A Sliver of Heaven
VIEW FROM OUR PLACERolling up my sleeves and digging in the dirt on
our Oregon farm is the life I dreamed of as a kid.
BY TAWNY NELSON North Plains, OregonI
was an ocean-loving girl,
born in the sunny state of
California. However, when
I was about 4 years old, my
family uprooted and moved
to Washington state, where for a
short time we had the privilege of
living one field over from where
my maternal grandparents lived.
During those two years of my
young life, the country grew roots
in me deeper than the great depths
of the ocean. The warm soil on my
toes; the lush green, rain-ripenedgrass fields; trees with great limbs
for climbing; old red barns and
sweet carrots pulled fresh from the
earth are just a few of the things
that have never left my blood.
Three decades later, I finally get
to live on my own piece of paradise
on a little mountain in Oregon. My
husband, Ben, and I farm hay on
80 acres, where we are raising our
20-month-old son, Michael, to be
a true country kid.
Our home is located in the small
town of North Plains, Oregon, nearthe Dixie Mountain Grange hall,
in the middle of the Willamette
and Tualatin valleys. This area has
rich, fertile land where folks raise
livestock and grow grass seed, hay,
grapes and other fruit, pumpkins,
nuts and Christmas trees. Multi-
generation farms stand side by side
with new ones.
After spending so many years
in cities, I’ve had to learn how to
farm and garden. Driving a tractor
to cut, rake and bale hay was
completely foreign to me. And,GRAND
PRIZE
WINNERCountry Home Our
ContestThe Nelsons
grow hay on
80 fertile acres
that have been
in the family for
almost a century.24 COUNTRY-MAGAZINE.COM FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018