Portland has a community garden program I can't wait to visit!

Each year Growing Gardens recruits experienced and giving volunteers from Portland's home gardening and sustainable agriculture communities to teach a series of workshops for our Garden Recipients as well as the general public. Topics range from Garden Planning & Design to Food Preservation to Urban Chicken Keeping. The emphasis is on sustainable, healthy, and affordable approaches to gardening.

In addition to these workshops we also hold Work-Learn Parties in our backyard garden in NE Portland for the public. Those who come get to help with projects in our demonstration plot and learn helpful tips and techniques to take home.

We also offer a series of Parent-Child Workshops designed to spark creativity and learning in young and old alike.

I should be there for these!

Food Preservation

Pickling: Thursday, August 13th, 6:00-8:00pm (N/NE)

Tomato Canning: Tuesday, September 15th, 6:00-8:00pm (N/NE)

Learn about the many ways that you can preserve your summer vegetables and fruits for winter eating.

Seed Saving

September, Date TBA. 6:00-8:00pm (SE)

Learn to save seeds from the garden during this hands-on workshop. Collect & swap seeds to take home with you!

:)

http://www.growing-gardens.org/portland-gardening-resources/workshops.php

A talk with the Dalai Lama - The Boston Globe

A talk with the Dalai Lama - The Boston Globe

The Dalai Lama meets with scholars from China breaking up the false propaganda that he receives in the Chinese media.

Free Tibet!

East or West?

After some exploring of eastern OR and a bit of ID, Chrissy and I have talked about possibly perferring the western side of the cascades. There are several reasons why. First of all is the trees. There are not a lot of trees on the eastern side. Second is the weather, year round. This also plays into the elevations. Western is much lower and more mild then the east. Also there is more water on the western side as well, a longer growing season and milder winters and so on. Another reason is to be closer to Portland or Seattle. Either one is cool, but it would be nice to be within an hour or two of either city. Eastern OR is beatiful but seems like it is going to create more difficulties for us. As far as the reason we were going over there is because the western side is possibly going to dissapear. Seems like we might be running from a ghost or a theory. This may happen but It might be worth the chance. The Exploration of the East has been enjoyable but not as fruitful as we hoped. To this point in time, the only place that has met the criteria we have set for the east is Imnaha. That place is a jewel, but it is also 6 hours from portland and 5 from Boise.
Please everyone share your thoughts.

Cohousing

I found this article in my in box today.
:) Amy

http://mothering.com/articles/growing_child/family_society/cohousing.html

To Be Something

We have to be an organization of some sort to be non profit, I vote for a Heritage Biodyversity Farm. We could call it something like Heirloom Farms, Heritage Farms...Sustainable Farm
Plant and animal life is disappearing 2 breeds a day.
Whats the risk? The fewer breeds we have the worse a plant or animal disease would be.

Traditionally, farmers throughout the world have raised thousands of different animal breeds and plant varieties. However, since today's industrial farms rely upon only a few specialized types of livestock and crops, thousands of non-commercial animal breeds and crop varieties have disappeared, along with the valuable genetic diversity they possessed. Fortunately, a growing number of sustainable farmers are preserving agricultural variety and protecting biodiversity by raising “heritage” or “heirloom” animal breeds and crops.

Anyway I found a good sheep for OR it's in the Sheep! post.

We'll need to talk about farm equipment, can we get one machine that does it all?
Amber whats used on the farm your living on? And what plant & animal live do they have?
:) A

Biodynamic Farming & Compost

I think I've stumbled into something. I've heard the phrase before Biodynamic Gardening, but didn't need it at that time in my life. But my friend Pam has invited me to a Biodynamic Gardening class :) I think it's time to go. And then I found this, and it looks like you make a tea of a few special herbs and add them in verious ways to the compost to make it such great stuff.....

"A basic ecological principle of biodynamics is to conceive of the farm as an organism, a self-contained entity. A farm is said to have its own individuality. Emphasis is placed on the integration of crops and livestock, recycling of nutrients, maintenance of soil, and the health and well being of crops and animals; the farmer too is part of the whole. Thinking about the interactions within the farm ecosystem naturally leads to a series of holistic management practices that address the environmental, social, and financial aspects of the farm. A comparison of objectives between biodynamic and conventional agriculture systems in Appendix I summarizes these ideas in table format.
In a nutshell, biodynamics can be understood as a combination of "biological dynamic" agriculture practices. "Biological" practices include a series of well-known organic farming techniques that improve soil health. "Dynamic" practices are intended to influence biological as well as metaphysical aspects of the farm (such as increasing vital life force), or to adapt the farm to natural rhythms (such as planting seeds during certain lunar phases)."

http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/biodynamic.html

Hey Everyone! I found a website to look at that gives basic facts about non-profit organizations - http://www.idealist.org/if/i/en/npofaq. I know that is something that has been considered, and I am unsure of how much info we have about it. I also found a website about a non- profit farm in Pennsylvania that allows children to visit to learn about farming - http://www.quietvalley.org/. They have members and people who contribute. This type of organization and participation from the public would be ideal because then the non-profit regulations are less restrictive. However, I don't know what the liabilities involved would entail...
I definitely like the land that you found Amy. It sounds wonderful. Imnaha is a cool place, and it would be nice to live by there. Hope this message finds you all well!