Juniper Acre…

Juniper Acre is an evolving homestead in Terrebonne, Oregon. We discovered the property in Central Oregon in October 2015 after moving from Southern California a few months before. It was once a house on an acre of dirt, cheat grass, juniper trees and volcanic basalt rocks with no garden, no fencing, no chickens, and no workshop. We could see the potential it had the first time we saw it but knew it would take a lot of work.

Not in a million years could we have guessed our lives would look like this . . . an acre of land in Oregon spotted with juniper trees, a garden larger than the size of our last house, chickens, ducks and a goose roaming the property, and spending our free time working on projects in our tiny workshop and home.

We are originally from Long Beach, CA and were thrown a curveball in life in 2015. I had been struggling to stay afloat as a full-time middle school teacher, all while being fed through a feeding tube
(j-tube) and IV fluids through a chest port. In 2011, I was diagnosed with severe Gastroparesis (paralysis of the stomach) and managed to continue to teach full-time from 2012 to 2015 when I had a reality check with my health and energy levels. We decided it was time for me to go on disability. In order to do that, it would mean we could no longer continue to afford to live in the house and community we loved. We decided to sell our home of 15 years and move to Central Oregon where it would be more affordable. The road to Oregon and beginning a new life here has not been an easy transition. The first few months felt like there were a series of tests to determine if we were worthy of a life here. The job search took way longer than expected and we ended up 30 minutes from the nearest town in a rural community renting, always thinking it was temporary. We won’t have to live this far from town forever, right? The house hunt began. If you don’t have a job, the inventory of homes is pretty small. Qualifying just on my disability, we found a piece of property in our price range. Not our dream home, but it had potential. It was still far from town, but surely, it was going to be a temporary place. We knew we could fix it up and eventually sell it to get closer to town. The worthiness test continued. The first snowfall was a foot that promptly turned to a solid sheet of ice on any road we traveled. Coming from Southern California, this was a new challenge. Escrow closed in December 2015 on a day of freezing rain and melting snow. We moved everything we owned once again. And the test continued. Needless to say, we stayed and toughed it out and survived . . . so far. We went from a life of living in a walkable, bikeable, traffic filled city to a much-needed slower paced life. I’m a firm believer nothing happens by mistake and we are exactly where we are supposed to be at this very moment. With a lot of hard work, budgeting of money, and good healthy days, we can make this our dream home once again.

This is a chronicle of our journey. I’m Dodie, the tube fed farmer, and my partner in creativity and hard work is Krista. Although I still have my foot in education part-time, what truly fills my soul right now is our chickens, our ducks, the guard goose and my hands in the dirt. I have found gardening in Central Oregon to be the most challenging. Apparently, timing, grit and a lot of water is needed to be successful (and a greenhouse wouldn’t hurt). Krista is the creative, artistic and problem solver of the team. Having an artistic background and an art degree, she will oftentimes disappear into her tiny wood workshop and create a piece of art. She is always experimenting and exploring in between helping me build fences, working on home improvement projects or simply lifting large objects for me. Her greatest gratification comes from working with her hands; she is a maker at heart. We have both come to realize all things happen for a reason and life is too short to have regrets. This quiet place we now call home and have learned to embrace is one of the biggest gifts the universe has provided us. We are no longer participating in the rat race of California life. We are living simpler, surrounded by the most beautiful sites of Oregon and doing what we both love . . . gardening, animals, working at creating a new home and tapping into our creativity. And who would have guessed? Our favorite place is the local farm store where all in one trip you can get fencing supplies, seeds, muck boots, Carhartt, Dickies and baby chicks. Please join us on this journey and watch what unfolds. Follow Juniper Acre on Instagram, Facebook, our Blog, as well as our Etsy site.