On the southern tip of Portland, where Multnomah and Clackamas counties crisscross boundaries, the Ardenwald-Johnson Creek neighborhood is host to a new tenant: a garden plot that’s helping an underserved community while providing local produce for hungry Portlanders.
The 2/3-acre garden, once covered in weeds, blackberries and fruit trees, is being transformed into a thriving garden, thanks to a partnership between MercyCorps Northwest and nonprofit Grow Portland. The site was formerly owned by the city, and MercyCorps Northwest acquired it two years ago as part of their New American Agricultural Project that helps refugee and immigrant growers start market gardens.
Grow Portland’s Lauren Morse works with three Nepalese families and says the garden provides a small income for them. “We help with the brand for all the produce and sell in two farmers’ markets in Portland. We also have a CSA program,” she says.
However, it’s more than scattering seeds, watering, harvesting and trucking off kale to farmers’ markets. There are a lot of logistics to figure out, especially for distribution, such as the timing of harvest, so produce can be picked up at certain times of the week and trucked to different places. Morse trucks the produce off to market when harvested as well as ensuring that the wheels are turning in the production of food. It’s a very grassroots operation.
Family farmers are also expected to work independently, and there’s a master crop plan for all the sites, so they can coordinate who’s growing what and when to ensure all crops are in balance.
“The families all have their own parts to do. We’re all involved in the development of the site, the planting of the site and harvesting,” says Morse.
That said, there can be a language barrier. “I don’t speak any Nepalese, and they speak very little English, so it’s been challenging. I’m in the process of reworking our crop plan to make it more understandable, less like a chart and more like a pictorial way to illustrate when we need to plant things so we all have a chance to understand what’s going on,” she says.
Volunteer Support
Patrick Finn, a volunteer who lives near the garden, found out about it when Morse presented at a recent Ardenwald-Johnson Creek Neighborhood Association meeting. “She mentioned they were working in the garden on Thursdays, needed volunteers and we showed up,” he says. “We also grow a lot of food on our own property, so it’s a great way to hang out and build community and maybe learn something,” he says.
Thanks to the partnership and local volunteers such as Finn, the site is transforming into a full-time farm with plans to keep it as a permanent farm for future participants by building a packing area, shed, an outhouse, and constructing pathways.
“Now we can develop with the amenities needed. Immigrants and refugees will then have a site that’s easy and they can jump right in. It’ll be easier for people down the line,” adds Morse.
