Life at the Stand Family Farm

When we arrived at the Stand Family Farm, we were greeted by its owners, Janette and Susan. They were very welcoming and excited to help us settle in and show us around the farm. The property is on a hill, with their house at the top and the WWOOF camp at the bottom. In between are two fields, a barn, an A-frame house, a kitchen garden, a greenhouse, a goat pasture, a second A-frame house, and a chicken run.

After finishing the tour, we sat outside the house and got to know everyone on the farm. In the house live Susan, Janette, their 18 month-old son and their friend Merna. Charlie, the farm manager, lives in the A-frame down near the WWOOF camp. He oversees the crops and gives us direction for maintaining the fields. We also got to know another WWOOFer, Elizabeth, who was staying in the camper at the bottom of the property for two weeks.

Our living situation might sound rustic, but we’re really enjoying it. Andrea and I are staying in a 12’x12’ tent that is furnished with a queen-size mattress and some comfy quilts. A few yards from the tent is the small camper where Elizabeth stayed. The camper has a bathroom with a composting toilet and a shower, a kitchen complete with a sink, stove, fridge and cupboards, and a bed at the very back. The bed was Elizabeth’s space but the rest of the camper was shared space. Luckily, Elizabeth isn’t an overly private person, so we had no problem using the camper as a community.

The daily animal chores aren’t too difficult. In the morning the chickens and goats need to be let out and fed and at night they need to be let back in. Easy animal chores means that we have more energy to devote to the bigger projects on the farm. So far we’ve done a lot of weeding (as always on a farm), compost spreading, planting, trimming, and laying of drip irrigation. Much of what they grow here ends up being served at The Tin Shed, a restaurant in Portland that Janette co-owns, and the rest is eaten by everyone living on the farm. We even participated in the first harvest of the season by picking and washing chard, mint, thyme, and snap peas.

Janette and Susan also encourage their volunteers to take on independent projects as an opportunity to learn new skills and improve the farm. When I saw the size of the camper shower I immediately knew what project we should tackle. Andrea sketched up an outdoor shower design and showed it to Janette who was thrilled at the thought of this addition. Neither of us has much experience in construction, but Janette said that she will help us with any part of the project that we’re unfamiliar with.

When we’re not working, we love to relax around camp. Where we are, at the bottom of the property, there is a gorgeous view of Mt. Hood, and in the foreground of this view is a large pasture with horses and cows. We’ve spent a good amount of time just reading, drinking tea and enjoying our surroundings.

When we feel a little more outgoing we sometimes walk to Corbett’s country market which is less than a mile from the farm, for some lunch or a snack. We’ve also gotten a ride into Portland with Charlie a couple of times to walk around the city, stop in at Powell’s City of Books, and eat some local Portland fare.

We don’t often spend a lot of time with Janette, Susan, and their toddler, but we have had a couple of opportunities to babysit or just hang out with them at the house, which is always a very entertaining experience, as their son is adorable and eager to learn. We even tagged along one morning for the local fire station’s pancake breakfast fundraiser, where Janette and Susan's son rode on a fire truck, and we saw a nice collection of old Ford Model T’s and other antique cars.

We’re glad that we’re staying here for a full month, but it feels like it’s going by so quickly. The farm seems to be ever changing and we’ve contributed a number of ideas that Susan and Janette were excited to think about implementing. We’re trying to make the most of the time that we have here by working hard, playing hard, and just soaking in the gorgeous scenery. More on our projects and experiences next time!