Green Parrot Goat Farm

Hello All. I'm looking for any people who used to live on the Green Parrot Goat Farm in Oregon during the 70's. I lived there for nearly three years but have lost touch.

 

reply to timber

I was at the Green Parrot Goat farm from oct 1976 to 1978. At this time only Tom S. and his family where living down the farm. I rented cabins up the hills and was told by Tom of the people who had lived there in the early seventies. The farm was sold after a pot cultivation bust in 1979. Luckily I was already living on the other side of the hill, on the Folly Farm. A serie of calamities seems to have fallen on the place. One of the former inhabitant from the commune time came back once to remove his old volskwagen van and was killed in fron of his girlfriend while the tractor he was driving up the hill, turned over and smashed him to death.
philippe

 

Actually it was Nancy who was killed on the tractor as they were taking it on the power line hill road. Pete moved back to Washington and into an old wooden sailboat he kept moored on the Snohomish river. He stayed single for the longest time and then finally hooked up with another lady.

I knew them both, Pete and Nancy from way before commune days and then after.

Last time I drove by the Goat Farm the main ohuse had been razed and someone had logged off all the trees. That was years ago though. Google satellite now makes it appear the trees have grown back. Also a dwelling on top, above where the powerlines dissect the property. I wonder if that's the house Don Little built so many years ago? I wonder if Tom is living in it?

I talked to Don maybe 20 years ago. He was living outside Eugene in the coast hills and ran the building dept. for Willamette County. Sandra married some logger dude and was working in the restaurant in Grand Ronde. I have no idea what ever happened to Keith Johnson. I knew all these folks from the old Everett Washington days when I was just a kid riding the strawberry bus.

 

Just checking in as I do from time to time. Any information especially about Tom or Sandra or Keith Johnson? Lynne Fromme (?) lived on the farm for a long time and worked at the dairy up the road.

 

Hi - I was a 17 year old kid, hitchhiking through California the summer of 1972, looking for God and for weed in that order. Someone told me about the Goat Farm and I had to go. I made a friend along the way - a guy named Al Gormezano - and together we made our way up there. They didn't bat an eye when we showed up one evening that summer, asking them to take us in. We were given a place in the barn to sleep, and the next day we went to work picking snow peas and harvesting honey and milking the goats. At the time, they were almost completely self-sufficient.

I don't remember the names of anyone there, but it was a memorable experience. I remember one guy with an amazing body covered in tattoos - he kind of took us under his wing and was very encouraging to me. After a month, I moved on, grateful for their hospitality. I have always wondered what happened to that groovy community, and am sorry to hear that it fell apart. Coincidentally or not, it was the day I left the farm that I had my first experience of the divine. And no drugs were involved!

I'm now an Episcopal priest, living in Santa Rosa, California. I'm so glad I was able to experience that group of folks. God bless all the old hippies, living and dead. ML+

 

Hello Revmi,

Some updates?
I finally tracked Tom down (the guy whose name was on the deed at the Goat Farm. I got in touch with one of his daughters who steered me toward him. He's living back in Washington State and has a few acres nestled against the cascades outside of Seattle.

Sandra, his wife at the time, still lives in Willamina and teaches in the local elementary school.

Revmi, I think tattoo man was Ken, a really great guy. In the late 70's when I was living on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska he paddled a kayak up from Seattle to visit. Yes, he paddled all the way! Wow.

It was great to hear from you and Phillipe, both. Thanks for answering my query! Please feel free to ask any questions or respond in any way. I am a carpenter living in Oakland Ca. now.
Cheers!
Timber

 

I ran across Tom working in an orchard in WA. I think it was late summer '71 or so. It wasn't long after his friends (a couple) had been busted for pot and had to work/live in Eugene for awhile. He said that the farm had gotten to complacent and over-run with idle people, so that everyone had to leave and only come back if they had their share of the upcoming land payment and were willing to actually work.

He invited me and a friend to buy in, since he'd seen us working hard at these other gigs. I did end up going there and gave my part of the land payment. I also had to butcher a freshly quartered bull, rent a freezer locker in town, etc. and was milking 4 or 5 goats daily.

There were only a couple of other people there, at the time.

 

Buncha geezers reminiscing

Man I wonder what the women must have been like back then. CRAZY orgies on the farm most likely.

 

Hi, I lived on Green Parrot in 1971. Who I remember living there then are Tom and Sandy and their then-toddler Selena, whom we called Buddha. Keith, who was blond with a beard, lived in the hay loft. Frank and Shirley lived in their step van. Gary, a biker, and Sheila lived in a cabin.
There was another commune in the neighborhood, Ithilien, which was started by several PhD's in physics from UC Berkeley, and their partners and friends. Someone I made friends with there is the only person I'm still in contact with from those long-ago days.

 

Yes, it was Salena who told me how to get in touch with her dad. I'd forgotten we used to call her Buddha.
Solomon is living in San Diego, I think he's a U.S. Marine.
Keith Johnson, Tom told me he died of AIDS in the 80's.
Gary Brame, and Sheila split up, Gary ended up marrying a wonderful woman from Granite Falls, Wa. They bought a few acres outside of Machias. Very musical, both of them and I think they still support themselves with their playing.
Frank and Shirley split up too. Last time I saw Frank Haviland he had a second hand/antique store in Snohomish, Wa.
Ithilian Commune people built a giant geodesic dome. Really quite wonderful. I knew a couple of the people there pretty well, mad love affair for a few months with one girl there, now I can't recall her name. The other was Dan Delgado, pretty cool character, but no idea where he ended up or what became of him.

 

My girlfriend Joy and I lived at the Green Parrot Goat Farm from April 74 to November 75. This was after it was no longer a commune and we ended up renting one of the cabins up on the left side of the main farm house. Our cabin had an inverted gambrel tin roof, no running water or electricity. While we lived there, I built a large (30 foot long) covered tin roof porch extension. I also improved the roof by adding mill ends and cardboard boxes (from the Willamina Hardware store) as insulation to replace the old fiberglass insulation which was falling down. While re-doing the roof, I built two dormers to provide extra light. The sound of the Oregon rain on that tin roof was amazing! I also fashioned a "refrigerator" which consisted of an indoor/outdoor box in the wall -- which only worked in the wintertime. Tom was upset about the tin stovepipe chimney because there had been an earlier fire in one of the other cabins which burned down. My rent was $10 per month (my girlfriend and I each paid half). Tom strongly suggested that I replace the existing chimney with one made of stone blocks. I did this, and then Tom told me that my rent would double to $20 a month because it was now an improved cabin! Haha To be fair, at first there was no stove in the cabin and Tom helped us bring in a trash burning stove. This was later replaced with a full wood cooking stove, and an additional air-tight heating stove. I also used mill ends and gravel to build steps all the way from the bottom of the hill up to the cabin. (Joy and I made midnight gravel runs to get the gravel for this project. Prior to building these steps, it was a real bear to even walk up the hill in the wintertime due to the slippery mud. I made several unsuccessful wild slipping attempts to drive my 57 Chevy pick up truck up the hill with our groceries and supplies to no avail.) I also built a slit trench open bathroom which had an incredible view of the whole Willamette Valley Hopefully the valley residents didn't have a fantastic view of us while we were using it. In the cabin immediately below us live Tom from Texas and below him was another cabin in which Jay, Karen and their kids lived. They found it kind of funny having us for neighbors because Joy and I were into doing primal scream therapy. I would use a pillow to muffle my screams but Joy absolutely refused to do that.
Prior to moving there (and before I was with my girlfriend Joy), I had visited the farm with my friend Joe Covach a couple of times. (These visits happened when I was still in the Army and when the farm was still a commune). I think Joe was living there when I visited him. On these earlier visits, I remember meeting a very nice young woman who had kids. I immediately became fond of her which peeved Joe as he was falling in love with her. Sadly, Joe later told me that she was tormented by her past and she took a shotgun out by the freezers and committed suicide. I was shocked when I heard this news and am still in shock to this day. (I feel bad that I don't remember her name; she was a lovely person.)
When I visited the Green Parrot Goat Farm while it was still a commune, I remember falling in love with one of the cabins that had a small brook flowing underneath it. In the main farm house, there was a water tank cleverly attached to the ceiling above a wood stove. The stove heated the water and this supplied both the sink and a claw-footed bathtub. There was either a separate tub (or maybe it was the same one) that was used to make home-made wine. (The wine I tasted was pretty vinegary, and there was some concern that there might have been lead leaching from the porcelain into the wine!) Some of the commune people wanted to use horses to plow the main lower alfalfa field and were trying to gain support for this idea. On that first excursion, Joe showed me the lower end of an irrigation hose which the feds ultimately (twice I think) followed up to the "cash crop" which resulted in Tom getting arrested. After the second bust,Tom's mom-- who was the owner of the land-- told Tom that no more communes would be allowed on the property.
I did stop by the property in 1989 when I was up the area. All that was left standing was the main barn. All the cabins and main farm house has been torn down by that point. On that trip, I visited with Joe Covach who was living on 5 acres in Sheridan. He told me that there had been a deal made with Tom's mom where someone came in and tore down the buildings in exchange for having the right to harvest some of the trees on the property. For anyone who remembers Joe Covach he died in January 2013. He is survived by his daughter Hannah who still lives in the area.

 

I lived there in 71 or 72 I was with my boyfriend then he left .. I remember milking goats and listening to music. We all swam in the river and took turns with chores. There was a weekly meeting called ‘The pecking order” and everyone took turns drinking out of a giant baby bottle. IWe went to a huge party at the other commune near there ...the whole experience changed my life.

 

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Cheers Glen.

 

Hi All I'm Elizabeth... I lived on the commune(Green Parrot Goat Farm aka Church of Natural Enlightenment) for about a year around 1971...just after the berry wine in the bathtub fiasco that gave Frank lead poisoning (he sure did love his wine ... I have/had long blond hair for those like me who's memory has become spotty with age, I have cherished my time living there... many great memories!... Let's see... George (the parrot) used to sit on Blond Keiths (there were 2 Keiths for a while) shoulder at the communal table in the main room by the woodstove... Keith would give him bits of food while we ate. One time Keith was away for about a week so I volunteered to feed & water George up on his platform... George took offense at this (never figured out why), probably cuz I wasn't Keith... He bit my finger and wouldn't let go. I finally shook my arm and hand and George ended up somersaulting backwards down the communal table and we both just stood there shaking and glaring at each other! LOL! Blond Keith and I had a ritual... no matter where,when or what we were doing whenever or paths crossed during the day we would stop & give each other a long soulful hug and then a big sigh... I am saddened to hear he passed from AIDS...He was one of the best huggers ever! We need more people like him in this world! It has influenced me so much that I now require hugs from my good friend renters as part of their rent! And I joined a church cuz hugging is part of the Sunday service I lived in the cabin built over the creek for a while... I absolutely Loved living there... the sound of the water...And then there was someones brilliant idea to plant a whole acre of peas! Us cooks trying so many different ways to cook peas!! Pea soup, pea stew, pea muffins, pea omelettes...I couldnt eat peas for years after that! LOL! And the men would go out and wrestle the billy goat by the horns (testing their testosterone). He was the biggest billy goat I ever saw! Shaking the whole barn when he would butt his head on the walls! The wedding at the top of the hill (wild flowers, great food and so much joy!) Baby goats sleeping on my long fur coat... Bathes in the outside bathtub.. battling a batch of blackberry bushes (they let you in but they don't let you out!)... tearing down a neighbors old barn for wood... chewing honeycomb caps like bubblegum...
People I remember... Rick(resident clown & trickster) and the time I got him back with a glass of ice water from the top of the ladder (he didn't see it coming!),Frank (Paco), Blond Keith, Joel?( I'm terrible remembering names) our beekeeper... Myrna and her husband and midnight howls (giggle)... Of course, Tom, Sandy and Buddha... one time Buddha was toddling by the woodstove and she started to fall towards the stove, I ran over & scooped her up with my left arm, lost my balance, and braced myself by putting my right hand on top of the burner box of the woodstove so I wouldn't land on top of Buddha... I thought my right hand was a goner for sure! Some one immediately grabbed me & Buddha and plunged my hand into the large communal honey jar on the table!... That's when I learned about the miracle of honey and burns... no pain while my hand was in the jar, I kept it in the jar for quite a while, scared to take it out. I should have had 3rd degree burns. It ended up only turning a little red & a small amount of peeling. There is always honey in my kitchen & 1st aid kit ever since!
I love my experience living there, I learned so much on many levels and cherish my memories. I really hope others stumble upon this and share their memories too! I might even be able to dig a few more memories out of the corners of my brain... Namaste

 

Great to read these stories!!!! I never ended up in a commune but I visited a few, especially the one in Southern Oregon west of a little tiny town--can't remember the name now. I tried to find it about 2 years ago but couldn't. Someone in the little town told me that I just missed a yearly reunion that they have. There have been some great stories in the forums here by those who DID IT back in the day! I'm in Eugene----the place where old hippies eventually live or visit.

 

And welcome Elizabeth Rose.

 

I have often wondered what happened to the folks that lived below Captain Cook on the Big Island in the 70s. Hippies galore throughout the jungle. I lived in a old plantation house and there were folks all over the place in the jungle.

 

P.S. Thank You for reminding me of Ken... Beautiful soul... So glad I got to be your friend... If you see this Ken, miss you and hope you are well... Namaste

 

that's amazing, Elizabeth.

I'm soulcompromise, 40, male, California, & in a relationship.

I haven't lived in a commune. The closest I came to anything communal at all was living in the urban center of Denver in the early part of 2000. People my age were of the dotcom and y2k phenomena. There was lots of independence in that area. People were discovering their everything - their world. It was really neat. I got into raving, but that's another story.

Really cool to see someone has a seriously interesting life. You're one of the lucky ones..

 

I lived at the goat farm from 72 to 76 or so. I was friends with all the Ithilean and Folly Farm folks as well and still keep in touch with many of them. And a hey to Jim Scott that messaged here awhile back. My GF Patti and I use to travel Portland now and then with you and Joy. The Goat Farm was an amazing place in its time. At the high point there were about 16 or more milking Nanny's and the farm made cheesed sold goat's milk. One of the big projects I worked on was developing a spring and running a water line to cabins on the west side of the farm. buried all the pipe by hand. Bee keeping and fence line repair also kept us busy!