Tiny house, big dreams

Rolling into the yard of Titus and Erika Jaeger’s irrigated section near Ingalls, Kan., I’m puzzled by the small structure sitting next to a sturdy set of pipe corrals, across the yard from rows of large square hay bales. It looks too nice for a line shack, and we know they live almost an hour west of where their cattle are…so what is this place?

I’m struck by how much it looks like something from the reality TV show “Tiny House Nation”; complete with potted plants hanging from the covered porch and rustic wooden railings. There’s a dusty white six-seater Polaris Ranger parked out front.

The story of this tiny house, as we soon find, is a testament to the love Titus and Erika share. Even the Ranger reflects their family values, as a way for them to go to work and bring their children, Annabelle and Baylon, along.

“Both of our parents were farm kids, and that’s something that I always looked for, was a farm girl,” Titus says of Erika as she wrangles the toddler and baby, preparing for a trip out to the pasture.

We have talked in the tiny house’s tinier parlor, hearing and seeing many examples of how the family lives out the mission statement printed on the back of their business cards.

Serving God. Loving and teaching our children. Honoring our heritage. Caring for the land, livestock and wildlife. Contributing to the community.

They glow and complete each other’s sentences as they tell about their “fairytale” romance. Their first date consisted of checking cows, petting horses and throwing sticks in the lake, chaperoned by Erika’s puppy, now part of the growing family after three years of marriage. Being a hopeless romantic myself, I’m delighted to see their love for each other, their children, their land and their cattle.

Even the name they bestowed upon their section of land reflects that sentiment.

“One of our first dates we were working cows, and one of our hired help called us ‘los pajaritos,’ which would interpret as ‘the love birds,’” Titus explains. “We were pretty affectionate.” They both laugh.

So what about this tiny house? It was a necessary home-away-from-home when they expanded here, 40 miles from the main house near Lakin, Kan. With family plans, they would need a place to nap, nurse and sleep while calving out heifers or rotating the grazing herd.

Titus tells how the unfinished cabin – shed, basically – found its way to “Los Pajaritos” all the way from Lubbock, Texas.

“We had needed a place to come inside and cool off. Our first structure was a camper we found off of Craigslist, but there’d been a windstorm when we were gone one weekend, that destroyed it.”

The couple made a commitment from the start: in their first 10 years of marriage, they would never spend a night apart. After hearing about the shed, and clearing it with his wife, Titus left for Texas with the fifth-wheel flatbed trailer. Later in the day, he realized he wasn’t going to make it all the way home before nightfall with his wide load and no extra lights. Erika and then one-year-old Annabelle drove to Dumas, Texas, to keep their extra vow.

Having utilized DNA testing, and as strong advocates for the Beef Quality Assurance program, Titus and Erika work together to produce top quality beef, eager for the day that their children will be old enough to join them in an equal commitment.

“When you want high-quality beef, that includes taking great care of your cattle and great care of the land that we’re on,” Erika says.

–Hannah

Although summer intern Hannah Johlman was born in northeast Kansas and is now a senior studying ag communications and animal sciences at Kansas State University, she claims Sheridan, Wyo., as her home. Hannah tributes her grandfather and uncle involved in farming and veterinary medicine as her largest ag influencers, inspiring her to the career path she has chosen.

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