Welcome Back Woods, Oregon

We moved to this land in 2015 and named it Welcome Back Woods. To us, Welcome Back Woods is all about the idea of coming home; grounding ourselves in nature, reconnecting with our soul selves, connecting with the local flora and fauna, and creating a safe space that we can share with others for recreation, organic food, restorative agriculture and recovery from the busyness of our day-to-day lives. 

This property is located on the traditional land of the Molalla People of Clackamas County and had more recently been loved by the same family for the past 100 years. In 1920, the family built a tiny cabin. As the story goes, the grandmother got fed up with the tiny home living, so her husband built her a larger house in 1973, which Will and I now reside in. The cabin was renovated in 2019.

There are dozens of apple trees, cherry trees, plum trees, one walnut and one pear tree, which we suspect were mostly planted in the 1970s. They all still producing fruit but are very overgrown - some nearly 30 feet high. A seasonal creek runs through the bottom of the property and through the 11 acres of woods. 

When we moved here in 2015, half of the property was in the last two years of a 10-year commercial Christmas tree lease. The town of Colton was a Swedish logging town, that is now Christmas tree farms everywhere. Christmas trees are magical but hard on the land, with sprays and acidic soil from all the pine needles. In 2017, we started a regenerative program to restore the fields with oats and red clover to dump hundreds of pounds of nitrogen back in the soil. What was once Christmas trees, is now a lush rolling field that we enjoy as much as the local elk and deer herds. 

We are cultivating our permaculture paradise and have lots of fun projects in store. We have two flocks of chickens (and some free rangers that fly the fence), a few ducks, and pets. In 2019, we built a large greenhouse where we grew all the organic garden produce from seed. In 2020, we are building a large pole barn to support the farm. We hope to host volunteers and educational workshops in the future. 

We welcome you to enjoy unplugging, stargazing and movement at Welcome Back Woods! 

Learn more about this land:

Pitch your tent under the stars on our 40-acre property, Welcome Back Woods. You are welcome to camp in the wide open back field, in the clearing in the woods, or rake out a spot in the woods of your choosing. 

Welcome Back Woods is located on the traditional land of the Molalla People of Clackamas County in Colton, Oregon, 50-minutes from downtown Portland. This is a great place to seek respite. The land has a positive energy and spirit, fresh air, pastoral views and visiting wildlife. 

We moved to Welcome Back Woods in 2015 after studying permaculture design and dreaming of cultivating our own homestead. In 2017, we closed out a 10-year commercial Christmas tree lease and started restoring 15-acres with nitrogen-fixing oats and red clover. In 2019, we worked with Trout Mountain Forestry to do a selective thinning in the woods to improve the health of the 11 acres of forest. In fall 2020, we will replant hundreds of trees for greater diversity. On the quest for food sovereignty, we have a flock of about two dozen chickens, a .5 acre organic vegetable garden, fruit tree nursery, greenhouse where we grew all the starts from seed, and we're in the process of building a barn.

Please note: This is a working farm with animal and tractor sounds at random times. We have drinking water onsite, and the nearest water to swim in is the Molalla River or McIver Park. 

Notes about arrival: 

1. GPS often tells people to just pass our property and take a right on Nyquist. We are actually the last property before the corner of Schieffer and Nyquist. Look for the farm produce table alongside the hay field on Schieffer and we are the next driveway on the right.

2. Please call or text when you arrive, or knock on the front door of the white house and Will or Meredith will greet you/show you around. If you have questions while onsite, please reach out to one of us. We have renters in the wood cabin next to the house and want to ensure their privacy.