We are a Christian homeschooling family of four who felt called to move out of the suburbs and into the country where we could grow produce, raise animals and become more self-sufficient. Being city-folk, we have little experience with living in the country, but for various reasons we all felt the desire to embark on this journey. So in May 2014, we moved from Portland, Oregon to rural Willamette Valley, about an hour south of Portland.
One of the primary reasons for moving was the desire for our boys to grow up outdoors having room to roam and to be the boys God created them to be. In addition to this freedom there would also be work, chores and the lessons learned from doing this work well. Funny how God is teaching all of us these same lessons!
On Salt Creek Acres, we have started with a few Dwarf Nigerian Goats not only for their wonderful milk, but they are just really neat animals. We have about a dozen chickens for eggs, and plan to grow many varieties of fruits and veggies for sharing and preserving. We also have an orchard with about 30 fruit trees, mainly apple and pear. We hope to add some blueberries if our soil type allows. Our hope is that we can manage these resources in the most natural way possible by reducing or eliminating as many chemicals as we can.
We look forward to sharing these experiences, as we transition from “city slickers” to homesteaders, with friends, family and anyone else that is interested. We do hope you may learn something here too!
We hope you will follow along on our journey, and we welcome your comments and ideas, as we are all learning as we go!
The Espalin Family
I loved reading more about you! What an amazing life experience you are providing your family. My grandfather grew up as a farmer and he is the hardest working man I know.
Michael’s side of the family are ranchers. He grew up working on the ranch in summers and it taught him a lot. Our boys have a ton of stuff they can learn from him. It’s a good thing.
I love your story. I would have loved to have raised my kids this way! Now they are grown up city folk. Your goats milk is the best! I’ll be by again soon for more, and for more soap, which I love, and eggs! thanks so muh for being there for us as well as your kids.
Hi Lisa and welcome. Too funny because I noticed your comment on the PW homeschooling page. One tends to notice “four under six” 🙂
Our hope is to share what it is like for city people to suddenly be country people. I do hope that it happens for you as it is a great life for kids to learn A LOT.
Take care,
Karen
Hello from West Virginia! I am Mike Taylor’s sister. Your Dad and Mike were here this evening for supper. We enjoy Joe’s humor and love when he visits Mike. I will get his seating for the flight home Wednesday. He showed me your blog and said you might get a “hoot” out of getting a response from our great state of WV.
My dad loves going back and seeing everyone. He has mentioned Mike Taylor many times.
Thanx for helping him get a seat on the plane. It’s a long trip to have a crummy seat.
And yes, I think it is pretty great to get someone from West Virginia looking at the blog.
Thanks for reading about what we are doing and come back again,
Karen
I have just stopped by from the Pioneer Woman and decided to stay and visit for awhile. I look forward to reading about your adventure. My husband & I are looking to do a similar move, from coastal CA to a simpler life style on producing land. We are looking into Oregon, Washington, Northern Idaho and…Wisconson! Native Northern CA born and into mature adulthood. Should be interesting dealing with weather and not dealing with so much regulations.
Welcome to our adventure. I’m glad you stopped by.
I was born in southern California but only three when we moved back to Oregon. I lived in CA in my twenties when I began my career. I love some things about CA but there are too many things that are not pleasant to move back.
You might want to look into the banana belt in Oregon. It is along the coast north of CA. Around the Brookings area. If you like both sunshine and snow then central Oregon is great. If you love lush, green and beautiful then the Willamette Valley is for you. You do have to put up with a lot of rain though. As a family, if we HAD TO move out of Oregon we would probably go to Idaho. Very pretty.
Yes. A drastic change in lifestyle at 47 years old is a bit harder than it might have been twenty years earlier. But, I was also not interested in this lifestyle when I was 27.
I hope you enjoy the blog. Our desire is to share what we are doing and learning for others who are also thinking about doing the same thing.
Enjoy,
Karen
I moved to Oregon at the age of 10, except for 10 years in the Marines, I have lived on or worked on farms my whole life. Mind you it was my wife’s family farm because I was working in town for 40 years. We moved from the family place two years ago and getting started out again on a smaller place. Rural is the only was to live. I will be contacting you about some wethers shortly. I need about 6 or eight.
If you have any questions about rural living give me a holler. Bob
Hey there Bob. So glad to hear you are enjoying the rural life as well. So many things to learn, yet so much to enjoy in the process. Also, thank you for your service in the Marine Corp. We do have some wethers left so let us know when you want to come and take a look. I look forward to talking with you.
Sincerely,
Michael
I’m a city girl who is adjusting to rural life 🙂
Most things I love but some things are harder to get used to.
Looking forward to seeing what we can do. We currently have 7 bucklings. We wait until six weeks to “band” them and two months before we could sell them.
Thank you for serving our country, I look forward to meeting you Bob.
Karen
I have to say, as a Laura Ingles Wilder fan, I LOVE the name of you’re blog!
When we thought of it, everyone was in agreement. Thanx for checking us out.
I came across your name while reading a Blog about planting garlic and braiding it. The fact that yours was named Salt Creek caught my eye as we recently moved to The Amity area. We have a very small 5-acre farm up on Eola Hill. I would love to chat with somebody so local who has experience in this area. I hope to hear from you and I enjoyed your blog
Hi, sorry for the delay in responding. This time of year is really busy and it is made more so by the death of Michael’s mom. If you would like to chat, here is our number 503-835-1011. Hope to hear from you .