Lostine Community Orchard
A place to practice taking care
of what we need, here, together,
for a long time.
Our People
Good Neighbors & Good Neighbors in Training
The Lostine Community Orchard is a joint project of the South Fork Grange; place-based learning nonprofit Welcome Home Learning Commons; and the many neighbors of all ages who’ve stepped up to plan the project, prepare the soil, plant the plants, play, and take on stewardship!
The South Fork Grange, a fraternal beneficiary organization with deep roots in food, agriculture, and neighborly solidarity, holds a 49-year lease to steward the orchard on neighbor Harold Black’s 1.5 acres in Lostine. Harold had been telling us for years that he wanted this land to be of benefit to the community. We finally listened!
We planted our first trees, a heritage pie apple grove, in spring of 2026. Additional fruit trees, native plant patches, art installations, and more are being adopted by community members now!
Place-based Learning
We collaborate with local families, school groups, and partner organizations to host land-based learning opportunities at the Community Orchard.
Interested in perennial agriculture, local food systems, harvest and processing, soil science, plant propagation, permaculture design, grafting, cooking fresh food, gardening for wildlife, tending community? Let’s learn together.
A Sanctuary in Process
In September of 2025 we gathered with Grange members and local families and organizations to envision a site where we could gather around food and stewardship and commit ourselves (and recommit over and over!) to all it takes to take care of each other—for a long time. An apple tree on standard rootstock can live 400 years! That’s a lot of time to figure things out together.
Our permaculture-inspired site plan, which we drafted with interested community members in the winter of 2025-26, emphasizes water-wise soil stewardship, deep-rooted perennials, native plants and pollinators, and community gathering spaces—because we’re in this thing together.
Images by Christina deVillier and Lauren Macdonald