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| VERA LYNNE SMILING FOR THE CAMERA |
We're a small farm on 14 acres outside of Rogue River, Oregon. We enjoy the homestead life of growing food and processing it, raising chickens, and our very sweet Gotland Sheep.
Vera is usually the first to call out to the others when someone new comes to the fence line. They are curious, bright and very friendly. Our first lambs are due this Spring and we're looking forward to this new adventure.
Our property is partially wooded on the side of the creek and home to a forest of Cottonwoods, Cedar and Pine. Mostly around our home is flat pasture land with a large garden area and orchard of 35+ fruit and nut trees.
Before moving back to the Southern Oregon area, we lived on property in Junction City, northwest of Eugene. We laugh at those who say we're not farmers mostly because of what we grow and eat. This chart shows one year of what we harvested in the Eugene area.
Food Storage 2009
All the food that is listed below was produced on the our farm in
raised beds, using cover cropping, compost, and crop rotations in a 100
foot by 85 foot plot. There was no tilling. There were no chemicals,
and David and Elaine did all the food processing.
| Dried |
Canned |
Frozen |
Cool Storage |
Herbs |
| 50 qts tomatoes |
9 pts pickled veggies |
20 - 4 packs of corn on the cob |
155 lbs potatoes |
1 gal apple mint |
| 22 qts zucchini |
12 qts butternut squash |
20 - 8 packs of stuffed cabbage |
200 lbs onions |
1 pt spearmint |
| 5 gal red onions |
7 qts sweet meat squash |
16 - 1.5 qts spagetti squash |
600 heads of garlic |
1 pt orange mint |
| 8 qts strawberries |
7 qts pumpkin |
5 gal blueberries |
30 spaghetti squash |
2 qts peppermint |
| 8 qts anaheim peppers |
25 qts grape juice |
5 gal marionberries |
12 butternut squash |
1 gal mugwort |
| 3 qts celery |
25 pts strawberry jam |
3 gal boysenberries |
8 sweet meat squash |
1.5 gal motherwort |
| 4 gal celery leaves |
12 qts blackberry jam |
3 gal strawberries |
4 pumpkins |
1 gal yarrow flowers |
| 1.5 qts Eur. Soldier Beans |
12 pints boysenberry jam |
20 - 10 packs anaheim peppers |
- |
.5 gal lavender |
| 2 qts Swed. brown beans |
22 qts sauerkraut |
8 pts pesto |
- |
1 qt lemon balm |
| 1 qt scarlett runner beans |
48 qts tomato sauce |
50 lbs walnuts (bought/shelled on farm) |
- |
4 qts lemon verbena |
| 8 ristras (50-100 peppers) |
14 qts salsa |
- |
- |
3 qts pineapple sage |
| - |
16 qts pickles |
- |
- |
4 qts basil |
| - |
58 qts green beans |
- |
- |
1 qt clarey |
| - |
- |
- |
- |
1 qt rosemary |
| - |
- |
- |
- |
3 qts calendula flowers |
| - |
- |
- |
- |
2 qts skullcap |
| - |
- |
- |
- |
1 pt dill seed |
| - |
- |
- |
- |
1 pt lemongrass | | | |
STILL IN THE GARDEN: (1) 4 foot by 20 foot bed of turnips and
rutabagas, (2) 4 foot by 26 foot beds of brassicas, (1) 4 foot by 18
foot bed of mixed lettuce, spinach, cilantro, and green onions, (1) 4
foot by 18 foot bed of Swiss Chard and Kale.
Maybe we're not farmers because we eat most of what we grow instead it's all about the process. We're up before dawn and during the summer months we're usually busy until 4pm.
We're enjoying the area we grew up in, not in the literal age sense but in the development of sensing what it is we need and want. Room to roam, land to explore, nature to observe, space to grow and green pastures for our Gotlands to enjoy.
