By Kate Poss

Special to The Record

On an early March day with sunshine, blue skies, big clouds and wide open prairie, Eckholm Farm outside of Coupeville reflects the island’s authentic beauty and history.

Bruce and Linda Eckholm bought the farm in 2013, which was in considerable disrepair then but has since been restored with their own hard work and grants from Ebey’s Forever Historic Preservation Grant Program. The grant program awards annual funds to restore properties within Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve.

The 11-acre Eckholm property includes a farmhouse, barns, a 1910 restored cottage and pastures framed by woods.

Out in the back pasture, four Scottish Highland cattle graze. True to their origin, they have Scottish names. Bonnie, the mother, is creamy white. She arrived pregnant, unbeknownst to the Eckholms when they adopted her, with an unrelated heifer, a black-haired cow named Fiona. A white-haired steer, Fergus, a neutered male, was part of the original trio.

The Eckholms adopted the three long-horned and hairy bovines in 2017, after reading about their need for a new home in a Craigslist ad, where they were then pasturing in Enumclaw.

Later, when the couple received a neighbor’s call that December reporting something was wrong with their cow, Linda and Bruce went out to the pasture to discover that Bonnie had delivered a furry white calf, who was named Nora.

“They’re pets to us,” Linda added. “Usually they’re raised for beef.”

One of the reasons the couple adopted the cattle was that Bruce saw them as a way to dispose of surplus fruit that fell from the farm’s old apple trees, not to mention some free mowing service for their acreage.

“They like eating downed apples,” Linda said. “If they hear apples falling in our five-gallon buckets, they come running to the fence. Bruce built a catapult for launching the apples. When we have kids staying here, they have a good time sending the apples flying.”

Fergus, minus his manly parts, tends to get bossed around by Bonnie and Fiona, who like to hog the apples to themselves, Linda explained. Young Nora, too, gets the leftovers after her mother and Fiona finish eating. With the catapult flinging apples, all four of the cattle get an equal share.

The cows spend their days in the pasture and return to a refurbished Dutch-style hay barn in the evenings.

According to the Scottish website “Highland Titles,” Highland cattle are the “oldest registered breed of cattle in the world.” They are hardy, their long hair covering a downy undercoat. Their hair keeps them warm — Linda Eckholm says it is too warm for their cattle in August — and the hair covering their eyes keeps flies from bothering them.

In Scotland, they are often referred to as “Hairy Coos.” The cows’ milk is extremely high in butterfat content, and its taste is an acquired one. Their meat is lean and well-marbled, considered premium beef. The bull’s horns tip forward or downward, and a cow’s horns point upward.

Archeological records date the breed as far back as 1200 BC. Farmers would later bring their cattle indoors in order to increase body heat and prevent the bovines’ theft from night bandits. The friendly and docile animals are called a “fold” when gathered in groups, rather than a herd.

Besides the fold of Scottish Highland cattle and three farm dogs the Eckholms have as pets, Bruce Eckholm raises bees and manages about 40 hives in the Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, including 20 hives located at their farm.

Bruce Eckholm’s interest in farming dates back to his days as a boy growing up in St. Paul, Minnesota, and his summers spent at a family’s dairy farm in Wisconsin. He left his love of land behind to work in the world of high tech in Seattle, where he gained skills in data management.

When he was in his 40s, Bruce, who was then working in the software industry, left the corporate world behind and pursued a PhD in entomology, specifically studying honeybees at the University of Arizona, Tucson. He worked as a honey bee scientist at Tucson’s USDA bee lab, but found Tucson summers too hot to bear.

When he finished his degree, and after living in Tucson for six years, the prospect of moving back to Seattle was no longer appealing. Bruce found the property on Zylstra Road, a run-down hobby farm, and bought it. The couple later bought acreage next door, which Linda’s parents Dave and Mary, 85, now live on.

The former hay barn was restored and is now home to the fold of Highland cattle. Another barn, an old poultry shed that once housed golden pheasant game birds, has since been restored to hold family and friend gatherings. Additionally, one end of the barn was transformed into the “honey room” where honey is extracted and bottled for retail sale. Wax is sold to a local candle maker. The smell inside the room is of beeswax, a clean distinct scent.

While Linda continues her full-time work as a consulting actuary, Bruce is the farmer. Besides bees, Bruce also cultivates an orchard with more than 70 mature apple, pear and plum trees. Berries grown include rows of marionberry, raspberry and tayberry. Some of the fruit is sold to local restaurants and some is available for picking on an appointment basis. A hay baling service for Central Whidbey is also offered.

Bruce also began raising a few pastured pigs for meat a few years back. Now, in partnership with neighboring Bell’s Farm, they raise over 50 pigs a year. During the summer they root and graze. By late summer and early fall they enjoy windfall apples and pears, pumpkins and farm garden veggies. Their welfare is paramount, Bruce notes on the farm’s website, and as a result of their good care, their meat is of high quality. The meat is available through the Whidbey Island Grown Cooperative, which provides a venue for access to locally grown food.

When asked if he’s happy in this world compared to his high tech Seattle life, Bruce Eckholm replied, “Oh God yes!”

For more information, visit the Eckholm Farm website at www.eckholm.com.