Oregon’s Deck Family Proves Family Farms Can Be Sustainable

Reader Contribution by John Clark Vincent
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Planting A Future: Profiles from Oregon’s New Farm Movementspotlights 18 Oregon farms and farm supporters who are committed to a return to ecologically sound agricultural practices. This group reflects the diversity of people, both young and old, who are reshaping our state’s food system and reclaiming our right to eat well. In their stories you will hear how they came to be where they are, learn something about the challenges they face, and share their happiness at the successes they’ve enjoyed thus far. The following profile has been excerpted fromPlanting A Future.

As I turn off High Pass Road to the Deck Family Farm there’s a gate across the driveway. Cattle nose through fencing on either side, perhaps wondering what to make of this latest visitor. Unfastening the chain reminds me of the many pasture gates I opened growing up, and when I close it, like when I was a kid I try to chain it in a way that makes it easy to open next time.

The place looks like a working farm. A cluster of buildings on a bit of high ground. A mix of livestock braving the drizzling rain. Occasional water-filled potholes in the long, winding driveway. A dog standing beneath a shade tree barking at my car’s approach. The line-up of work boots sitting on the porch beside the front door.

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