After leaving Alaska, a time to thaw out is required. When one lives in Alaska during the summer, a type of hibernation takes over one’s life, and things get paused, put on hold, muted if you will. Thus, I found myself needing a place to warm back up and begin my life anew. Zander, my faithful tuxedo cat, did, too. 

Shortly after getting off the three-day ferry from Alaska, we ended up in Willapa Bay Heritage Farm in Long Beach, Washington as part of the Harvest Hosts program for van lifers like me. Zander and I had such a relaxing stay, that I booked an additional night. Seeing baby goats less than ten days old, holding one, and milking one were some of the highlights. I must also add how wonderful it was to sample the variety of homemade goat cheese on offer. The flavors were so delicious that sometimes I never made it back to my van to eat the cheese with crackers or smoked salmon I brought from Alaska. I ate the “Bourbon and Bacon” one directly out of the container while walking my cat, while the flavorful “Fuego” cheese ended up on crackers. I took the “How Green is My Garden” to-go, which I later devoured while overlooking the northern Californian coast at Fort Bragg. Coming back from Alaska, I needed somewhere to recharge my van batteries (and my personal ones), access to a clean toilet and shower, and a place my cat could feel safe after being at the bottom of a ferry for three days. This farm was perfect. 

Farmer Deb and her crew were extremely welcoming and their mission to educate others about sustainable living is a part of everything they do. Without my needing to say it out loud, Deb understood my desire to try milking a goat myself rather than to just watch; “The zombie apocalypse is upon us and knowing how to milk a goat will be one of the life skills that will make you a more valuable member of the group.” Her words, not mine, though I couldn’t have said it better myself. Her excitement for me when I was able to milk Shadow, my mama goat, on the first try made me feel an overwhelming amount of pride, even though I was not the most confident milker, as I was afraid my novice hands would irritate her. Yet, knowing that I could milk a goat, should the need arise again, made me feel that much more confident in my ability to overcome future challenges.

Farmer Deb was able to share with me many details about how they run the farm in the most thoughtful and humane way they can. She discussed the conflicts she has had about deciding to dehorn her goats, figuring out when best to breed her goats, and managing the goats’ offspring. Since less male goats are needed on a farm such as hers, but she cannot fathom to eat her own goats raised from birth, she prefers that her goats be sold as breeders, grazers, or for goat yoga so that they can live out their days as long as possible. Her detailed notes about her goats’ cycles and ages demonstrated to me how much she cared individually for her thirty goats and how much she wanted to impart the knowledge she has gained running the farm to others. This is why she has a classroom building onsite and welcomes field trips from schools and other local organizations to visit. Several of the farm crew I spoke to on the property had stayed onto work with Farmer Deb because of her ability to uplift everyone around her and how she wants to teach others the importance of sustainable living. 

Other unique aspects of her farm were her pigs, composting program, ducks, and garden. As they are next to the bay where oysters are regularly harvested, you can find oyster shells everywhere. There are huge solar panels to help run the farm activities as well as a grey water system that seemed to run off into the greenery bordering the property. Seeing all of the homemade products they are also providing to guests from their farm store made me see how they are utilizing as many of their resources as possible, such as the chicken eggs, the goat cheese, the soaps, etc.

In contrast to this experience I had at Willapa Bay Heritage Farm, I visited the Tillamook Creamery in Tillamook, Oregon. Though I have purchased Tillamook products, such as cheddar choose and chocolate ice cream at my local grocery stores in both Alaska and California, I never realized the full scale of this company until I visited this manufacturing facility. To me, it was akin to visiting Disneyland and a massive parking lot catered to RV parking and buses alike and the main building’s entrance let guests know that an adventure was about to be had.

Immediately guests encounter walls filled with the history of the Tillamook company. Going up a grand staircase, guests then learn all about the dairy making processes while being able to see live workers in the process of evaluating blocks of cheese being wrapped into smaller blocks which were then quality checked along the assembly line.

Next, guests can visit their store below and purchase huge quantities of Tillamook cheese of various ages and flavors, yogurts, ice cream, butter, and spreads. In addition, other brands of seasoning, meats, salmon, huge amounts of Tillamook swag can be found; who knew I would want a butter keychain, cat treats, a cheesy cookbook, or all variations of plushies imaginable? What I do know, is that this self-professed non-shopper spent so much that the friendly cashier gave me not just one free bag that I earned with my expenditures, but two of them, to fit all of my purchases. Her obvious love of the job made me question her about how she liked working at Tillamook; her response was, “I have been here about three years and it is the most fun job I have ever had.” Since I had always imagined myself giving up teaching someday to scoop ice cream, I seriously considered filling out an application for Tillamook on the spot.

However, my desire to check out the hot foods and ice cream section of the store outweighed that desire. Instead, I had a surprisingly well made kid’s cheese burger made from Tillamook choose and a perfectly grilled bun. The ice cream line wrapped around too long for me to justify standing in it since I just purchased five kinds of ice cream from them at the store and it was starting to melt. The benefit of recently getting your fridge to work is the fact that I had a ton of freezer space open, (for a van fridge, that is), and I couldn’t think of anything sweeter than ice cream to put in there.

Though the Tillamook factory was in many ways, the exact opposite of what I had encountered at the organic Willapa Bay Heritage Farm, both had a very obvious goal of educating others. The Tillamook facility had one room, in particular, geared towards helping people, youth especially, understand how milk was acquired from cows. I watched as one girl of about ten undertook the process of affixing the milk pumps to a cow model in the exhibit while her parents looked on encouragingly. Afterwards when she was able to get all four pumps attached, her glee over her own accomplishment was evident as she almost skipped away with a huge smile of satisfaction on her face. I definitely felt that the exhibit was encouraging the future generation of dairy farmers with this installation.

Having come from Dutch immigrants who ended up in the dairy business in California, I have always had a special affinity for dairy farms since I spent family holidays visiting them. Watching my distant relatives milk their own cows, touring the grounds with them, and playing with the baby cows who would suck your hand off if you gave them the chance, always made me feel somehow connected to the greater economic network since I knew where the milk came from originally and it wasn’t a plastic bottle. As technology began to take over the economy in California, many of the dairy farms closed, including most of my family’s dairies. However, I do foresee a time when going back to sustainable farming, dairies, and lifestyles will become more of the norm, zombies or not.

It is my hope for the future, that more opportunities to educate others, especially the youth, are made available so that essential life skills aren’t lost and greater food sovereignty can be achieved. Encouraging these educational programs through field trips, workshops, patronage, etc. is perhaps how we start to help.