The Suburban Farm: a Common Grounds Garden
The front yard looks like many in this old neighborhood built on the former Multnomah Golf Course with its witch hazels and hostas, hellebores, bluebells and daffodils. But look more closely and you might notice the hedge is comprised of blueberry bushes, cornelian cherry (edible dogwood), and pineapple-guava shrubs (with edible flowers).
When you walk through the gate to the back garden, you discover “the farm.” For fifteen years, the owners have transformed the land into a garden of edibles: a dozen fruit trees, heirloom pear and apple mostly, grow along the south end and espaliered trees along the borders, sharing space with more than twenty blueberries bushes, strawberries and raspberries as well as their citrus trees which over-winters in the greenhouse, all thriving with the old walnut and myrtlewood (bay leaf) trees. Hops grow along the back fence, four varieties of table grapes create shade for the outdoor clay bake-oven (made from clay dug from the yard!).
This garden is noted for its re-use. Two huge water tanks store house roof run-off, two more sit behind the chicken coop, and a few more behind the greenhouse. Paths and beds are covered in free tree-service wood chips. Onsite composting provides soil enrichment for the raised beds, half of them made with recycled wood. Note the four new concrete raised beds built high enough to sit on and providing easy access to the plants inside.
Once the bake-oven is fired up, the garden fills with neighbors who bring pizza and bread for the baking event. You find them sitting on retro metal chairs under the covered “outdoor room,” a good viewpoint for the entire “common grounds garden.”
When you walk through the gate to the back garden, you discover “the farm.” For fifteen years, the owners have transformed the land into a garden of edibles: a dozen fruit trees, heirloom pear and apple mostly, grow along the south end and espaliered trees along the borders, sharing space with more than twenty blueberries bushes, strawberries and raspberries as well as their citrus trees which over-winters in the greenhouse, all thriving with the old walnut and myrtlewood (bay leaf) trees. Hops grow along the back fence, four varieties of table grapes create shade for the outdoor clay bake-oven (made from clay dug from the yard!).
This garden is noted for its re-use. Two huge water tanks store house roof run-off, two more sit behind the chicken coop, and a few more behind the greenhouse. Paths and beds are covered in free tree-service wood chips. Onsite composting provides soil enrichment for the raised beds, half of them made with recycled wood. Note the four new concrete raised beds built high enough to sit on and providing easy access to the plants inside.
Once the bake-oven is fired up, the garden fills with neighbors who bring pizza and bread for the baking event. You find them sitting on retro metal chairs under the covered “outdoor room,” a good viewpoint for the entire “common grounds garden.”