That's right people! We are living the dream right here at City Garden Farms. We are living it, sleeping it (albeit some sleepless nights too), Tilling it, planting it, watering it, growing it, tending it, nurturing it, harvesting it, washing it, prepping it and realizing it as we share our beautiful, fresh bounty with our CSA members and the people of Portland at various Farmers markets around the city. We have gone from: 

                              this                                          to this

to this!!

In a very short space of time.

Broc and Moss have been hard at work in ALL of our City Garden Farms which number 10 at present with more to come on line. The two biggest milestones we just passed were our first ever CSA pickup and our first ever farmers market! Our CSA started last week and Moss was on hand to hand out produce to our NE customers and give a quick tour of Mossy Point to those attending. It was great to meet and thank the fabulous people who have believed in us and supported us. Thank you so much! Broc had the same great experience at Bybee Gardens and was on hand to greet and thank our customers first hand. Many people responded "No No! ThankYOU! "  I think we are all thankful that we can participate in this together.

We will be attending The Portland Farmers market at the Eastbank location on Thursdays from today on between 3.30pm and 7.30pm. Come down and see us in action!

 

And finally a word from Moss about Broc (Our man in the field)

 

Occaisionally in life you get to meet great people, even better you become friends with them and share experiences in life together. I have been very lucky to have met Broc, for us to have become friends and for us to have believed in each other, realized our dreams and start City Garden Farms. Broc made the leap to this Full time a few months ago and we wouldn't have gotten has as far as we have without that leap of faith. I'd like to thank Jenny his wife for supporting that leap which has enabled us to do as much as we have so far. 

They are truly 'Broc stars' in their own right and I am so glad I know them.

Moss.

 

Well, it took a wee while for the rain to stay away but last Sunday Broc and I got Mossy Point finished and Man does it look like a farm or what!

In my last blog our intrepid duo finished the day with a roughly tilled area of about 800-1000 sq ft to finish and an additional 600 ft to fully prepare. Broc got the Tiller into action, waved his magic rake, cruised the plot on his 'earthway seeder' and fashioned these freaking fabulous finished furrows!!!! Things of beauty they are.

Inspired by this furrowing frenzy Moss ventured to a part of the yard labelled "life before City Garden Farms".... I mean look at it people!  Look at it!  

Never fear!  Broc and Moss are here!  And within an hour of pulling up the plastic, weeding and clearing some debris Broc again employed the talents of his faithful tiller (that's Ryobi to you!) and then called upon all his furowing experience to craft THIS!!!!

The gods of Mossy Point shone down upon Broc as he headed into the home stretch cruising the furrows on his Earthway seeder!  The clouds parted, angels sang and sunrays rained down upon Broc as he finished the last line of seeds.  You want the proof!  Check him out!

The work was nearly finished. While Broc worked his magic on the soil Moss edged his raspberries with stone and log and both agreed it was fine days work.

Broc thought he had the last word when he said to Moss "Not bad not bad for a city boy."  Moss looked at him like this and said "Who are you calling a city boy?....I'm an Urban Farmer!!!"

....and he is.

Finally after weeks of rain we had a dry spell and then a 75 °F day yesterday. Broc called me.  "Let's get thet yard of yours tilled, raked, hoed, furrowed, fertilized and planted!"  I replied, "You must have read my mind".  I have been champing at the bit to get my yard started as we are, after all, 'City Garden Farms'.

Broc got started with the tiller. This was quite a moment for me. Our dreams of Urban Farming are coming true in front of my eyes. How many evenings have I wandered into my back yard and sighed as I tried to imagine what I was going to do with all of this space...and how...and when was I going to find the time? Well you just gotta make it happen.  It's such a perfect yard too.  Maybe 7500 sq/ft, south facing, slightly sloped, the soil is great and we're only 1½ miles from our nearest farmers market. (How's that for food miles?!!!)

Broc got the tiller going and the story of Mossy Point begins!!!!

It took about 45 mins to till this 600 sqft section. Then we (Ahem ahem....Moss) raked off the clumpy sods before Broc re-tilled the area again. Moss raked some more and the Broc tilled some more and things started to take shape.

 

We worked for a couple of hours and made great progress. Broc fertilized and hoed in a furrow or two before it just got too dark to do anymore. And then it started to rain again. He's back tomorrow so we'll get it finished and planted then.See more Photos

And remember folks.....The more we grow the less you mow!!!!!

City Garden Farms lives!!! If ever I've done something I believed in and that made total sense to me for so many reasons and that brought out and together the best elements and talents of two enthusiastic friends then this would be it. There are many ways I could try and express what City Garden Farms is all about but "common sense for the common good" sums it up in so many ways for me.

Using Urban land to produce fresh local produce, taking fuel out of people's food equation, stabilizing food prices, creating connections with our community, creating food security for those who support us and doing something elemental really speaks to me.

Funnily enough it was this book that planted the seed in my mind, brought together many things I had been thinking about and that spoke to me in a way that made me realize that common sense is who I am and what I stand for and what I can do for other people.

So...........months later, we've got land in the city to farm and we've got an acre on Sauvies Island.

We've got seeds, starts, a planting schedule and an effective farming methodology that again makes great sense to us and is being used successfully by other small farms in the USA. We've got a stall at The Portland farmers market and we hope to attend other markets regularly. We've worked out our CSA program and got it up and running with shares available. We'll be doing A la carte pick up AND deliveries too.

We're doing all this in the City of Portland (A city we love and who's people we love) where common sense for the common good is something we all believe in.

Moss