From the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability...
As food prices climb, salmonella stalks the supermarket, and fresh and local stake their place at the table, city dwellers are getting back to the land just beyond their back doors. With visions of Victory Gardens and sugar snap peas in their heads, urbanites are rediscovering how to turn their lawns and landscapes into lunches.
For everyone who believes that food production should once again take a prominent place in family and civic life, the City of Portland Office of Planning and Sustainability presents Urban Growth Bounty 2009. This series of classes, taught by local experts starting this February, offers comprehensive instruction on urban fruit and vegetable production, raising chickens, beekeeping, cheesemaking, and food preservation. The classes, designed for all skill levels, include the following:
- Organic Vegetable Gardening (Donna Smith and Robyn Streeter; Your Backyard Farmer)
- Grow Your Own Organic Vegetables (Josh Volk; Slow Hand Farm)
- High Productivity Vegetable Gardens in Containers (Marc Boucher-Colbert; Urban Agriculture Solutions)
- SPIN Farming (Dan Bravin and Martin Barrett; City Garden Farms)
- Growing Fruit in any Backyard and First-Time Beekeeping for the Organic City Garden (Glen Andresen; Master Gardener, Educator and Radio Host)
- Chickens 101-The Basics of a Backyard Flock (Patrick Barber, Holly McGuire and Craig Clark; Eastside Egg Co-op)
- Preserving Your CSA Harvest, (Laura Ohm; Baker and Cook)
- Introduction to Home Cheesemaking, (Patrick Barber; Cheesemaker)
Portland Mayor Sam Adams, an avid produce gardener, chicken keeper and promoter of urban agriculture-believes that recreation and lower grocery bills are just two of the benefits of growing fresh food in our neighborhoods. "These classes can help build a more sustainable Portland and transform our connection to healthful food, the land and our community," Mayor Adams says.
UGB 2009 is supported by the East County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Beverly Cleary Sun School program.
For detailed Urban Growth Bounty 2009 information and registration details:
http://www.portlandonline.com/osd/ugb ? food@ci.portland.or.us ? 503.823.3986
