Last fall Rick visited with three students from the Kettle Falls fourth grade. They were interviewing community members and created a booklet titled, A Few of the Friendly People (for all of you who have visited Kettle Falls you may have seen the sign on the highway near the edge of town, Kettle Falls 1640 Friendly People and one Grouch)
Rick Misterly grew up in Southern California near Los Angeles. There was nice warm weather and no winter. He walked the two blocks to school with his two friends who lived right next door. Rick played football, baseball and basketball.
He moved to Rice in 1981. He wanted to have a farm and grow his own food and have many farm animals.
Rick Misterly and his wife, Lora Lea own the Quillisascut Farm. He grows vegetables, fruit, and nuts. Rick has lots of animals on his farm. He has cows, goats, chickens, pigs and dogs. The animals require a lot of work. Everyday he has to feed the animals and collect the eggs. He also cleans the animals’ beds. He prunes the trees in late winter. Something interesting about his works is that he never knows exactly what he’s going to do each day. There’s always something unexpected.
Goats are an important animal on Rick’s farm. He milks the goats and makes many different kinds of goat cheese. Then he sells the cheese. They also have a farm school. People come from all over to learn about farm life, how to make cheese and other cooking lessons. One time the governor, Chris Gregoire and her husband had lunch at his house. There is also a book about his farm called Chefs on the Farm.
Rick loves it when the kindergarten classes from Kettle Falls Elementary come to his farm every spring! The kids are always so excited. This will be the 21st year having kindergarteners come to his farm. He loves the questions they ask and the kids love to see the goats.
By Kimberly, Gabby, Paiton