12
vernonia’s
voice community
june
2009
Applebean Farm: A Family Farm Started From Scratch
By Scott Laird
Denice Scott and Doug Chatfield are carving out a new
life for themselves and their family in Columbia County. Nes-
tled into the hills between Rainier and Clatskanie is Applebean
Farm, what some might call an experiment in back to basics liv-
ing and subsisting. But for Denice and Doug and their children,
it’s more than an experiment. It’s a way of life that mirrors their
values. It’s an opportunity to get back to what is important--
food, family, shelter, community. It’s an idea that life can be
more interesting and satisfying if we would all just turn off the
television for a while and get our hands dirty. It’s the idea that
a good day’s work can be satisfying and rewarding, especially
if at the end of the day, that work has put food on your table and
fed your family.
Denice and Doug describe themselves as “hard core do-
it-yourself-ers, who believe in the power of hard work.” They
purchased their five acres, and, with their three children, moved
in this past November. They have carved out a small family
farm with the idea that they could support themselves by raising
their own food and selling their excess to friends and neighbors
and others in the community.
The Scott’s are part of a new tradition, one that is moving
away from corporate farm produced food, and back towards the
once-disappearing small family farms. Away from pesticides
and herbicides and towards organic growing. Away from large
supermarkets and processed foods and towards farmers markets
and bartering. Towards sharing tools and equipment rather than
taking on excessive debt to own a large tractor you only use
a few times a year. And in these tough economic times, self-
sufficiency is a skill set that can be very valuable.
The idea of going out to the backyard to pick your din-
ner from the garden is something many of us have gotten away
from. “That is hugely satisfying,” says Denice. “And I really
like the idea of promoting it as accessible. We’re doing this
farm on a shoestring. We’re figuring out what we can do in this
first season. And next season we’ll add to it.”
They don’t have huge expectations, just some very attain-
able goals. “I really like the idea of raising food for a small
community of people,” says Denice. “Ultimately, one of our
main goals is to be able to feed our own family, whether by
growing it, or by raising enough cash from selling it, or by
trading it. By adjusting your expectations and goals, I think it’s
totally reasonable to think you can have a successful farm, by
being diversified.”
Denice and Doug have begun selling shares in their CSA-
- which stands for Community Supported Agriculture, where
community members who buy-in at the start of the season re-
ceive a basket of fresh produce each week direct from the farm.
CSA’s are a growing successful business model for small family
farms, and a way for consumers to be more connected to where
their food comes from. Besides the weekly basket, Applebean
Farm is offering something unique-- canning shares. Custom-
ers can order large quantities of tomatoes, cucumbers or other
Inside the greenhouse at Applebean Farm
vegetables that they can put up themselves at the end of the
season. “We’ve had a good response to the canning shares,”
said Doug.
Denice and Doug are experienced gardeners and canners,
who grew some of their own food in their backyard garden in
North Portland before moving to Rainier. The property they
bought is half covered in trees-- which provides an ample sup-
ply of firewood, and half-cleared for the house and large yard
area. A large green house was already on site, one of the main
selling points of the property. Doug borrowed a tractor from
a neighbor and has turned and tilled three large plots for the
heirloom vegetables and berries they plan to grow. The green-
house is full of vegetable starts, already well established in early
spring. They will be growing strawberries and blueberries, car-
rots, peas, tomatoes onions, potatoes, lettuces, broccoli, cab-
bages, and of course, apples and beans. “I am trying to grow
things my family likes to eat,” says Denice. “We have three
little kids, so at the end of the day we have to go inside and put
dinner on the table.” They have a variety of laying hens that are
producing eggs, and the hope is to raise meat chickens as well.
They may also raise some pigs in the future.
Denice is a former teacher, who may apply to do some sub-
stitute teaching in the winter to supplement their income. The
children are home-schooled and have daily chores. The girls,
Olivia, eight, and Mia, six, feed the chickens and collect the eggs
every day, and are already learn-
ing to cook. Olivia made an egg
breakfast for her Dad that morn-
ing. “Perfect medium eggs!”
said Doug. “There’s nothing
better than that!” The youngest,
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two year old Brishen, doesn’t
work-- yet. The name Brishen is
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old English/Gypsy which means
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“born in the rain,” appropriate to
this northwest region. A family
farm is a great way for young
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says Denice.
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farm came about. “I never had
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a CSA. And I was always going
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big boxes of tomatoes and cuc’s to can. And I started thinking,
‘I could be that person that does this.’ Right now, I think people
are more in the mindset to brush up on all those things your
grandma knew how to do.”
“Especially when you are serving your local community,
where someone can come and see you,” adds Doug. “The mon-
ey stays in Columbia County. And it’s an opportunity to meet
people as well.”
That sense of community is a big part of what Denice and
Doug are hoping to accomplish with their move to the country.
“It’s been a little frustrating to look around and see how much
opportunity there is to do small scale agriculture out here,” says
Denice. “It’s not organized. The Grange system has sort of
fallen apart. There is so much out here.” The idea of work-
ing together with their neighbors, sharing resources, trading and
bartering, is very appealing-- and practical. “We don’t need to
have a cow if you have a cow,” says Denice. “We’ll trade you
our extra tomatoes for milk every week.” She is also explor-
ing the idea of purchasing a mobile chicken processing plant
that could travel the county and be shared among families who
could raise their own meat chickens. Again, working together
and sharing resources to accomplish common goals.
Denice and Doug have taken what some consider a big risk,
quitting their jobs, moving to a new community, starting a new
farm. But it is a life of their choosing, and a life that reflects
their values. A life that is simpler and less complex in some re-
spects, yet will take a lot
of ingenuity, self-reliance
and hard work. “There is
always something to do
on a farm,” says Doug.
“And at the end of
the day, you have to work
at something,” says Den-
ice.
More information
about farm happenings,
photos, recipes, and mus-
A hen thinks about laying an egg
ings can be found on
Denice’s blog at http://applebeanfarm.wordpress.com. To get in
touch with Denice and Doug and to sign up for their CSA con-
tact applebeanfarm@gmail.com or call 503-369-6635. Also,
look for them at the Vernonia Open Air Market on Fridays.
503.429.2010
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