Applegater Fall
2014 1
U.S. Postage
Applegate Valley Community Newspaper, Inc.
P.O. Box 14
Jacksonville, OR 97530
Photo by Mikell Nielsen
FALL 2014
Volume 7, No. 3
Paid
Non-Profit
Permit No. 91
Grants Pass,
OR 97526
www.applegater.org
Applegate Valley Community Newspaper
Serving Jackson and Josephine Counties — Circulation: 10,500
Big changes coming to
Cantrall-Buckley Park!
by tom carstens and david laananen
We’re well on our way to making even more improvements to our lovely
Cantrall-Buckley Park! Now that we’ve completed our new campground restroom,
our state-of-the-art wastewater treatment system, and our road-repaving project,
your Park Committee is ready to begin work on a new playground and restroom
facility in the picnic-swim area down by the river.
New playground
Plans are shaping up for replacing most of the old playground equipment. All
new modern equipment (see photo below) has been selected and sourced. It’s going
to be a safe, fun facility for our kids and accessible for those with disabilities—and
will incorporate natural elements into its design. A big thanks to the Applegate
moms who helped with the design!
Purchase and construction will be a total community project, with donated
funds and labor. Cost of the project will be around $50,000. We’re looking to fund
this with a combination of grants and donations. Rogue Community College is
helping out with intern and administrative support. The target for donations by
the Applegate community is $30,000. The new playground should be in by fall
of next year.
see cantrall-bUcKley, page 2
Agriculture in the Applegate—
the valley’s pride
by diana coogle
From the days of the first settlers
in the Applegate, sheep and cattle have
grazed the area’s green pastures and hay
has grown on its wide fields. From pioneers
to newcomers, from cattle and sheep to
lettuce and lavender, agriculture in the
Applegate is the valley’s pride.
Frances Decker raises sheep
on land her father bought in 1934. In other
cases, old farms have new owners. Priscilla
and Steven Weaver raise Soay sheep on the
old Saltmarsh Farm up Little Applegate
Road. Their neighbor, Peter Salant, raises
cattle on the old Kleinhammer Ranch that
once covered 2,000 acres. Mary and Vince
Alionis established their Whistling Duck
Farm on what used to be the Sakraida’s
dairy farm.
Some farmers, like Mike Lapan, raise
the oldest crop of the Applegate—hay—
Postal Patron
while others have introduced new crops,
like the lavender grown in vast fields of
sweet-smelling purples by Sue and Derek
Owen on their English Lavender Farm.
Although we no longer see large turkey or
rabbit farms here, Eldon Snyder and Alan
Wall are still raising hogs commercially,
and more llamas, alpacas, and goats than
previously roam the pastures. Where
tomatoes were once abundant, now a major
crop is grapes and, in at least one case, on a
farm off Hanley Road, pumpkins.
The appeal of being a farmer in
the Applegate varies widely. Mike Lapan
started growing hay in the ‘70s because, he
says, “I like playing around on my tractor.”
The Weavers’ fascination with heritage
animals led to their breeding and selling
the genetically unique Soay sheep. Peter
Salant and his wife came here “to raise our
Grape Talk:
What does the future hold
for Applegate Valley wines?
by debbie tollefson
The Applegate Valley is attracting
high-caliber winemakers who are serious
about creating the finest wines possible
using the best farming and growing
practices. That makes Kara Olmo, of
Wooldridge Creek Winery, enthusiastic
about the future of the Applegate Valley
wine industry. She is certain that with
continued active marketing and the
development of national and international
markets (Valley View wines are now sold in
Japan), as well as the increase in the quality
and quantity of great wines coming from
our region, the future is bright.
This optimism is backed up
by the statistics I found in the 2012 wine
census for the state of Oregon compiled by
the Southern Oregon University Research
Center (SOURCE). Until 2012, vineyard
census reports were conducted by the US
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and
were pretty inaccurate. In 2011, to ensure
more accuracy the USDA turned over the
task to the states. In Oregon, the winery
and vineyard census is overseen by Dr.
Greg Jones, a Southern Oregon University
professor who “specializes in the study
of climate structure and suitability for
viticulture, and how climate variability
and change influence grapevine growth,
wine production and quality” (http://www.
Kara Olmo of Wooldridge Creek Vineyards
gives high marks to Applegate Valley wines.
sou.edu/envirostudies/faculty/jones.html),
and whom we interviewed for one of our
previous Grape Talk articles. Greg was
charged with getting precise information
about Oregon’s wine industry such as
varietals grown and tonnage crushed
throughout the state.
The 2012 report shows a total
vineyard count for the state of 905, up
from 870 in 2011; the planted acreage
in 2012 was 25,500, an increase of 25
percent from 20,400 acres in 2011. The
yield per acre changes from year to year
depending on many variables, but the price
see aPPlegate valley Wines, page 17
daughter rural” and took
to cattle because Peter
“couldn’t find any good
steaks here.” The Alionises
came to the Applegate for
“better soil, better water,
and good neighbors,” all
of which, they tell me,
they found.
Agriculture in the
Applegate, however
beautiful and fulfilling,
rarely provides a living.
These Soay lambs at Saltmarsh Ranch, owned by Priscilla and
Maud Powell, of the Steven Weaver, are about six weeks old. At birth they weigh from
Southern Oregon
four to five pounds—about the size of a bag of sugar.
Research and Extension
Service, points out that the lack of a big pound. Blame synthetic fibers.
urban center coupled with an increase in
Nonetheless, agriculture can
the number of vegetable and seed producers be commercially viable in the
has resulted in a glut on the local vegetable Applegate. Whistling Duck Farm
market. Salant says a commercially viable provides the sole income for the Alionis
cattle herd would be 250 head, but, for family, and, if the 800 cars on this year’s
economic reasons, he cut his herd to 25 lavender tour are indicative, lavender
mother cows and 20 to 25 yearling steers. promises rewards for the Owens, who sell
As for raising sheep, 30 years ago wool not only plants but also lavender oil and a
sold for $25 an ounce. This year it’s $20 a
see agricUltUre, page 12
INSIDE THE GATER
Back in Time: Crossing the Applegate River............page 6
The scoop on CSAs and farmers’ markets................page 8
Applegate forests: A product of human tinkering...page 10
Introducing the Paragon pear........................................page 12