Learning to grow food

Spinach! (photo by Meaghin Kennedy of These Salty Oats)

Beets!

Basil!

As 2014 comes to a close, I’m already planning for how I can use my 2015 summer break for agricultural work.  I’m eager to keep learning and continue practicing the agricultural skills that I’ve gained in the past five years.  However, I also wanted to step back and take a moment to acknowledge what a year 2014 was for growing food!  I’m happy with small successes and I learned a lot in 2014 about how I want to grow food in the future.

So, here’s some reflections and photos to share with you about learning to grow food in 2014 in the life of Erika.  (FYI - There are lots of photos.  Remember that you can simply click on the photo to view it in a larger size.)

In the early spring, I co-taught a Seed to Supper class at the Oregon Food Bank.  Seed to Supper is a program of both the Oregon Food Bank and Oregon State University Extension, and is essentially a 5-week basic gardening course for adults who are on a limited budget.  Topics include picking a garden site, soil health, seeds, planting, pest management, watering, and harvesting.

I had a lot of fun teaching this class!  I was able to review basic agricultural concepts and apply them to a home garden setting.  It was also great to be with an enthusiastic group of people (OFB staff, fellow volunteers, and class participants) who had a variety of gardening experiences and expertise to share with the class.  On our last day of class, we took a field trip to one of the Oregon Food Bank’s Learning Gardens, which is the companion program to Seed to Supper.  The Learning Gardens allow for volunteers and students to help produce food near OFB’s two distribution centers in Portland.  The gardens serve as a demonstration site for gardening education and they produce lots of fresh produce that is donated to OFB.  It was cool to see how this program is able to do so much with a small amount of land.  

Garlic at OFB's Learning Garden

Lettuce at OFB's Learning Garden

 Also in the early spring, I was eagerly planning my own home garden as I knew I would be around for the majority of the growing season.  My family and I installed more raised beds in our backyard and built a chicken-proof fence.  For the first time I successfully grew some of my own plant starts and eventually planted them outdoors when it became warm enough. 

Tomato starts that I grew from seed

Spring plantings in backyard

When I began working for Mercy Corps NW Refuge Gardens (link to previous post), I transitioned some of my focus away from the home garden and more to the programs’ garden sites.  In the early spring in SE Portland, we spent time waiting for the ground to dry out and warm up due to some heavy rain spells.  When things started drying up and warming up, we built our 200-foot-long raised beds by hand, untangled a lot of drip tape, and transplanted or direct seeded a variety of crops.  Eventually, we had enough product to go to market and begin selling so that the families participating in the project could start making some money. 

Early season plantings & weeding at Sherrett garden

Early season braising mix

Market!

Early and mid-summer were a lot of fun at work.  While I some spent time helping families with field work and with the succession plantings (more raised beds!), I spent a lot of time focused on harvest and post-harvest handling, helping our produce look pretty and stay fresh for the farmers market.  At the start of every harvest day, I would walk the two garden sites and see what product was ready for picking that day, what would be ready soon, and what needed some attention (aka, weeding).  That got rather interesting when I was trying to evaluate a crop that I had never grown before, but with the help of phone calls to the program director (who worked at our larger growing site) and speaking with the families, we usually figured it out.  Also in mid-summer, I got to visit the Damascus farm site to take some photos, and it was amazing how much was growing out there compared to when I saw it in April.

Lok building raised beds

Jumuna and Guman harvesting spinach

Lok direct seeding summer plantings

Working in packing shed (photo by Meaghin Kennedy of These Salty Oats)

Packing CSA boxes

Transplanting at the Damascus farm site

At home, the biggest struggles I had mid-season were related to watering and rodents.  I was learning about home-scale drip irrigation, then got really lazy and didn’t finish installing irrigation to all of the beds, and was haphazardly watering some things by hand.  Eventually I got drip irrigation for all of the raised crops, but next time I’ll be smart at the start of the season and have the irrigation ready to go earlier.  And then there were the rats, which seem to enjoy eating garden vegetables.  I’d never dealt with a rat problem before, so I didn’t really know what to do.  We removed a large wood pile in the yard (where evidently they had shelter) and our cat went to work.  While the rodent problem was never entirely solved, it certainly seems better now than it did during the summer.

Montesino grape tomatoes (saved from the rats)

Spending time watering in the backyard

There always seems to be a tipping point during the season (I’d say mid-to-late summer) when things just grow like crazy.  After so many months of waiting and hoping and thinking that you as the farmer/gardener are doing things to make a difference, the plants just take off and you realize that you really only have so much control (and understanding) in the whole process of growing a plan.  At work, we had more product than we knew what to do with (especially cucumbers and sungold tomatoes), and I was eagerly buying up bumper crops of various items to preserve at home for the wintertime.  At home, despite my peak season neglect, most plants were vigorously growing.  (And, if it weren’t for our rodent problem, I would’ve been able to eat a lot of those things.  Instead I think I mostly just fed a lot of rats.) 

At home...

Richmond Green Apple cucumber, from Dancing Bear Farm seed

Front yard mania

Green zebra tomato

We planted a dozen new dahlia plants this year.

At work...

Sherrett garden in August

Cippolini onions

Sungold tomatoes

Italian sweet candy roaster peppers

Beans!

Dragon carrots

PSU market madness

Sungolds & shishito peppers

Onions, eggplant, peppers, black radishes, shallots, cauliflower

Chioggia, Touchstone Gold, and Detroit Red beets

September CSA box

At peak harvest time, I moved.  I spent my 23^rd birthday carrying furniture and boxes into an apartment in Eugene and started my graduate program two days later.  I was looking forward to spending more time with Andrew and to another adventure, but I really wasn’t ready to leave all of the food I had been trying so hard to grow.  Moreover, I had met so many wonderful people and families in the Portland-area food production community and was sad to leave them.  Nonetheless, I left my work and gardens feeling very optimistic about my future in sustainable agriculture.  Hopefully, my graduate program can give me some more tools for how to combine my agricultural skills with social justice and community organizing.

Lok harvesting pink radishes during my last week of work

Laxmann harvesting black radishes

Since moving to Eugene, I haven’t had the chance to do much gardening or farming.  I have a small community garden plot where I planted garlic and some windowsill herb plants that I propagated from home.  I attended the Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Convivium in October.  I also visited a friend who lives at Berggren Demonstration Farm  (a Rogue Farm Corps host farm!) and helped with her animal chores a couple of times, and attended Food for Lane County’s GrassRoots Garden’s annual Carrot Harvest Day.  On campus, I work for the Student Sustainability Coalition and am working with some other students and campus initiatives to coordinate food justice activities for 2015.  So, while I’m not getting my boots or hands in the dirt much, at least I’m working on other useful skills.

Grove campus community garden

Turkeys at Berggren

Fall chard at Berggren

Spending all my money at the farmers market in late fall

I’m in Portland now for winter break, eating lots of onions, squash, cabbage, and stone fruit.  The home garden looks at lot different now that it did just a few months ago.  We have some herbs and hardy greens still hanging in there, although I did let the chickens eat a lot of what was in the backyard (or maybe that was the aphids).

The garden after the first frost

Lacinato kale in December

Chickens in action, despite the frosty weather

I’m sure by the end of the school year (or before then if I have a chance) I’ll be ready to spend a good chunk of time outdoors in the dirt!  Happy New Year!

A year in farmers markets

Hi folks, It’s been quite some time since I have posted something new (I’m a bit overdue!).  I still owe you some posts about what I did during this growing season, which is now coming to an end.

I mentioned in some posts earlier this summer that I was doing some paid and volunteer work with a few farmers markets.  In this post, I’ll be sharing some photos from my various farmers market travels in 2014 and the work that I did at some of these markets.

The Portland Farmers Market

From May through September, I worked as a crew member for the Portland Farmers Market at their PSU, Northwest, and Pioneer Courthouse Square markets.  As part of the crew, I helped set up and tear down the market, staff the information booth, and administer the token program for EBT and debit/credit cards.  

I had a lot of fun and learned a lot through my work with PFM.  I saw a wide range of markets and learned about market management.  I liked connecting market customers with resources such as other farmers markets in the Portland area or markets that run a SNAP matching program.  I especially enjoyed working at the Northwest market on NW 19^th and Everett.  It’s a small market with great vendors and a lot of personality.

Through my work with Mercy Corps NW Refuge Gardens (here’s the link to my July post), I had the opportunity to work at PFM’s Shemanski Park market as a vendor.  In the early season we also took a group of Bhutanese families to PFM’s King market to learn about direct marketing.

Montavilla Farmers Market

I joined the board of the Montavilla Farmers Market (located at SE 76^th and Stark St) last winter.  As Outreach Chair, I re-organized our community tabling program and we have since had a number of different community groups come to the market.  I have also been doing some work on our Everybody Eats program, which provides matching funds to market customers who are using SNAP (food stamp) dollars.  We piloted a $10 match during the second half of the season and we saw an increase in SNAP shopper visits, more SNAP dollars being spent at the market, and more dollars for our local farm and food vendors.

Being on the board of a farmers market has been a great opportunity for me to learn some of the nuts and bolts of nonprofit governance.  I’m also so glad to be connected to the market’s board and staff, who are talented people who are very invested in the Montavilla neighborhood and in supporting local, sustainable food for all.

Grants Pass Farmers Market

In August, I took a weekend trip with some family to southern Oregon.  We stopped by the Grants Pass Farmers Market, where I worked as a vendor during my 2013 Rogue Farms Corps internship at Dancing Bear Farm.  I caught up with Steve Florin of DBF, met one of this year’s interns, and saw two of my RFC cohort buddies who are now farming together in Grants Pass at Middle Rogue Farm.  Keep up the great work!

Forest Grove Farmers Market

In September, I made a short visit out to the Forest Grove Farmers Market, a program of Adelante Mujeres (an organization whose mission is the empowerment of Latina women and their families).  You may recall that I was an intern with Adelante Mujeres and worked at the market in the summer of 2012 – another great experience!  It was nice to catch up briefly with the wonderful Adelante staff members.  I also got to see some of the produce sold to La Esperanza Distributor and CSA, a program I helped develop while I was an intern.

Hillsdale Farmers Market

My neighborhood market – one of the best in town.  I’m simply a customer here.

Lane County Farmers Market & Marketplace at Sprout!

At the end of September, I moved to Eugene to begin a Master of Nonprofit Management program at The University of Oregon.  It was sad to leave the markets in Portland, but thankfully there are two good markets near where I live.

The Lane County Farmers Market in Eugene hosts a great selection of local farms and is open most weeks of the year.  

The Marketplace at Sprout! in Springfield is a year-round market.  As a project of NEDCO, a local CDC, they have a variety of food business incubation programming including commercial kitchen space and small business training programs.

That’s all for now – Happy Thanksgiving.
ET

Read about my work in "These Salty Oats" article

Photo taken by Meaghin Kennedy of "These Salty Oats"

Last year, my Senior Independent Study (a senior thesis required of all College of Wooster students) was featured in the Wooster magazine as part of the annual IS feature.  (You can find it on page 9 in the Summer 2013 edition if you have a copy or online here.)

By chance, a Wooster alum here in Portland named Meaghin Kennedy (class of 2005) read that article and contacted me early this spring.  Meaghin is a local food writer and photographer and posts articles on her site These Salty Oats.  We met up for a conversation in May, and in June and July she visited my work and home to take photos and learn more about my quest to work in food justice.  Our interactions resulted in Meaghin writing an article which she has just posted on These Salty Oats.  I hope you'll take a look at her thoughtful words and wonderful photography.  Thanks for writing a great article, Meaghin!

Mercy Corps Northwest Refuge Gardens

Greetings and happy summer, everyone!  Today I'm pleased to be writing a post about my work this season with Mercy Corps Northwest (MCNW).  You may recall that in previous summers I was uploading new blog posts about once a week, but it's going to be less frequent this summer (as you can already tell).  I hope you still enjoy the photos and posts I am able to upload!

You may have heard of Mercy Corps, the international development agency that works in countries around the world.  MCNW is the domestic partner of Mercy Corps, and both are headquartered in Portland.

The mission of MCNW is to work together to build more just, productive, and resilient communities in the Pacific Northwest.  MCNW has its hands in a wide variety of projects, including small business development programs and re-entry transition programs for formerly incarcerated adults.  I specifically work with the agriculture program, also known as Refuge Gardens.  

Go Refuge Gardens staff!

In the Refuge Gardens project, we work with refugee families who are transitioning to life in the States.  We connect families to land, technical assistance, and local direct markets.  The project gives the families a chance to earn supplemental income through produce sales, grow food for their own families, and create community with other families.  This year, we are working specifically with Karen families from Burma and Nepali families from Bhutan. 

Refuge Gardens grows food on three different sites: two in inner SE Portland and a larger site in Damascus.  I work at the two SE Portland sites with our three Nepali families in the program (pictured below).  

As the Garden Field Assistant, I do a variety of tasks.  On Tuesdays and Fridays, I coordinate the harvest at our SE Portland sites, which is combined with the harvest from our Damascus site to be sold at two farmers markets in Portland and through our small 13 member CSA.  On Wednesdays, I help sell produce at market in downtown Portland.

CSA box from June

Portland Farmers Market @ Shemanski Park

Portland Farmers Market @ PSU

In addition to harvest and farmers market duties, I help coordinate plantings at the SE sites according to our crop plan and perform general field maintenance (weeding, bed building, etc).  I also enjoy taking photos of our beautiful crops and produce! 

I have immensely enjoyed my work with MCNW so far.  I am constantly inspired by the resilience and generosity of the families that I work with and have really liked getting to know them so far.  Seth, the program director, has been a great mentor with a wealth of agricultural knowledge and ability to work compassionately with program participants.  What I really like about this job is that not only do I have skills and passion to contribute to the project, but I also I learn new things every day - about intercultural communication, about growing food, and about agriculture projects with social missions.

As I've mentioned, in addition to a small CSA we sell Refuge Gardens produce at two farmers markets, both of which are managed by the Portland Farmers Market (PFM).  On days when I'm not working for MCNW, I just so happen to work for the PFM as a crew member.  Stay tuned for a post about my work with PFM later this summer.