History of Trillium Farm
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Trillium Farm is a 80-acre parcel, cradled in the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon. The land is thought to have been first settled by the Dakubetede, an Athabascan-speaking native population who lived along the Little Applegate River. Stewards in the truest sense of the word, everything the Dakubetede used for survival came from the valley, and they found ways to enhance and live in symbiosis with the soil and sky.
The land at Trillium Farm is unique and special, with incredible ecological and species diversity. North of the land is steep conifer forest, thick with juniper, wild and pristine, with no roads, cattle grazing, or mining. Winding south along Birch Creek, a riparian area is home to douglas fir, ponderosa pine, incense cedar and madrones that provide ample shade and sweet, rustling breezes. Where the Little Applegate River runs along the southern end of the property, gurgling water sings as it slips over natural rock slides. Watercress grows in one of the many former trout ponds, and walking trails are lined with horsetail, plantain, and self-heal. The ponds and riparian areas provide valuable habitat to ducks, herons, songbirds, turtles, snakes, salamanders, frogs, butterflies, bats and other winged ephemera. The land is also visited by beaver, black bear, river otter, elk, and red and gray fox. Fruit and nut trees have been planted throughout the meadow, and the thriving organic gardens feed the residents of the land. The elevation increases moving west, as the land becomes dried chaparral, with south-facing ridges that are flush with white-flowering buckbrush, twisted manzanita, and stately oaks. The home trail system at Trillium connects to the Sterling Ditch Mine Trail, an extensive wilderness trail system on the surrounding federal lands. The views throughout the property are expansive, panoramic, and truly breathtaking.
Over th past 40 years, Trillium Farm has been lovingly tended by communitity memebers such as Chant Thomas and Susanna Bahaar Thomas. Chant and Susanna are also the founders of Birch Creek Arts and Ecology Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit with 13 years of history as an educational, cultural, spiritual, arts and retreat center at Trillium Farm. The land has also been a wilderness campus for the Dakubetede Environmental Education Programs (DEEP), hosting classes that are accredited by Southern Oregon University, Prescott College, and Antioch University. Also a wildlife sanctuary, the land has long operated as a place for humans to connect with the deep power of nature and the wild, develop sustainable living skills, and learn to thoughtfully steward a complex ecosystem.
In addition to several residential structures including the Trillium Farm House, the oldest residential structurealong the Little Applegate, the land is home to a 2-story octagon schoolhouse, certified kitchen, event dome, parking facilities, outdoor twin shower, and guest retreat cabin. It is Soil & Sky’s intention to continue to honor Trillium Farm and its rich history in the spirit of the Dakubetede and Chant and Susanna before us, as a community of loving, responsible stewards.
Historical Listing of Programs and Events
Trillium Farm and Trillium School, Birch Creek Arts and Ecology Center,
Dakubetede Environmental Education Programs
10,000 Little Applegate Rd. Jacksonville, OR 97530
Entities presenting educational, spiritual, and recreational events at Trillium Farm:
~ Trillium Farm: an association of individual business partners organized under Waterwheel Systems. LTD, an Oregon Cooperative Housing Corporation, presented many events until 2002, when Birch Creek Arts and Ecology Center (a 501-c-3 non-profit Oregon corporation) became the event entity. Under Trillium Farm, event partners included Trillium Trout Farm, Trillium School, Trillium Midwifery, Dakubetede Environmental Education Programs, Siskiyou llama Expeditions, and the Women’s Herbalist Conference.
~ Trillium Trout Farm (1976-1981): Formerly known as “Grandma’s Trout Farm”, Trillium continued this tradition, operating the trout hatchery raising Kamloops Rainbow Trout fingerlings for wholesale and retail customers; conducting classes in fishing and fly-tying; and hosting camping events. Fishing was discontinued in 1979 when the Little Applegate River was closed to fishing. Hatchery operations continued through 1981. See attached license from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.
~ Trillium School: founded in 1978 and continued through 1982-83 school year, was designated a Remote Learning Center in 1982 as part of the Medford School District 549-C. Trillium School offered the educational setting of a small rural school, serving students from pre-school through high school. The Medford School provided a part-time professional teacher, and set up three computers in a learning lab. In addition tom typical school work, homesteading activities were taught (gardening, canning, firewood, etc.), and all students took Spanish, which was enhanced by a cultural and educational family-style trip to Mexico each January with students, teachers, and parents.
~ Siskiyou Llama Expeditions: (1982-2003) Business included raising and training pack llamas, llama breeding services, instructional classes in llama care and training, wilderness pack trips, llama picnics and campouts. Educational llama treks formed the core of a 5-credit university course in Natural History. Materials promoting local tourism and recreational activities were distributed to customers, encouraging them to visit local National Parks, Wilderness Areas, river rafting, wine tours, Shakespeare, Britt, and more.
~ Women’s Herbalist Conference: (1986-89) Created by a group of women herbalists based at Trillium. They organized a yearly camp-out conference that featured renowned herbalists from across the country presenting classes and workshops to the assembled women. After Trillium, this event moved to California, where it still occurs a few times yearly in Sonoma County.
~ Dakubetede Environmental Education Programs (DEEP): Founded in 1992, DEEP provides accredited university courses and programs in various subjects including: Applied Conservation Biology, Forestry, Forest Ecology, Botany, Natural History, Environmental Ethics, Community Studies, Wilderness Education, and more. While some courses have taken place on college campuses e.g. Southern Oregon University, University of Oregon, and other courses have been located in special natural areas such as Crater Lake National Park and the Sky Lakes Wilderness, most courses and programs occur at Trillium Farm, which serves as the Dakubetede Wilderness Campus for DEEP. The primary programs at Trillium have been the DEEP Ecostery Interdisciplinary Intensive, the East Siskiyou Natural History Field camp, and courses associated with the Birch Creek Volunteer Internship Program. DEEP courses have been accredited by Southern Oregon University, Prescott College, and Antioch University.
~ The DEEP Ecostery Interdisciplinary Intensive usually occurs in spring and autumn field quarters, melding a 17-credit cluster of five distinct courses into an interdisciplinary curriculum for undergraduate or graduate level study. Three to five students from around the world live, study, and work together, learning the essential art of teamwork through operating their household and office environments.
~ The DEEP East Siskiyou Natural History Field Camp operated for 4 years, bringing families and college students together to learn about the Natural History of the eastern Siskiyou Mountains. College students and school teachers could earn academic credit through DEEP, most participants camped on-site, however some locals commuted. Daily activities varied from on-site workshops to hikes around the Dakubetede Wilderness Campus to longer hikes in the mountains. Workshops included Nature Journaling, Botany, Birding the Pacific Crest Trail, Hiking the Historic Sterling Mine Ditch Trail, Tufa Geology, Riparian Entymology, and much more. Various local scientists presented special workshops, including ODFW biologist Simon Wray (western pond turtles), USFS biologist Dave Clayton (bats, reptiles, and amphibians), USFWS ornithologist Pepper Trail (birding hikes), and local aquatic ecologist Jacob Kann, who set up microscopes and field lab equipment to compare the ecology of a Birch Creek pond with the Little Applegate River.
~ Birch Creek Arts and Ecology Center Birch Creek Arts and Ecology Center: Founded in 2002, Birch Creek presents and hosts most events at Trillium. The Sustainable Living Volunteer Internship Program, began by Trillium Farm in 1999, became the responsibility of Birch Creek in 1992. This Internship Program operates three 2-month sessions yearly where participants from around the world learn about living on the land: gardening, rustic living skills, firewood, food preservation, hand tools, communication skills, and more.
~ Network for New Culture(NFNC): Birch Creek has hosted NFNC, a non-profit corporation that has conducted an annual Summer Camp event at Trillium, since 2004. The NFNC camp provides workshops, motivational speakers, games, meals, entertainment, hiking and camping for their members.
We offer deep gratitude to Chant and Susanna, who generously shared stories, photos,
and valuable information on this historic space.
