More Than Just Flying Pigs

During hop harvest in late summer, Chris and Mary Louis wake early. They feed nearly 50 chickens, take their dogs Citra and Mosaic for a walk, and then get to work in their single-acre hop field. The couple clips the regaling hop bines (similar to a vine in how the plant grows) at the top and bottom of the strands. They transport the bines to their porch, where they pour a beer and hand-pick every single hop cone surrounded by the timeless views of Smith Rock and the Cascade Mountains from their home.

“It’s the way we want to live,” said Chris.

“If you want to live to be 100 years,” added his wife, “you want the quality of life, too.”

Chris and Mary, originally from Cleveland and Chicago, lived in the Tahoe region for 16 years. Chris worked as a civil engineer, and Mary in facilities maintenance, until they decided to retire and move to Central Oregon. In 2012, the couple established Flying Pig Hops. They practice organic and with the intention of becoming self-sustaining, living within the cycles of nature on the land.

The five-acre High Desert farm grows three varieties of hops – Centennial, Nugget, and Cascade. While it takes a good three to five years to establish the crop, the couple explained, the hop perennial bining plants could endure for up to 20 years.

Hops from Louis’ farm have been sold in Redmond Craft Brewing Supply, donated to Phat Matt’s Brewing Co., and combined with fresh Centennial hops from Smith Rock Hop Farm to be used in Wild Ride Brewing’s Bine Climber fresh hop brew.

But this farm includes much more than just hops. Sheep trim grasses and keep out deer, dogs supply gulphor patrol, cats handle mice, and chickens provide eggs while eating small bugs. Mary weaves baskets, makes hop soap, and bakes bread while Chris grows plants such as garlic and tumeric, and their home is mostly heated from solar energy and wood. Produce from the farm is sold to Schoolhouse Produce in Redmond, hop soap to Crooked River Open Pastures and Central Oregon Localvore, and leftover eggs to Windy Acres Dairy Farm.

“It’s the satisfaction of doing it yourself,” said Mary, “and that feeling of ‘Yes, I can.’”

Chris and Mary operate in a permaculture system by looking at the symbiotic relationships in nature, and replicating that within their lives. They hope to have apple orchards in the future and, yes, eventually pigs.

Mary has always loved pigs, and has collected them throughout her lifetime. After purchasing the High Desert acreage, her mother sent a housewarming gift of a flying pig sculpture. The farm’s namesake looks after the place from its stoop on the front porch, as life continues in its cycles of time.

“It doesn’t happen overnight,” Mary said about a self-sustaining life on a farm. “It’s a process. It’s a little bit at a time and a little bit at a time, and then it all starts snowballing.”