Return

Lone Pine Ranch

Out on the road again! Harvest season is upon us here in Oregon! My friend Margi Heater has a wonderful family farm, Lone Pine Ranch, in Stayton Oregon. When she heard I was on the trail looking for special Oregon places and foods she made sure I got a chance to visit her wonderful farm

Lone Pine Ranch has been in the Heater family since the mid 1850's. It is wonderful rolling hill land adjacent to Silver Creek Falls State Park. It's been lovingly attended to by the Heater family -- currently they raise grass seed, specialty cherries, christmas trees and some nursery stock. The beautiful farm house with it's wraparound porch made a wonderful place to wait out the gentle "liquid sunshine" and finish some sketches.

I spent time in the orchards on a drizzly mid summer day accompanied by Margi's neice, Michole. We had quite a time with our paints but got a chance to really look at the young orchard they have planted and watch other family members strap on the picking buckets --newfangled contraptions designed ergonomicly to make it easier on the picker and the fruit. They have planted about 33 acres of Regina and Sweetheart cherries. Chosen for their split resistance... and flavor! Wonderful!

The one image called "Pollinator" was a Queen Ann cherry tree that snuck into the orchard as a pollinator tree... every fourth tree in the orchard was planted specifically for this purpose.. Michol thought it was quite hilarious that I chose "The Pollinator" to paint... I just liked the color!

On the way home we made a side trip to another roadside fruit stand outside of Stayton and wandered through the peach orchards and bought some delicious ripe peaches... the color of the peaches against their long leaves was almost calling to be painted.

Return