Buffalo Gardens Replants Itself in the Dekum Triangle

Buffalo Gardens and its lush space packed with garden pleasures was a mainstay on NE Alberta Street for over eight years. Last August, after seven of those eight at the NE 30th Avenue block, Sandra Galli packed up her plants, pots, and pets, and headed west to the corner of NE 23rd Avenue. "Progress slapped me in the face," she recently quipped. The property owner needed to make some major improvements to the lot, which now houses Vita Café and Portland Fret Works (Fret Works was always a lot neighbor; they just moved upstairs in the new building, with Vita occupying the fab new space downstairs), and Galli knew for years that moving day would arrive.

Her landlord actually found her the space down the street. However, halfway through a one-year lease commitment, She had the feeling she'd move again. Dekum Street in Woodlawn landed on her radar earlier in the year, but once she decided to move, she cruised this "sweet spot" to get a real feel for it. When the Dekum Street at 8th Avenue space opened up—adjacent to the coming-soon! Believe Movement Studio that also borders the home of gardening colleague Michele Eccelston—Galli knew she found the perfect location for her buffalo to roam (sorry—but how could I resist?). In what might be known as the swiftest nursery move ever, Buffalo Gardens opened for business at its new location in early September.

A retail endeavor that also hosts garden workshops and serves as a CSA drop-off location (which she's done for years with Helsing Farm), Galli projects that her new space will be even more community focused than either of her previous NE Alberta Street locations. "I envision collaborating with neighbors and other Dekum Triangle businesses (such as established Firehouse Restaurant and Good Neighbor Pizza as well as future Woodlawn Coffee & Pie, perhaps a pub, and other retail) that are all here to positively affect the area. While I'm settling in, I'm certainly taking it all in. But I'm wide open to all possibilities."

Having trained as a chef with over eight years of experience in that industry, Galli always loved and appreciated nature and gardening, and began to dream of an urban nursery. Ten years ago, there really wasn't one to be found in Northeast Portland. She'd certainly noticed "funky inner city nurseries" in all the places she's lived, including New York and Arizona, and finally decided to go for it by opening a space of her own. She was able to incorporate her experience in ordering food and dealing with live inventory with her start-up, so it's no surprise that Buffalo Gardens specializes in edibles. On her biz card, a ginormous sunflower sprouts from the concrete.

Her new location is funky and welcoming, as the Alberta Street shops were, too. One warm afternoon as we chatted, a few people stopped by for their CSA pick up, commented on the new space, rubbed resident dog Farley's ears, and floated out the gate. Galli and Eccelston have plans to plant the parking strips that border the property together later this fall. "It suits my personality to be off the beaten path." Her master plan beyond settling into the new space? "I'm here to be part of this movement, whatever that means. I'll do it."

A patterned fence made with corrugated tin and wood separate Buffalo Gardens from The Purple Garden, Eccelston's own back yard, but a gate has been installed, too, for potential collaborations and easy garden viewing. Eccelston has been a wetlands biologist for over 15 years, and her design company specializes in natives and creating healing gardens. She launched her business in 2005, and not only began designing gardens for people wishing to add more natives to their yards, but began teaching those interested in supporting pollinators and native wildlife. "Not all plants support wildlife equally," she muses from her vegetable garden, bursting with all varieties of tomatoes, eggplants, lemon cukes, peppers. Rows of edibles are bordered with natives that attract birds, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, dragonflies, and other critters helpful to the ecosystem. "I want to promote species lacking in our urban landscape. People are becoming more aware that this matters."

To help heighten awareness, she linked up with both Buffalo Gardens and Preserve, a learning studio space leased from the original Buffalo location, run by garden and food maven Harriet Fasenfest. Classes in food preservation were held at this location for many years, and Eccelston taught a class or two there. She continues to teach at the Breitenbush Herbal Conference, National College of Natural Medicine, and at various other locations, including her own kitchen. Eccelston's classes focus on herbs as medicine and food, and stem from her own interest in bringing such edibles into her life. Her home workshops are intimate and fun. Last year, a small group of us made essential oils and herb-infused vodka for holiday gifts with herbs collected from her kitchen garden. (Since she's recently relocated to the Dekum Triangle, too, her home herb classes will start up again in Spring 2010.)

The Purple Garden
 

Eccelston is one of three garden designers involved in the Three Rivers Backyard Habitat Certification Program that is focused on removing and replacing invasive species with natives and water conserving plants. She also hosts native plant sales, and will design and plant a bioswale area for another Dekum Triangle business. Also a consultant for Pacific Habitat Services, Eccelston enjoys collaboration and urban space design, especially when she's able to encourage others take out their lawns and replant with life that pollinators thrive upon. "When people grow their own food and herbs, in gardens that reflect their design desires, they can effectively self nurture, and nurture the nature around them including their pets and the native wildlife that is attracted to the garden. Everybody wins."

Buffalo Gardens

Side by each, with an artistically styled fence to help corral Sam, the rooster, Farley and Fred, the dogs, and plenty of chickens, these two entrepreneurial spirits are bringing even more energy to a soon-to-be bustling area of town. It's peak garden time with the late summer harvest and transition into fall—and these are two of my favorite garden spaces in town. They are peaceful and vibrant, and reflect the keen and conscious sensibilities of both designers. On your neighborhood travels, be sure to stop by this corner that already buzzes with life. View tomatoes and eggplants glistening in the sun, dahlias roaring with color, birds and insects gathering their nutrition, and other such earthly delights.