Welcome to My New Oregon Forest Farm!

A Horticulturist Transplants from Dallas to Rural-ish Oregon

It took a lot of planning, and a lot of waiting, and it was a long time coming.

I have finally made the transition from my urban garden in Dallas, TX, to my rural-ish forest farm in Oregon. I say rural-ish because even though we are "out in the country", and are on 6-acres with rural, farming, and forestry zoning, we're still only 30 minutes from downtown Portland, and pretty much anywhere else we need to get to in the area. We're also very close to two neighboring towns of Canby and Oregon City, so amenities are a mere minutes away. It's the perfect hybrid of having elbow room to grow (and LOTS of trees) but not being too far from civilization.

It's difficult to get good photo that show the entire property, so, we'll take it bit by bit over time.

What's Growing on at the Forest Farm?

I'm still toying with names for my little "forest farm", as I'm calling it, and figuring out where I can do just what. It's not open flat agricultural land, rather a lovely forested gardening retreat (y'all, I have a POOL in Oregon, lol), with a lot of the property on slope, with different pockets of different growing opportunities; be it establishing woodland natives and bulbs (YES please!), fern gardens (DUH), MOSS gardens (Absolutely), too fruit trees and berry bushes, to edible gardens, and of course plenty of spaces to flesh out more ornamental spaces, natives, cool conifers, and fun plant collections (yes, the miniature Iris collection has already begun). Of course my "ornamental" gardens are always mixed with edibles and herbs.

Essentially, I'll be master planning this property as my own little 6-acre botanical garden and habitat.

There are areas I'm considering to set back up my beehives (the small produce farmer across the road will be happy about that!), as well as a place to reestablish my chicken flock...I'm thinking we may be a full-time Silkies only operation moving forward! (Tiny pants, tiny chihuahuas, tiny chickens...you get my jam!)

The POOP Garden

OH..and being out here in the country we are on a well and septic system. So I also have a large septic drain field to manage, which I've dubbed "the poop garden", so I'll also be talking about how to maintain that, and what you can or can't plant on top of it or near it.

I also have a large shop where I'll be setting up my art studio and a couple more rooms for horticultural activities. So keep your eyes peeled for some new artsy activity from the forest farm.

Home Greenhouse Revival

And of course I wouldn't have bought a property like this unless it had at least one perfect spot for a GREENHOUSE! And here it is folks, my perfect spot for a good sized home greenhouse. It doesn't exist yet, and I haven't decided exactly which type I'm going to put in, but if any of you greenhouse companies in the Oregon City or surrounding area want to talk about a project, drop me a line! I was hoping to have a new greenhouse built by the time my new book Home Greenhouse Revival comes out on September 1st (you can learn more and pre-order at the link), but that may or may not happen. In any case, you'll be along for the journey.

Guided Forest Therapy

As a newly minted Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide (you'll see my walks posted under the name Folia Forest Therapy) I'm also excited about creating opportunities for guided forest therapy walks here at my forest farm. I have lovely forested areas to enjoy, and some existing trails that need some work to clear a better path. I can't wait to start establishing more natives and wildflowers down in the forest to enjoy on our walks. As soon as I can start hosting here, I'll let you know. In the meantime I'll keep you posted on walks I do out at other locations.

There will be so much more to come and I can't wait to start sharing more of my botanical and gardening adventures here at the "farm".