Category Archives: goats

Ingela Wanerstrand

 

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You can tell Ingela is a designer. Everything in her small Seattle yard does double duty, saving her time, providing food, keeping it simple. Cleaning the chicken coop is easy when the compost bin is right out the window. The coop also has a green roof that doubles as insulation, with multiple easy-access doors for storage and collecting eggs. Along with her chickens, she also keeps several mini goats that provides her with milk and cheese.

She makes use of every inch of her space pruning dwarf fruit trees into edible fences. It’s no surprise that Ingela teaches pruning with her business Green Darner Garden Design. “To sum it up,” she says, “my biggest passion is beautiful, productive urban food production”

Ingela was born in Sweden and raised “by a bunch of Swedes in Seattle” and she must of learned a thing or two from them. Her favorite farm tools included plenty of goat proof hardware, a battery powered Coleman lantern and a very cool “precision garden dump cart” that can handle up to 600 lb. It was all well-designed, simple and useful. Who wouldn’t want it for their own backyard?

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hardware

some examples of Ingela’s favorite goat-proof hardware and the indispensable coleman rechargeable lantern

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Tierra Soul Urban Farm and Guesthouse

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Krista and David Arias always dreamed of land in the country but the economy wouldn’t cooperate. Instead of giving up they transformed  their regular sized Portland lot into a thriving urban farm. They dug up the driveway and planted fruit trees. They got chickens, goats and bees. But they didn’t stop there, the couple turned their large historic home into a guesthouse and  farm school. Their place has become so popular they were able turn it into a family-friendly business that allows Krista and David to stay home with the kids.

I stayed with the Arias family twice when I visited Portland and  I loved their urban farmhouse idea and included many of their tips in Backyard Roots.  Guests staying at Tierra Soul get a welcome that includes homemade goats milk soap and a tour given  by six-year-old Fia and that alone is reason enough to go. It’s a great way to escape to a farm without leaving the city or to simply see how you like the idea of urban farming. You can even help with the chores.

Tierra Soul Farm is located in the historic Mississippi Avenue historic district in Portland close to cafes, restaurants and shops. www.tierrasoulpdx.com

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Fia and Xoco hold freshly pulled garlic from their Portland garden.