Planting Time for 2010
As spring approaches, it’s getting close to garden season, and that means year two of the Multnomah County Hope Garden, a demonstration of rooftop agriculture installed in 2009 – which will include the rooftop and urban agriculture experience of TERRA.fluxus for developing plans for 2010 garden installations.
Jason King was the project manager and coordinator of this multidisciplinary effort while at GreenWorks, leading a team that included Teufel Landscape, Tremco Roofing, Anderson Roofing, Phillips Soil Products, Portland Nursery, Territorial Seed Co., HD Fowler, Oregon Wire Products, Parr Lumber, and many other volunteers and contributors to make this project a reality.
To generate interest from contributors, a rendering of the project was generated (above) showing the diversity of plantings for the small space (approximately 200 sf). The project was initially implemented during June, so there was some catching up to get things going during the height of summer. See more photos of the previous site and the construction here. As those who garden in the Pacific Northwest know, it doesn’t take long for vegetables to thrive in the moist heat of June. The planters were deepened to around 16 inches, and soil was amended with some additional organic matter while still maintaining light rooftop tolerances. The skyline of downtown Portland across the river is seen in the background.
Even in shallow soils, the overall productivity of the garden is evident in the following pictures taken in August, including a large stand of sweet corn, squash, and artichokes.
A harvest celebration was conducted in August to glean the first major bounty, and was attended by one of the champions of the project, Commissioner Judy Shiprack, along with Commissioner Jeff Cogen and Kat West from the Multnomah County Sustainability Program.
The 200 sf garden is about half the size of a typical community garden plot, so gave an indication of what level of productivity could be expected through small-scale gardening. Using dense planting and vertical trelllises, the Hope Garden produced over 750 pounds of vegetables that were donated to the Oregon Food Bank through their Plant a Row program – going to local program Loaves & Fishes, which aims to connect homeless and poor families with surplus fresh vegetables from gardens. Every year, thousands of pounds of vegetables and fruits are used to increase food security in our region.
To meet the upcoming goals for 2010, TERRA.fluxus is working with Multnomah County’s Green Team, who is charged with maintenance of the garden throughout the growing season, is to incorporate some additional perennial plantings such as berries, dwarf fruit trees, and other species to provide more seasonal structure, while maintaining areas for productivity using a range of annual plantings.
Due to the small size of the garden and the extensive productivity of the temperate climate, a planting plan for Spring, Summer, and Fall will be implemented, as well as plans for overwintering of a number of plants along with winter mulching. Look forward to more pics of year two of this project.
(project credits: GreenWorks PC – photos + images by Jason King)
