8 Summer 2016 Applegater
Farm tours at Sanctuary One
BY HOLLY HIGHT
I remember hearing about Sanctuary
One several years ago; I’d known it was
a farm in the Applegate and a haven for
rescue animals. My mom had a book
about how the original farm sanctuary
got started, and the topic intrigued
me. For a year or two, I made it a New
Sanctuary One tour participants
enjoy a friendly pig.
Year’s resolution to volunteer—so long
as I could fit it into my hectic schedule.
The Applegate was an hour’s drive from
Ashland, far enough away that just
getting there would be a significant
commitment. Life was busy, and it was
easy to let New Year’s resolutions fall by
the wayside for another year.
Rune Hight is delighted by the goose
and duck eggs he found at Sanctuary One.
In fall 2014, I signed up for a
farm tour with my son. I was looking
at opportunities for my son’s education
that didn’t include traditional classroom
learning. A farm tour seemed like just the
thing. On farm tours, a staff member or
volunteer guides you around the farm,
explains how a care farm works, and
answers your questions. The tour also
includes meeting the Sanctuary’s herd
of rescued farm animals and house pets.
We arrived on a balmy day, catching
sight of all of Sanctuary One’s larger
animals, which included llamas, alpacas,
cows, horses, sheep, and pigs sharing
pastureland at the base of the Sanctuary’s
property. My son, who was seven at the
time, pointed at all of the animals. “Look
at them!” he exclaimed.
As we made our rounds from
the pasture to the bunny cottage, then
to the cat cottage and dog yards, I knew
this was something I wanted to turn into
a New Year’s resolution at last realized.
I’d been looking for a place to volunteer,
and, despite the long drive, I knew that
this was something my son and I could
do together. In the dog yard, he met a
frisky poodle named Gabe and the two
became fast friends. It was the kind of
classroom that matched my son’s energy
and interest.
Thereafter, our volunteering
day was Wednesday, and we looked
forward to our adventures. I met
volunteers who’d been there for years,
whose service began with a tour. It’s
hard not to let the surrounding beauty
combined with the level of commitment
and enthusiasm on behalf of Sanctuary
One’s staff and all of the colorful
personalities of the rescue animals
themselves turn a day into a month,
a year, or a decade commitment. It’s
worth the drive, and, more than that, it’s
worth the time carved out each week to
reconnect and to give back. In our hectic
lives, Sanctuary One is an invitation to
slow down, take a breath, and focus on
the task at hand.
Farm Tour s are of fered
Saturdays and Wednesdays, now through
October. All tours begin at 10:30 am
sharp. Book your tour online today!
Farm Tours must be reserved in advance.
For more information, visit www.
sanctuaryone.org or call 541-899-8627.
Holly Hight • 541-899-8627
Sanctuary One Volunteer
info@sanctuaryone.org
Who’s your farmer and
how green is your food?
BY ELISE HIGLEY
The way a farmer chooses to grow
food is important not only to the health
of your family but also to the health
of our environment. As a consumer of
food, you get to make environmental
decisions by what you eat. How was
your food grown? Are you eating what is
in season locally or was it shipped here?
Look at your food’s carbon footprint.
As a community of eaters and food
producers, we can make decisions that
make a difference for our planet.
Although farming is an
extractive industry, many decisions
made on the farm can make it more
environmentally conscientious. Above
and beyond growing organically, a
farmer decides what kind of seeds to buy,
whether to plant a cover crop, whether
to till and how often, how to deal with
waste, and what kind of inputs are
needed on the farm, such as composting
techniques, for example. Of course,
choosing not to use pesticides can make
a big difference to our environment.
ByGeorge
Farm, a dairy and
cheese-making farm in
the Little Applegate,
has done a lot for the
environment by using
solar panels and being
ByGeorge Farm produces many different cheeses, Owners Jonny Steiger and Tyson Fehrman, pictured with
Salmon-Safe certified.
Vera Charles the cow, have run the ByGeorge dairy
including Swisskiyou, Dutchman’s Peak,
In addition, it has some
and cheese-making farm since 2012.
and Buncom Brie (pictured).
creative environmental
systems in place, one of them dealing The owners and operators, Jonny Steiger new on-site state-of-the-art creamery. A
with waste products. Example: In the and Tyson Fehrman, bring an array of new favorite not-to-miss is the Buncom
cheese-making process, pounds of whey vegetables, eggs, pickled products, and Brie, which was named after the nearby
are generated each day. By feeding that cheeses to restaurants and five farmers’ last-standing ghost town in Oregon.
whey to their chickens, the farm is not markets throughout the Rogue Valley. According to the ByGeorge website, the
only dealing with waste, but the chickens They also deliver to grocery stores, brie is so good it “will haunt you!”
are also reaping the added calcium, fat, including Whistling Duck Farm Store
ByGeorge Farm is located at 176
and protein from the whey. Now there in Grants Pass and The Cheesemonger’s Yale Creek Road in Jacksonville. For
is less feed to buy off-site, so ByGeorge Wife in Jacksonville.
more information, call 541-899-5650 or
has reduced the carbon footprint of its
The work of a dairy farm visit their website at http://bygeorgefarm.
egg production, not to mention having goes on 365 days a year. Milking wix.com/growit or their Facebook page
healthier and happier chickens.
occurs daily at 6 am and again at 6 pm. at www.facebook.com/bygeorge.farm.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of Currently the farm is getting over 50
Elise Higley • 541-200-9972
sampling some of ByGeorge’s farm-fresh gallons a day of fresh milk, which is going
Our Family Farms
culinary delights, you’re in for a treat. straight into cheese production at their
elise@ourfamilyfarms.org
