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HEATHER HILL
THE MIDCOUNTY MEMO
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| At an end-of-year garden maintenance work party, Parkrose Heights Community Garden Coordinator Katrina Kellmer, from left, Sophie Malone and Steve Amy spread wood chips over the ground, suppressing weeds between the raised beds. The 5,000 square foot plot has 22 raised beds on which Parkrose neighbors grow enough organic produce to share with others. Mid-county Memo photo/Tim Curran |
After two years of growth at Parkrose United Methodist Church - 11111 N.E. Knott Street - the year's garden additions include a greenhouse, composter, Douglas Fir picnic table and red bloody butcher corn.
Though all churches act as centers for their worshipers, Parkrose United Methodist Church is an example of a community center that also happens to be a church. In addition to the Lily Field Montessori school on their grounds, four faiths use the space for worship services: the church's namesake Methodist following, the Ethiopian Oromo Seventh-Day Adventist church, the Hispanic fellowship Iglesia De Jesucristo Vida Abundante, and worshipers of the Parkrose Community United Church of Christ, who sold their own Mid-county church in 2009 to focus on outreach.
For Parkrose United Methodist Church, outreach lies right outside its door. An annex building across the parking lot houses David's Harp, which the church founded in 1978 to provide a supportive environment for adults with mental illness. An independent non-profit, it serves as a community clubhouse offering life skills training for its patients. For years, the spot of land adjacent to David's Harp lay fallow with grass, but since the summer of 2009, members of the many groups that frequent the campus have sought to grow more, and the yield has proved fruitful.
Plots at Parkrose Heights Community Garden have been free of charge and open to neighbors within a 20-minute drive to the garden. Though the sale of the tomato plants and careful budgeting of the grants that have helped the garden get up and running have sustained the project thus far, garden coordinator Katrina Kellmer admits that organizers may have to start charging in the future to cover basic water and other maintenance costs.
Still, the money saved at the grocery store could quickly make up for it. “It helps them save money and it helps give them something fresh to eat,” Kellmer remarked on the garden's benefits.
Something organic too, and organic foods generally have a higher price tag at the market. Little ladybug signs demark the area as a pesticide free zone, and other resident insects help the garden along.
Three small boxes hang under the eaves of David's Harp housing benign mason bees that awake from dormancy in early spring ready to pollinate crops. Gardeners planted hollyhocks, fennel and a lily of the valley shrub called Valley Valentine to welcome them with their blossoms.
David's Harp farms three beds, one containing the curious red corn. The Montessori School uses its pumpkin patch and raised bed to educate the little ones on how food grows. Currently the school's teacher fields these lessons, but garden organizers have expressed interest in bringing a master gardener on board to incorporate the garden more into their overall education. They have also reached out to the nearby Sacramento Elementary School. Last April, the church hosted a free workshop for students where representatives from Growing Gardens educated families on starting plants from seed. Though the garden staff has sent out invitations to parents at Sacramento School, only two families have joined the garden thus far.
Kellmer helps novice gardeners plant seeds. She also provides watering and weeding advice. Otherwise, the gardeners maintain the garden, and they have a number of resources at their disposal. The garden property includes a picnic table that seats 10, a shed for equipment, which church volunteers painted this year; a greenhouse for starting seeds and housing delicate plants during the less predictable spring weather, and a composter, built by church member Don Dickson with the help of his son Jay Cunningham.
All structures came thanks to the many grants available to encourage such projects with a wide variety of benefits. The East Portland Neighborhood Office and an initiative of the Oregon/Idaho Methodist Bishop Robert Hoshibata provided the majority of start-up funds. The neighborhood office granted garden organizers $3,500 for the garden's role in helping to build a stronger neighborhood and contribute to a greater sense of community. The Bishop's initiative provides resources to churches that both help educate on food and nutrition and also provide low-cost food to the community. To bolster this commitment, the church also stages open community dinners every last Wednesday of the month. In addition to the SnowCap contributions, the church food pantry has also benefited from the donated tomatoes, spinach and peppers from the garden.
The greenhouse was erected this year thanks to a $1,500 grant from the East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, which provides money to programs that help sustain agricultural productivity and environmental quality. The East Portland Action Plan granted the garden $2,278, with which they purchased seedlings, soil, compost equipment, gravel and water.
The East Portland Action Plan also encourages cross-cultural integration, which the garden practically embodies. Parkrose Heights gardeners range from preschoolers to retirees, from Ethiopian to Latino to Native American descent, and from green thumb gardeners to the David's Harp patients who find therapy in its soil. People of all faiths have planted seeds in the church grounds. The first harvest party, in 2009, featured a Native American blessing. The latest, last September, had a healthy attendance and very few leftovers.
Kellmer knows of two plots that will come open next spring. Those looking to pounce on the opportunity can call the church directly at 503-253-7567.
“The people who have called have all become part of the garden,” Kellmer said. “It is community building.”
On Monday evenings during the summer, gardeners would gather at the church to share their expertise on plants, resources and techniques. “We learned about red worms and edible flowers and composting,” said Kellmer. “You got to know your gardener partners.”
The community garden is a community in itself. “If people go away on vacation, and even when I'm gone, someone will fill in for me; if it is not a gardener it is a church member who will water,” Kellmer said. “It has been really great to know that if you have gotten to know people in the garden then you can call on them and they will help you out.”
As winter fell on the garden and the last tomato ripens before the first frost, gardeners were back at work to put the beds to rest. Some are already looking forward to next year. “There is a lady who came in this year, a first time gardener,” Kellmer said. “She got really excited, and her excitement is exciting. Now she said she has next year's garden already planned!”
As for Kellmer's plans for 2012, now with the structures up and a few harvests behind them, the community garden can focus more on its grander purpose. Next year she hopes to organize the gardeners to donate more as a group to Snowcap. She also has a few more financial ends to tie-up. Water costs have been an issue. They would like a permanent sign for the garden as well, but unexpected city permit costs have stalled the undertaking.
The garden has a banner, which is stored away from the elements of winter but will reappear come early spring to announce the start of the gardening season, when the bees will awaken and the buzz in the garden will begin again.
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