yard. She showed us around her home and then led us to the yurt where we are staying. We were a little excited about the yurt because neither of us have ever stayed in one, and we have considered getting one for our future homestead.
After unpacking and getting all settled in, it was time for evening chores. First stop, were two Scottish Terrier dogs and the chickens which are located right outside our yurt.
Next, were the sheep! This farm focuses on fiber arts which means their sheep are very important to their whole enterprise. We learned the sheep were divided into three different pastures, one for ewes and ewe lambs, a second for ram lambs, and the third for the rams. These sheep were very smart and well-trained which is different than our previous experience. They also all have jackets to protect their wool.
We fed each group of sheep and, along the way, also met the flock of geese that roam the property.
Then we mad our way to an older donkey who lives with the rams, and their two super sweet livestock guardian dogs (I am already in love with them!). Ruthann also mentioned they had some free ranging pigs but we didn’t see them our first night. Once we finished chores, we ate dinner together with Ruthann and her adult daughter, Samantha, who also lives on the farm. Side note: we ate some chicken apple sausages from Costco. If you have a Costco card definitely give them a try, they were delicious! After dinner we turned in for the night.
Monday morning starting around 7:30am we assisted Ruthann with morning chores. We fed the same animals from the night before but this time we were greeted in the back pasture by the two pigs, Hamlet and Pig. I was thinking big, large Berkshire pigs like they had on the previous farm but nope. Much to my surprise these were two small Vietnamese potbelly pigs. Actually one was half potbelly and half hog but still much more my style – small and manageable.
After feeding all the animals, Ruthann cooked us breakfast–farm fresh eggs, bacon, homemade toast and homemade jam for AC. We are really enjoying these home cooked meals and thankfully as part of the accommodations here we get breakfast and dinner everyday!
Once we finished breakfast, I headed to the yurt to work and AC headed out to muck the donkey’s stall because Ruthann was expecting a farrier to come see the donkey who injured her foot. After shoveling poo, AC moved into the garden where she removed blackberry vines that were invading the fence line, cut back the raspberry bushes and pulled weeds from the blueberry bush enclosure. That evening Ruthann had a meeting in town, so AC and I were in charge of evening chores. We managed to complete them without any issues.
Chores were followed by dinner with Samantha. We enjoyed tuna steaks, fresh salad from the garden, roasted cauliflower, rice and homemade bread. After dinner, on our way to the yurt AC managed to fall of the deck because she couldn’t see or seem to remember how many steps there were. We both laughed so hard we were crying. If you know AC, she is quite accident prone and always managing to hurt herself. She was fine, by the way.
Tuesday, AC and I started the morning off with breakfast and then did the round of morning chores. I then headed to work and AC headed back to the garden for mowing and gardening. She spent all day working in the garden but she received a seal of approval from Ruthann that it looked great and now you can walk among the beds without worrying about tripping over the tall grass. I was able to help out a little by repotting strawberry runners and pulling weeds in the front flower bed. We also got to witness Ruthann working in her fiber workshop. She showed us how the wool gets separated by a picker, then combed out by a carder. It was really neat — I’m enjoying learning more about her fiber arts process.
We can definitely tell a difference in the age of this homestead versus the relatively new farm in Canada. Don’t get me wrong, we love Paradise Valley Ranch; the approach here is just much more laid back and the pace much slower. That probably has to do with the differences in size of the land (“only” 55 acres here) and the ages of the farmers. I won’t lie though, I do appreciate the docile animals on this farm (and the dogs)!
Until next time,
Charli
Vietnamese potbelly pigs!!!