Lost Valley Education Center & Meadowsong Ecovillage

Lost Valley Education Center & Meadowsong Ecovillage Lost Valley Education Center is a 501c3 that offers a holistic approach to sustainability education.
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Goals:

☼ To this end, we host courses, workshops, events, a conference center, and a residential community, which are all contexts for world view changing and interactive, experiential learning. People who come through any of those avenues will grow in their ability to go into the world and be positive agents for change in a wide variety of work settings, social action groups, living situations

and life paths.

☼ Our courses especially emphasize permaculture, ecovillages, green neighborhoods, communication in community, creating cottage industries, and an integral perspective which sees that all of us have something important to contribute to the planet at this time. Students learn through applying theory to action on-site and in our region, so one outcome of our courses will be providing entrepreneurs, apprentices, services and goods to our local community, creating more ecological, social and economic resilience in our bio-region.

☼ The on-site residential Ecovillage and sustainably stewarded land will provide affordable community housing for staff and resident supporters of the education center, and serve as a living laboratory for observation, research, hands-on learning, experimentation and education that is relevant to helping rural, suburban and urban areas become more sustainable communities. Our avenues to achieving our vision in 2013:

1) Providing working internships and skilled volunteer opportunities!
2) Creating new and improved Permaculture installations on-site!
3) Hosting transformational gatherings, retreats, and conferences!
4) Leading educational courses and workshops!
5) Offering week-long visitor immersion programs!
6) Pursuing Master Site Plan revisions and Ecovillage Development!

Want to support pollinators on your land? Here's where to start. 🐝Some principles from our Land Stewardship Plan that ap...
06/17/2026

Want to support pollinators on your land? Here's where to start. 🐝

Some principles from our Land Stewardship Plan that apply at any scale:
• Plant species with overlapping flowering periods so nectar is available throughout the season, not just in Spring
• Leave standing dead wood (snags) where safe: many native solitary bees nest in old beetle tunnels
• Keep areas near fields unmowed and unsprayed to support ground-nesting bees
• Willow is especially valuable in spring, providing early nectar for bumblebee queens
• Avoid herbicides — they destroy the plants pollinators rely on for both food and shelter

Regionally, some of the best native pollinator plants for the Southern Willamette Valley:
• Red-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum)
• Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)
• Nootka rose (Rosa nutkana)
• Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium)
• Oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor)
• Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia)

☀️ Also, PDC enrollment is closing soon! — link in bio.

Happy pollinating! 🦋

06/13/2026

📣 LAST CALL: Summer PDC at Lost Valley 🌱

June 27 – August 16 (weekend commuter course)
Tuition: Sliding scale $895–$1,295
Dexter, OR

For decades, Lost Valley has been offering permaculture design education on an 87-acre living classroom of forests, oak savanna and woodlands, meadows, ponds, streams, and gardens. As a 40-year-old community experiment and ecovillage, we aim to serve as a model for collaborative and regenerative stewardship of the place we call home.

The Summer 2026 PDC is structured as a weekend commuter program, making it accessible to working professionals, graduate students, and land stewards across Western Oregon. Curriculum follows the PINA Core Curriculum (72+ contact hours) and includes water cycle restoration, regenerative farming, agroforestry, animal integration, decolonization frameworks, natural building, community organizing, a final group design project, and more.

Participants will learn from real life examples, such as ongoing oak release and local habitat restoration, field trips to other farms, and a community that has worked to apply these principles for longterm, sustained cooperation and shared stewardship of land. We work with regional and local experts to bring a variety of perspectives for how this knowledge can be integrated and applied to creating more regenerative and resilience systems. As our longest running program, the PDC has benefited from many cycles of refinement.

👉 To learn more or sign up, visit our website or click the link in our bio!

Riparian forests — the bands of trees and shrubs along streambanks — have been reduced by more than 70% in the Willamett...
06/11/2026

Riparian forests — the bands of trees and shrubs along streambanks — have been reduced by more than 70% in the Willamette Valley since the 1850s. This matters for almost everything:

• More than 200 species of forest-dependent wildlife breed or rear young in riparian and wetland zones of Western Oregon
• Streamside trees shade the water, keeping temperatures cool enough for salmon and trout
• Root systems stabilize banks, reducing erosion and sediment in streams
• Riparian forests filter 95% of sediment and 80% of nutrient load from adjacent agricultural land
• In-stream woody debris creates pools, slows erosion, and provides refuge for juvenile fish

Anthony Creek runs through Lost Valley's land, and our stewardship work includes active riparian forest management: retaining large conifers within 100 feet of the stream, installing log check dams for sediment retention and channel complexity, and planning livestock exclusion fencing to protect bank vegetation.

Permaculture at the watershed scale means caring for the places where water and land meet.

Upcoming opportunities to learn or support watershed work:
💧 Permaculture Design Course, June 27 - August 16 (weekends)
💧 Uywanakuy Yaku Mama Ancestral Arts Gathering, June 10-13 (fundraiser)

More information via link in bio!

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What if your pasture and your forest were the same place? That's silvopasture. 🌳🐐Silvopasture is an ancient method of in...
06/05/2026

What if your pasture and your forest were the same place? That's silvopasture. 🌳🐐

Silvopasture is an ancient method of integrating livestock into woodland or savanna landscapes through carefully timed rotational grazing. Here's why it works:

• Animals graze competing vegetation, reducing Douglas fir and blackberry encroachment without machinery
• A diverse woodland diet — grasses, forbs, acorns, browse — improves animal health across the season
• Scattered tree cover reduces heat stress, improving weight gain and milk production in Summer
• Hoof action and manure deposits stimulate soil biology and accelerate nutrient cycling
• Timed rest periods allow native forbs and grasses to flower and set seed, maintaining understory diversity

The keys: adequate rest periods (30+ days between grazing passes in Western Oregon), ~50% canopy cover to support grass growth, and careful monitoring of soil compaction around tree root zones.

✨ Learn more about grazing, particularly with sheep or goats, in our Summer Permaculture Design Course, June 27 - August 16 (Saturdays & some Sundays).

Limited scholarships available for residents of Lane, Linn, and Benton counties! 🌱

Community Experience Week: a 7-Day immersion at Lost Valley Education Center & Meadowsong Ecovillage 🌿July 19-25 and Oct...
06/03/2026

Community Experience Week: a 7-Day immersion at Lost Valley Education Center & Meadowsong Ecovillage 🌿
July 19-25 and October 18-24 in Dexter, OR

Are you curious about the kinds of skills and tools that allow for commitment and cooperation in our increasingly polarized climate? What does it take to weave our diversity into a tapestry of resilience, creativity, mutual respect and reciprocity?

These are the kind of questions explored during Community Experience Week, a 7-day immersion into the life of our 40-year old Permaculture Education Center and Ecovillage in the Southern Willamette Valley.

We will explore the foundational tools and ethics of Permaculture, sociocracy, nonviolent communication, and bioregional regeneration, which have supported our sustainability efforts and goals as an ecovillage community over time. Participants will receive 19 + hours of in-person instruction/guided activities from residents of the community as well as opportunities for connection and reflection on our beautiful 87 acre property.

Sliding scale starts at $609
Limited scholarships and work trades available.

👉 To register, visit https://www.lostvalley.org/community-experience-week

Join the intern shenanigans this year at Lost Valley! ✨Applications now open for Fall term (October 10 - December 18).Le...
05/30/2026

Join the intern shenanigans this year at Lost Valley! ✨

Applications now open for Fall term (October 10 - December 18).

Learn Permaculture in a 40-year-old intentional community and land trust of 87 acres in the Willamette Valley.

We are especially looking for residents of Oregon!

🌿 Learn more or apply via our website (link in bio).

Want to build deeper relationships with the plants that live near you? Remember these three categories in your explorati...
05/29/2026

Want to build deeper relationships with the plants that live near you? Remember these three categories in your explorations and experiments!

🌿 Category 1 Herbs: Potentially useful, but only under the supervision of an experienced practitioner, because mistakes can kill you.

🌿 Category 2 Herbs: Mostly safe, but there’s a catch. Safe application requires you to know some important details.

🌿 Category 3 Herbs: Generally safe. These medicines can be used as food, and are generally considered safe for all populations, including children and pregnant women, when used in moderation.

~ From Kara Huntermoon, lead instructor of the Lost Valley Permaculture Design Course, June 27 - August 16. You can follow Kara on Substack () or learn about the PDC via the link in our bio! ✨

Now, let's look at a Category 3 Herb that you can put to good use this year:

"Blackberry, Rubus spp. All parts of the Blackberry are edible or medicinal. The delicious and well-known fruits can be used to treat constipation. Just eat them raw as an addition to your normal diet.

Blackberry roots are effective at treating diarrhea. To make an anti-diarrheal medicine, simmer the root in water for 20 minutes with the lid on. Strain the resulting tea and drink. Add peppermint leaves (another Category 3 herb) for additional flavor and digestive system benefits.

Blackberry leaves inhibit certain bacteria. Drinking Blackberry leaf tea might help with H. pylori stomach infections that can lead to ulcers. For skin infections caused by Staph, you can use the leaves as a poultice, or soak the body part in leaf tea.

Blackberry leaves also contain nutrients and compounds analogous to Red Raspberry leaf (a closely related plant). These are traditionally used for women’s reproductive complaints. Specifically, Blackberry leaf can ease menstrual cramps by helping coordinate uterine contractions. For perimenopause, Blackberry leaf may relieve hot flashes and mood swings. However, it is particularly useful for a condition called Pelvic Congestion Syndrome..."

Thanks Blackberry, Kara, and all other Kin who offer their medicine, nourishment, and teaching in abundance!

We are calling for your support to help us uplift and share place-based models of education for regenerative stewardship...
05/28/2026

We are calling for your support to help us uplift and share place-based models of education for regenerative stewardship and the arts! 📯

Uywanakuy Yaku Mama, "Walking the Memory of the Water", is a 3-day gathering bringing together Indigenous wisdom lineages, artists, local elders, and land stewards to explore fundamental questions regarding our relationships to water, land, place, and each other. Now in its second year, this multidisciplinary cultural, arts-based initiative weaves together local ecological knowledge, ancestral stories, songs, and dances, and regenerative forestry and farming practices to strengthen our alliances and support the living systems that sustain us.

ALL PROCEEDS SUPPORT CONTINUED EDUCATIONAL & RESTORATIVE EFFORTS IN BOTH THE WILLAMETTE VALLEY AND THE AMAZON RAINFOREST.

Through this alliance between two schools in North and South America, we are creating a bridge of reciprocity that counteracts the dominant forces of global extraction and imbalance.

✨ Your donation go directly to the people on the ground doing the real work of ecosystem, community, and cultural regeneration. It also supports accessibility and participation by helping offset costs for facilitators, elders, and scholarship recipients.

To learn more about this initiative or offer your support, please click the link in bio or comments below.

For questions and inquiries, contact [email protected]

How might we regenerate our relationship to fire as a life-sustaining and regenerative force for the landscape, our hear...
05/27/2026

How might we regenerate our relationship to fire as a life-sustaining and regenerative force for the landscape, our hearts and our hearths alike? 🔥

❤️🔥 LAST CALL: May 30th will be a Fire Mitigation & Forestry workshop + a solidarity work party in Drain, Oregon. This work party is to support the work of Liberation Pathways, a land-based healing and education project for BIPOC and historically marginalized populations. Sign up via link in comments below.

⬇️ Scroll down for more upcoming opportunities to learn & practice fire mitigation ⬇️

The Kalapuya People used fire on an annual basis across the Willamette Valley — from the valley floor up to 5,000 feet in elevation — tending massive mosaics of grassland, oak savanna, and forest. Early Euro-American settlers in the 19th-century Pacific Northwest frequently described the native oak savannas as looking like "orchards" or "park-like" landscapes...not realizing that they were indeed carefully cultivated for abundance, biodiversity, and food resilience.

When that stewardship was disrupted by colonization, the landscape changed immediately. Douglas fir—a fire-intolerant species—spread rapidly into former grasslands and savannas.

The open landscapes that had supported extraordinary biodiversity began to close.

Today, fire-adapted land management is experiencing a renaissance in the Pacific Northwest. Prescribed burns, biochar production, and fire-resilient landscape design are being integrated into contemporary permaculture and agroforestry systems.

At Lost Valley, our Fire Plan includes: maintaining defensible space, thinning conifer stands to reduce fuel loads, planting fire-resistant hardwoods, grazing with sheep, and working toward the eventual return of prescribed fire to our meadow and oak woodland units.

❤️🔥 Join us on our journey to reestablish right relationship with fire and contribute to abundant, thriving systems in the Permaculture Design Course, June 27 - August 16.
Link in bio!

05/27/2026

Why take a PDC at all? And more specifically, why this one?

Permaculture design is everywhere right now — online courses, weekend workshops, YouTube rabbit holes. That’s great! But there’s something that happens when you learn on land….when you put your hands in living soil and can build relationships over time, in place.

At Lost Valley, you get to observe with all your senses, interact on multiple dimensions, and put the design principles to work in the context of community.

We offer this course year after year because it what’s we love to do. We continue to ask the question, What does it mean to belong to a place? What is the land, the water, the fire asking of me? Of we?

Come ask good questions with us as we play in the forest and plant seeds for future generations! 🌱

☀️June 27 - August 16 on weekends
Sliding Scale $895 - 1,295
Scholarships available!

✨ Learn more via the link in bio ✨

Address

81868 Lost Valley Lane
Dexter, OR
97431

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 9pm
Tuesday 10am - 9pm
Wednesday 10am - 9pm
Thursday 10am - 9pm
Friday 10am - 9pm
Saturday 10am - 9pm
Sunday 10am - 9pm

Telephone

+15419373351

Website

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