Zenger Farm

I'm in this volunteer mini-camp where every Saturday we do a different volunteer activity related to sustainability. It hasn't really been explained whether its environmental or economic sustainability we are supposed to be learning about, but I'm pretty sure its the environmental kind.

Zenger Farm is located far out in SE Portland. Zenger Farm does outreach and educational programs relating to sustainable agriculture. I think they have camps for kids to come and look at the vegetables and pull off veggies. The farm itself is operated by 47th Avenue Farms, an organization that provides fruit, vegetable, and eggs to people depending on the kind of share they purchase. In return for using the land 47th Ave Farms lets Zenger Farms use their crops as a classroom.

I went out there last Saturday as part of my sustainability teamworks deal. In the first picture we're 'hilling' potatoes. Hilling potatoes is where you take soil (I can't call it dirt according to my soils professor, its soil) and pile it up over the stalk of the plant leaving about 6 inches exposed. The potatoe is a very hardy plant and this will help produce more potatoes. See that's sustainable, if you have only a limited amount of space, as this farm does, then by hilling you are increasing your yield without using arable land.


We also put trays of seedlings into the hoop house for the farm to get starts quicker then replant. Looked like tedious work putting one individual seed into about 72 little holes per tray. Other people are filling the trays with soil and another person tops the trays after they've recieved seeds.






That Saturday was also a special work day for share holders that reduce their seasonal cost by working at the farm and they'd be having a potluck afterwards. Well, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to stay but after I'd heard that someone was making ice cream I had to. For the meal I got a sausage and chatted with some of the guys that work full time for 47th Ave Farms. Really cool people that want to get more experience with growing their own food.

I was talking with a couple of guys and I asked him if they've ever thought about getting some really big speakers, there was a pause and I said ya know to play music...Not a big speaker like Al Gore, I thought that was going to illicit some laughs but they started on about how they'd met some another sustainable farmer that was doing some cool things with seeds and maybe he'd like to come and speak.

Well, the ice cream was awesome and a girl that I'd worked with on the potatoes went down to the raspberry plants and brought them back up to the farm house and gave people each a few to drop in their ice cream. That made it even better!