A Week In The Country
They Made the Move for Less Stress, More Water

This couple left a metropolis in the desert to share the bounty of the Oregon countryside with others.

By Scottie Jones, Alsea, Oregon

Scottie and Greg Jones

Greetings from Leaping Lamb Farm in Alsea, Oregon! My name is Scottie Jones and my husband is Greg. Our daughters, Caitlin and Emery, are grown and out of the house, so we share our farm with two dogs, two cats, three horses, a burro, 25 ewes, 38 lambs, a ram, 14 chickens, a couple of turkeys, four geese and a peacock.

We moved from suburban Phoenix 5 years ago to this small, rural community in the Coast Range of Oregon for a less hectic life and more water. Deep down, we realized we had no control over our ability to live sustainably in the desert. And, it was just too hot!

Moving to a community of 300 families was a bit drastic, perhaps, but here we are. We run a variety of businesses from the farm. Greg has a day job as a professor of psychology at our local community college. This leaves him free on weekends, holidays and the summer to catch up on property and equipment repairs and maintenance.

The Jones family raise animals and run a bed-and-breakfast on the farm.

Although the animals and I are responsible for some of the breakage, Mother Nature, Father Time and Murphy’s Law can be blamed for everything else.

I oversee the farm businesses, which include raising grass-fed lamb for local markets, selling our livestock gate latch (Greg designed the U-Latch after our horse “Tater” opened the gates one too many times) and running a Farm Stay on our place.

The Farm Stay is sort of like a bed-and-breakfast for people who want to experience the country firsthand. I now have a better appreciation for what it takes to put food on the table and the importance of knowing how things work…and how to fix them!

I do wish we had had the opportunity to raise our kids here on this farm. It’s an important part of understanding our place in the natural world, and reminds me of a lesson I learned while working at the Phoenix Zoo.

The director refused to keep the pedestrian paths manicured, to the great dissatisfaction of many of our patrons who thought the place looked messy. “We need our guests to ‘touch’ nature, or they will lose their sense of what is truly important,” he said.

Well, here, we touch nature every day. While it may alternately sting or soothe, be soft or hard, every day is different, and there is always something new to learn and experience.

Sunday, July 6
Sunday mornings start off a little slowly. Our neighbor has taken to dropping off our paper since the delivery is 2 miles down the road. We usually alternate the duty, but he is trying to get in shape and rides his bike out early. Nice to have a paper waiting with the coffee!

Today is gardening day. We have let the weeds get slightly out of hand. If we don’t jump in, there will be no reclaiming the corn, peas or beans.

Monday, July 7
Monday started at midnight, as I was getting ready to go to bed.

The only time I have had to myself is when everyone else is in bed. I had wrapped up my computer work (reservations, sales, etc.) and could hear the sheep baaing more than usual.

Scottie helps J.J. feed “Harold,” a lamb recovering from a dog attack.

I also heard the horses coughing. Then there was some sort of squealing out in the orchard. It was loud enough to start the dogs barking. I walked downstairs in the dark, found the flashlight and decided to see what was going on outside.

Halfway to the barn, I could see one of the problems. Most of our sheep were grazing on the wrong side of the fence. As I aimed my flashlight toward the offending gate, the light faded out. It needed recharging. Wouldn’t you know it!

I chased the sheep back into their pen, rehung the gate that had been knocked off its hinges and tied some baling twine around it for good measure.

Thanks to a hungry cougar, Scottie and Cosmo must count sheep before bed.

Daylight brought an early mist over our property. As the sun began to break through, we felt an uncomfortable jump in temperature from the 50s to the 90s.

After an egg sandwich and coffee, Greg headed out for the first chore of the day—moving irrigation pipe in both the hay field and our barn pasture.

I headed in the other direction to collect our Farm Stay guests, who had driven from southern California.

They dream of moving to a small farm of their own and thought this might be a good way to see what is involved.

First thing: morning chores. I handed the egg basket to Cosmo, a cute little 5-year-old girl with curly hair. The 2 year-old, J.J., ran toward the chicken yard before his mom could grab him, only to fall flat on his face when he tripped.

His dad scooped him up, and we entered the chicken yard together. I gave directions for collecting eggs and positioned myself between my guests and our slightly mean tom turkey.

Next, we headed to the barn with two baby bottles of milk in hand. The horses and our burro, “Paco,” greeted us.

I showed Cosmo how to feed hay to the horses and hold the bottle for our bummer lamb, “Teddy.” The second bottle was for our injured lamb, “Harold,” attacked several days earlier by two dogs. He was resting in a stall with a broken leg and purple antiseptic called Blue Lotion all over his wounds.

Running water. Stacey Small, her husband, Robert Bernstein, and their kids learn about the farm.

After the chores were done, I took the family on a tour of the property and then left them to wander on their own and think about a nap for J.J.

Greg and I spent the day on various solo projects. I whipped up a spaghetti dinner using a wonderful tomato mixture made from our own tomatoes, onions and garlic.

Tuesday, July 8
Cosmo was the first into the chicken coop to scout for eggs and help spread the scratch in the yard. She then sprinted to the barn ahead of us with a bottle in hand, intent on feeding Teddy.

It was a bit of a struggle for Cosmo to manage the bottle. The lamb weighs as much as she does, and he pushes hard. Harold was better at taking a bottle this morning, but it has been quite a process since his jaw is badly swollen.

Next, we opened the gate to let the sheep out of their night paddock. Cosmo and I counted the lambs as they filed past. This is the only way I can get a sure count. It’s a procedure I started last summer after losing nine lambs in 3 months to a cougar. My count needs to be 38 this year. If not, I recount. Today we counted 38. Phew!

Scottie checks up on “Chaco".

We cleaned stalls and then found J.J. with his dad sitting on the Kubota tractor in the shed. A typical boy, J.J. is far more interested in climbing high on the hay in the hayloft and sitting on farm equipment than he is in interacting with the farm animals.

Wednesday, July 9
Our California family left early today. There were hugs all around and promises for a return visit.

Our next Farm Stay guests will be three college friends of our youngest daughter. These are real city girls, so it should be interesting.

There were multiple small projects on our plate today. First, we had to put the riding lawn mower back together. On Sunday, we came home to find it in a million pieces in our driveway.

Cosmo holds a hen.

Our neighbor Dave’s son John was mowing when the steering bar snapped in two, and Dave, an old logger who’ll tackle just about anything mechanical, took it apart to fix it.

Between Dave, Greg and me, we eventually fit all the pieces of the puzzle back together, and we’re ready for another day of mowing.

I started writing a grant for a three-bay composting facility we want to build onto our barn.

Greg spent a good part of the day cutting up alder and Douglas fir deadfall from last winter’s storms. We have trees down all around the property. Once he cuts the trees to the right length for our woodstove, John spends a few days splitting and stacking the wood for us.

Like haying, this is a young man’s sport and a good way for John to build muscle for summer basketball camp. You should see the pile he has to split for his dad!

Surprise, surprise! The day rounded out with not three college girls, but three of my best friends from Arizona walking down our driveway.

I guess this plan has been in the works since last winter when they spoke with Greg about a surprise visit.

What a wonderful few days we will have! The first thing out of my friends’ mouths was that they were here to help. We started right off with evening feeding and veterinary care!

Thursday, July 10
We started with the chickens this morning. Lise, Annette and Linda were as excited as any kids we have hosted on the property. I think collecting eggs is a favorite for most visitors because it is rather like hunting for Easter eggs.

We turned out the horses and the sheep. Annette and I brushed Paco for 20 minutes. What a silly burro. He so loves all the attention.

Greg spent the day installing additional length to a 24-inch culvert with a buddy who has a backhoe.

The girls and I worked on Farm Stay projects. We stained the picnic table down near the creek. Then we hung blinds in the cabin to keep the morning sun off the breakfast table.

With the Pacific Ocean only 40 miles away, you have to take surprise visitors to the coast to see the sunset and eat fresh seafood. So, off we went.

Greg begged off for his own quiet time on the farm and was left with written instructions for evening feeding.

Solo projects. From top: Greg, who works full-time, changes an irrigation pipe in the hay field. Scottie tends the vegetable garden and the flowers around their country home

Friday, July 11
It is hot today and feels muggier than usual. My friends don’t mind, but I have lost some of my tolerance for heat.

We returned from the coast and jumped right into weeding the garden and helping out with the irrigation.

It’s amazing how fast weeds will grow with some additional water. In one spot, it was hard to tell the flowers from the old cover crop of buckwheat.

Greg spent most of the day in his office at the community college, 50 miles away. Although he is off during the summer, he has to wrap up a few things from last semester and prepare for the next one.

While feeding Harold this evening, a large scab of wool and flesh peeled off his jawline. None of us, the vet included, realized the dogs had ripped so deep. The skin underneath is healthy and pink, though, so I can tell the lamb is healing properly.

Annette was feeding Harold at the time. Luckily, Annette has a strong stomach and always wears gloves.

Saturday, July 12
This is the final day of my friends’ visit, so we’re going to the Philomath Frolic and Rodeo in town this evening. I think they have all been to rodeos before, but this will be fun because it is a local event.

Chores come first, though. The vegetables needed weeding, harvesting and thinning. First, I sent the girls to harvest the spinach, peas, raspberries and cascade berries.

When they finished, I had them dig out the grass and weeds between the carrots and the onions. Not wanting to be a total meanie, I called it quits after about 3 hours. I hadn’t finished my rows of potatoes, but tomorrow is another day.

The rodeo was a great send-off. There was a cowboy, a comedian and a talented clown announcer, who probably has a side job as a gymnast. No one was hurt in the competitions. We saw saddle broncs, bull riding, barrel racing and various kinds of roping.

Tomorrow, my good friends and Greg will head out for the airport early. There will be chores to do here—cabins to clean, new guests to greet and potato rows to finish.

Both Greg and I have to learn that there will always be more to do, and it’s okay to take time for ourselves.

It has been a good week with lots of variety. I’ve learned new things. Greg added new muscle. And like most small farms, we will have stories to tell for a long time to come.

Photography by Bob Pool