Just a quick announcement: I’m ready for more entries in our farm tour series! Please read here for guidelines.
We’re heading down home… to your farms! Urban, suburban, or rural — whatever you’re growing and doing, we want to see it.
Welcome to the Down Home Farm Tours series. To see all the farms and homesteads featured in this series, click here. If you’d like to be featured, please read here for guidelines.
Welcome, Tierra Soul Urban Farm & Guesthouse!
Today, you get to tour the Tierra Soul Urban Farm & Guesthouse, a tenth of an acre urban farm run by the Arias family, city-dwellers in Portland, Oregon. The farm and guesthouse are absolutely breathtaking! Look at that gorgeous turn-of-the-century 1906 farmhouse! Visit their website here.
What is your name and the names of your family members?
We are the Arias Clan.
What is the name of your farm/homestead?
Tierra Soul Urban Farm & Guesthouse.
How long have you been farming/homesteading?
For four years.
Share a brief description of your farm/homestead.
We have a standard city lot which is one-tenth of an acre.
What are you raising, growing, and doing?
We raise dairy and fiber goats, ducks, chickens, a turkey, bees all kinds of fruits and vegetables plus an extended family of five. We host farm-stayers and run a small guesthouse. We also teach a traditional foods class and permaculture classes.
How did you get into farming/homesteading?
We are Weston A. Price Foundation city dwellers wanting to experiment with Urban Permaculture.
Any future plans?
Rural land and a retreat center is the dream.
Do you have any funny stories to share?
Our very first guest on the Farm was a Flamenco Dancer who lived between New York and Spain. She stayed with us for two weeks and at the end of her stay we hosted a Flamenco show at the Farmhouse and about 30 people came and we made Gypsy Stew with bone stock and white beans. It was truly magical and we feel so honored to have met and hosted such amazing travelers over the last two years! Our kids are getting such an amazing education just from meeting our farm-stay guests! We are so blessed!
A sad story?
When we went on Sabbatical in December of 2011 (for a year) we had to downsize our farm animals so our caretaker could manage them. We said goodbye to a faithful milk goat named Persephone and our dear Hettie Quackers who hatched seven ducklings who were conceived and born on the farm.
She was our very first duck and she used to roam the yard without ever leaving. She was so loyal. We know she is in a happy, happy place, but our hearts do ache sometimes. Farm life really connects you to the natural rhythms of life, the bounties and expansion as well as loss and letting go. We are so grateful to these animals for teaching us these lessons.
Let’s Tour Tierra Soul Urban Farm & Guesthouse!
(Wardee: In the captions below, you’re hearing from the Arias family, as they tell you what is in each picture.)
Turn-of-the-century farmhouse built in 1906.
The Arias clan under the grape arbor.
Goats with two-year old cowboy Xoco.
Some veggies in the side garden.
Farm fresh eggs for all– especially the little ones.
Bottles awaiting their lacto-fermented contents.
Lacto-fermented sodas, kombucha and kraut.
Grain grinder and oat flaker, used almost daily.
My favorite guest room, Bluebird.
Tea Bar with a peek into the kitchen and sign from owner’s retired Portland Food Cart, Fold Créperie.
Handcrafted soap.
I don’t know how you make every day things look so beautiful! Your farm and guest house are breathtaking (oh, did I use that word again?). Thank you for sharing with us! We hope you enjoy your free thank you video, our gift to you. Plus, feel free to display the following graphic on your site. (Right-click and save to your computer, then upload to your site and link to this farm tour post.)
Would you like to be featured?
Are you a homesteader or farmer at any level? You don’t have to live in the country, you don’t have to be doing everything.
Being on the journey is the only qualification. We want to see what you’re doing, no matter how big or small.
Click here for submission guidelines for the Down Home Farm Tours series. We’re excited to hear from you!
If you’re selected, we will share your farm/homestead pictures and stories in a dedicated blog post, plus you can add the featured graphic to your blog or website. And, we’ll give you a free thank you video of your choice!
Please give the Arias clan a warm welcome in the comments! Be sure to visit their website here.
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Simple and beautiful. Thanks for sharing your urban farm with us! Would you please share where you are located?
Oops… I see that you shared that in the first line.
That is a power packed 1/10 acre!! Fun to see what can be done – where there is a will, there is a way! Gorgeous.
… and becoming more and more dense each year! This year we are starting our water catchment and gray water systems! ~ Krista
This is one of the most moving and inspiring things i may have ever seen. We live on about the same amount of land down here in Salem. The whole family has been so excited about and moving towards traditional whole sustainable living and hoping desperatly to get more land and hobby farm. It is just totally out of our financial realm and that gets discouraging. Your lovely urban farm gives me so much hope! While it is not legal for us to raise animals at our current location we dont have to move far or pay much more to achieve our dream!
Yes Janine, getting started where you are with what you have is the most amazing and inspiring thing there is! We are still on our city lot despite keeping our eye out for a larger piece of earth. We feel so blessed to be learning from the earth and her creatures! There are quite a few people working to legalize urban farm animals in Salem, so don’t give up! In fact, you might do a quick google search and join them in initiating the change. Best to you and your family, Krista
what a delightful farm. i have a question for you if thats ok. i just started with chickens. they are delightful.. however the info out there is so condratictory and overwhelming. i see you had your eggs sitting in a basket. do wash them or not wash them? do you refrigirate or not? i cant even get info on daily care of a small coop! just dont want to cause harm to my girls.
Hi Kathy,
In France it is illegal to sell a washed egg. We go with the French on that one, and also you do not have to refrigerate eggs either. You can test them using this test: http://www.tierrasoulpdx.com/rotten-egg-test/
We have spent a lot of time in Latin America and even in Walmart the eggs are not refrigerated. It’s a complete sham that they need it. We have had rotten egg explosions though, but it never hurt anyone!
Blessings,
Krista & Clan