11 Commandments of Country Living

Several years ago, we had a Japanese exchange student staying with us. One day, when we arrived at the homestead, he got out of the car, stood up and his eyes crossed.

"What's that?" Yugi asked, referring to the odor that occasionally wafted our way from the hog farms down the road.

"That's the smell of money," I said, quoting a farmer friend.

"Oh," he said. "If that's money, I don't want any."

That's the response of some people who are new to the country. They encounter sights and smells that they've never before run into, and sometimes it's quite a shock. As for living near hog barns, my wife and I decided when we moved there that the hogs were there first, so we were the ones who had to get used to it.

Cookson Beecher, the Capital Press field reporter in Sedro-Wooley, Wash., wrote a story last year in which a newcomer to Whatcom County in northwest Washington state asked a county official: "Do you mean to tell me in this day and age you still allow farming in this county?"

Obviously, the person who asked that question had not been prepared for the realities of country living. Newspapers and magazines often portray country life as heaven on earth, but they also don't mention the potential downsides. (Maybe they should include a scratch-and-sniff page with the article.)

To address some newcomers' lack of knowledge about country life, a group of farmers and ranchers in Kittitas County in Central Washington got together with the local conservation district to print a "Rural Living Handbook." In it, the basics of country living are laid out in what they called the 10 Commandments. With all due respect to Moses, here they are, with a few comments from me:

1 Recognize that being neighbors is a two-way street. And remember, the farmer down the road is probably wondering what the heck you're doing as much as you're wondering what he's doing.

2 Respect your neighbors' endeavors. It's a big, big, big mistake — and I mean really big — to start offering handy advice to a fifth-generation farmer on how he should raise his crops or livestock. You wouldn't want someone walking into your business and trying to tell you how to do things.

3 Cooperatively build and maintain boundary fences so that neither your livestock nor your neighbor's livestock trespasses. Good fences have always made good neighbors. Enough said.

4 Control your dogs so that they will not harass or harm your neighbor's livestock or cause undue tensions. Dogs create more problems than anything in the country. Our kids' ducks, Click and Clack, were munched by the neighbor's dog years ago, and it caused a lot of heartburn. Also, we would have been smart to keep the ducks safely locked in their pen at night instead of masquerading as doggy snacks.

5 Recognize that some portions of the country are open range and livestock may be on country roads or in open areas. I've encountered cattle, horses, goats, sheep and deer on country roads. Hey, you don't get that kind of action in downtown Seattle.

6 Recognize that moving livestock or farm machinery on county roads is necessary. Be cautious and prepare for delays. During harvest where we live in Oregon, our street is populated by combines and other equipment running back and forth to the fields. To tell the truth, they're the only vehicles that ever bother to go the speed limit.

7 Understand that some practices, such as burning along irrigation ditches and running machinery after dark, are common farming practices and necessary at certain times of the year. Farming has never been a 9-to-5 job. In fact, I don't know of any jobs these days that are 9-to-5.

8 Prevent noxious weeds from moving from your property to your neighbor's via wind, water or other means. This is a biggie. If you want to get into hot water with the neighbor, the county and almost everyone else, let your weeds get out of control. Repeat after me: Weeds are the enemy. They cost farmers and ranchers a lot of money to control and in lost production.

9 Remember that it is unlawful to use the county roadway as a parking area for overflow traffic during yard sales and family gatherings. This is not a particularly big problem, unless you have 14 cousins' cars parked on both sides of the road and the neighbor needs to get his combine through.

10 Realize that people who live in the country prize their privacy and their space. Some folks just aren't outgoing. We had a neighbor who was in his 90s and lived alone. I'd stop in occasionally to talk about the township's United Fund drive. He was always very friendly, but all in all, he just preferred to be left alone.

I've got an 11th commandment that has served us well:

11 Have lots of parties, and invite the neighbors. Not only is it fun, but you get a chance to visit with folks about their operations and what's going on. And it's a great way to keep the lines of communication open, should something come up.

Copies of the handbook are available by calling the Kittitas Conservation District at (509) 925-8585. If you have Internet access, you can go to the district's website at www.kccd.net and click on "Current Projects and Programs." Then scroll down to "Small Landowner Assistance." In that section is a link to the entire handbook, which is on a PDF file, so you can download and view it using Adobe Acrobat, a free computer application.

It makes good reading for anyone new to the country.

Until next time, keep it in the road.

Carl Sampson is managing editor of the Capital Press and wants to hear about your experiences living on small acreages. Reach him at csampson@capitalpress.com, P.O. Box 2048, Salem, Ore. 97308 or by calling (503) 364-4431.


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