PHOTO BY TODD COOPER
Earth Day 2003
HORSE POWER
COTTAGE GROVE FARM STEPS BACK IN TIME. by Aria Seligmann
preservation of wild habitat. Studies also show
that small farms have substantially higher
yields per acre than larger ones.
Plus, that makes Ruby and Amber’s work
a little easier. The horse sisters have been
farming organically together for six years,
three of those years with Bernard and
Woolhouse, who’ve collected various horse-
drawn farm implements and taught them-
selves how to use them. “We want to teach
and preserve the culture of horse-farming,”
they say, and hold workshops to train others.
Attendees come from Portland to California to
learn the old ways.
Bernard points out the equipment they use
as he gets the horses ready for work. First he’ll
use a harrow, a small metal tool for pulling up
weeds. He points to antique plows and newer
equipment he uses “to combine the best of
both worlds,” he says.
The horses are ready. Straps attached to the
harrow with a bit create balance and breaking
action. The horses’ bridles have blinders to
avoid distraction. A wide bar connects the
straps to the harrow. It can also be attached to
a cart for riding, “But walking,” says Bernard,
“is much easier on the back.”
He takes off behind the horses. “You’re not
leading them, just skillfully managing the
reins,” he says. “They’re much stronger than
you.”
“Lines train the horses, you just tug gently,
plus they’re listening,” he says. “You watch
the ears to know what they’re about to do.”
Two horses generate 48 HP — they can
pull 10-15 percent of their weight all day with
breaks. They can also work wet soil when a
tractor can’t.
As the horses pull the harrow, weeds are
pulled out by their roots. As Bernard circles
with the horses, Campbell points to the
ground, “Here, we’ll grow root crops: onions,
carrots and beets.” Overhead irrigation will be
used in this area, but mostly the farm uses drip
irrigation.
Next, Bernard and Woolhouse hitch up the
plow, and Bernard once again begins to circle.
As the horses go by, the plow’s gentle rolling
is all that can be heard, along with Bernard’s
whispering a quick “Step up” (go) and elon-
gated “Whoa” (stop). Occasionally, he
breathes “Gee” (go right) or “Haw” (go left).
The quiet is noticeable, along with the mist
settling over the fields, and the scent of fresh
earth.
“The plow responds to the subtlety of the
soil and you can make adjustments as you go,”
he says.
There is a pattern and rhythm working and
communicating with horses. A kinship, a part-
nership. Plus, it’s easy on the soil, minimizing
soil compaction and erosion.
The horses’ weight is distributed only
where their hoofs are in contact with the
ground (as opposed to a tractor wheel). They
naturally avoid softer beds where plants are
planted.
Also, the slower speed and closeness to the
soil gives better knowledge and information
about the soil, says Bernard.
“You can plow an acre in one day, if you
know what you’re doing and the horses are in
good shape,” says Woolhouse. The farmer has
to be in good shape, too. Plowing an
acre is the equivalent
of walking 11
miles.
“Walt makes it look really easy, but it’s
not,” says Campbell. “It’s a lot of work to
keep a straight line in that furrow,” he says, as
the horses go ’round a second time, with
Amber stepping right into the gully she just
helped dig.
After the plowing is finished, Ruby is led
back to the barn, and Amber’s left to weed the
garlic beds alone. “Once the plants get too big,
you can’t use two horses,” says Bernard. “You
can use a single horse for smaller, narrower
areas, but you can’t cut a tractor in half.”
Now Woolhouse drives Amber, who pulls
a walking cultivator. It skims under the sur-
face of the soil and easily pulls up the weeds.
“It’s nervous-making,” says Bernard. “If
you’re not careful, you can run right over your
own crops.”
Meanwhile, Amber looks down, carefully
plotting each footstep she’s about to take next,
watching the row as she goes.
ew
An open farm day is planned from 1-4 pm Sunday, May 25 at
the farm, which is located at 75976 Booth Kelly Camp Rd. in
Dorena. Call (541) 946-1504 for information, or visit the
Farmers’ Market booth.
PHOTO BY TODD COOPER
A
big part of the philosophy on Ruby and
Amber’s Organic Oasis, a farm located
in Dorena, is “small is beautiful.”
That refers to the size of the farm, but doesn’t
apply to Ruby and Amber, the 1,800 lb. half-
sister Belgian draft horses who pull the plow.
Nor will it apply to the sisters’ sons, Nugget
and Moose, respectively, who will one day lit-
erally follow in their mothers’ footsteps.
Ruby and Amber’s is a 30-acre farm that
only keeps two to three acres in production
each year. “The perfect size for working with
draft horses,” says co-owner Walt Bernard.
He, along with owner Chris Woolhouse, had
previously farmed without horses in
California, but once they learned how to use
draft horses, moved to their idyllic spot at a
1,000 ft. elevation in the Willamette Valley
foothills where the land is level and the com-
munity welcoming.
The certified organic farm is a CSA (com-
munity supported agriculture), which means
participants buy shares in the farm and are in
turn offered a weekly basket of fresh produce
and flowers. Shares for flower baskets alone
are also sold, and the farm has a booth at the
Tuesday and Saturday Farmers’ Markets in
Eugene.
The farm employs three to five seasonal
workers, including Paul Campbell, who along
with Bernard and Woolhouse, stands in the
fields on a warm, overcast spring afternoon.
Although the farm employs one small trac-
tor — “mostly for moving stuff like compost
around,” says Campbell — the engine’s been
converted to run on locally produced bio-
diesel fuel.
“The horses are fueled by renewable fuels
— like grasses, grains and don’t emit pollu-
tion, but compost,” says Woolhouse.
In addition to sustainable energy practices,
the farmers are looking at ways of decreasing,
not increasing, the amount of land they work.
“We try to get the highest yield out of the
smallest space,” says Campbell.
He hopes to teach that to others, to make
farming even more sustainable. Smaller farms
mean less erosion, soil disruption and more
CHRIS WOOLHOUSE, RUBY, PAUL CAMPBELL, AMBER AND WALT BERNARD.
APRIL 17, 2003 13