Living City

Are you ready to take composting to the next level? Are you serious about growing great vegetables? This class is for you.

We will cover:

• Building the best soil amendment money can’t buy.
• Free materials
• Preventing pest and disease problems
• Worm bins
• Designing the best system for you
• Troubleshooting – bring your questions!

This class will be mainly outside, so please dress for the weather.

When:   1-3pm Saturday May 19

Location: 4446 NE Going St. Portland.  Frequent service on Trimet #75, easily accessible by bike.  Off-street bike parking available.

Instructors: Rachel Freifelder and Robert Burchett

Cost: $25 – work-trade available, but must be approved by the Wednesday before the class.   Call to discuss.

Class is limited to 20 students. Please call 503-849-9466 to reserve your spot, or email info@livingcitypdx.com. And tell your friends!

We look forward to meeting you!

This Living City class will give you skills you need in May to manage your year-round garden.   We will focus on:

•      Thinning and late spring troubleshooting
•      Advanced seeding skills and tomato planting
•      May pest prevention
•      Harvesting and vegetable preparation techniques
•      Novel spring recipes and cooking demonstrations

This class will be outdoors, so please dress for the weather.

When:   1-3pm Saturday,  May 5

Location: 4624 NE Sumner St. Portland.  (Located inside the Sumner Community Garden).  Frequent service on Trimet #75, easily accessible by bike.  Off-street bike parking available.

There are no bathrooms or shelter at the community garden.  The second half of the class will be at 4446 NE Going St, and will begin with a bathroom break.

Cost: $25 – work-trade available, but most be approved by the Wednesday before the class.   Call to discuss.

This class is part of Living City’s 9-month program in the Year Round Harvest.

Want to make great compost for your garden? Curious about how to manage all the work that building a year-round garden entails? Learn from the experts.

This class covers:

•  building great compost piles
•  nutrient conservation
•  worm bins
•  free materials
•  organic pest control
• spring garden management

This class will be entirely outside, so please dress for the weather.

When:   1-3pm Saturday April 7

Location: 4255 NE Alberta St. Portland.  Frequent service on Trimet #75,  easily accessible by bike.  Off-street bike parking available.

photo credit Cheyenne Montgomery

Saturday, March 17 1-3pm Dean Simpson of Wildcat Mountain Farm will host us for a workshop on starting seeds for transplant. Beginners and experienced gardeners alike will find this hands-on class a great opportunity to learn from an expert and enjoy a tour of the farm that grows Living City’s plants.

Dean’s operation is a beautifully simple one-man show, one he designed and built from square one on his small farm outside of Sandy. He began as an intensive market gardener in the mid-1990’s, selling his vegetables, eggs and honey at farmer’s markets. By 1998, Dean ran up against the labor constraint that so many small farmers experience. There was more land to plant, but amidst weeding, harvesting, delivering and marketing, no more time to do it. At that point, Dean shifted his business, choosing to focus on growing plant starts. He has since grown his customer base from his original location at People’s Co-op to several Co-ops, grocery stores, and garden shops around Portland.

Dean will share his entire process with us at the workshop. Come and get your hands dirty learning all the basic skills and knowledge you’ll need to get started at home yourself! The cost of the workshop is $15 for Living City subscribers, and $15-$25 sliding scale for the general public. Some transportation available but space is limited. We will meet in NE Portland at 12 and be back at 4.  Please register via email info@livingcitypdx.com by 12 noon Sunday, March 11.

Learn early spring gardening skills in this hands-on class at our demonstration plot.  We will focus on:

• how to care for small plants during unpredictable Portland spring weather
• how to build a trellis to support your pea vines
• strategies to deter early spring pests
• planting and caring for potatoes

This class will be mainly outside, so please dress for the weather.

When:   1-3pm Saturday March 3

Location: 4624  NE Sumner St. Portland.  (this in the Sumner Community Garden) Frequent service on Trimet #75, easily accessible by bike.  Off-street bike parking available.

Cost: $25 – work-trade available, but most be approved by the wednesday before the class.   Call to discuss.

This class is part of Living City’s 9 month program in the Year Round Harvest.

Want fresh food from your garden this season and next winter?  Get planning now!

We will discuss:

• - winter vegetables you can count on
• - tools and tips for efficient planning
• - crop rotation and soil building
• - season extension and soil warming
• - working around garden pests
• - record keeping for long-term succes
• and more….

Each participant will leave with a sample garden map, planting calendar and log sheet.  To get the most out of the workshop, reflect upon your past garden experiences, and also bring a sketch or map of your garden, a list of what you want to grow this year and a short statement of your garden goals. If you have a garden notebook, photos, or any other materials related to your garden, feel free to bring it. We will mostly be outdoors, so dress warmly.

Class content will be tailored to gardeners who have been growing vegetables for 3 or more years, but is open to all. Not sure if it’s right for you? give us a call.

This workshop will focus on planning for annual vegetables, but will also include a tour of the instructors’ developing food and medicine forest, which integrates annual beds into the design.

When: 1-3 pm Saturday February 25

Location: 4446 NE Going St. Portland.  Frequent service on Trimet #75, easily accessible by bike.  Off-street bike parking available.

Want your garden to yield more food with less work? This class will help you plan for year round abundance.  We will discuss:

• Portland’s climate – why didn’t my tomatoes ripen last year?
• Different needs of different vegetables – and the best planting time and location for each one
• Saving water and time
• Working with your soil
• Mapping your garden
• Reading planting calendars, seed packets and seed catalogs
• ..and more.

To get the most out of this class, sketch your garden space and take measurements before you come.  Please email livingcitypdx@gmail.com to register. $25-30 sliding scale.

When: 1-3 pm Saturday February 18

Please arrive a few minutes early, as we will begin promptly.  We will mostly be walking around the garden looking at things, so dress comfortably for outdoors.

Location: 4446 NE Going St. Portland.  Frequent service on Trimet #75,easily accessible by bike.  Off-street bike parking available.

Living City has room for 5 more students!  Hurry and enroll today–Class starts this Saturday!  At 1 pm, we will meet at Rachel’s garden 4446 NE Going Street, and then walk to the demonstration plot for some hands-on gardening practice.  Focus of this class will be soil preparation and orientation to the year-round gardening program.

Have you ever dreamed of having a successful garden, one that provides you delicious, fresh food most of the year?  It feels so healthy to harvest and eat fresh greens from your garden during the winter!  The gardeners from Living City have been enjoying our winter harvest, and you can too:

“For the first time in January I’m eating from my garden thanks to Living City!  My beets, broccoli, arugula and kale have survived the winter and supply me with delicious winter salads topped with fresh eggs from my chickens.  While I can’t eat from my garden everyday of the week in the winter, just the fact that I have some food from my garden year round keeps me connected to my role as an urban farmer and the simple reminder to value the food I eat.”

                                                              —-Stephanie, 2011 Living City Subscriber

How will Living City teach you to garden-year round?

Each month you take a gardening class that will highlight issues that are most important during that month.  After class lets out, you get a beautiful, sustainably produced flat of plant starts and seeds that you take home and plant.  Between each class you receive a newsletter that reminds you of what you should be replanting for successful successions, what pests and challenges you might encounter, and what you should be harvesting.  To further support you in your gardening endeavor, we offer office hours for phone consultations, a site visit, and opportunities for collaborative gardening.  After participating in our program for a year, you will have a good feel for the cycle of successful year-round gardening, along with a good basic knowledge of how to harvest, prepare, and preserve your bounty.

Sign up today:  Click here to download the Registration Packet

Is your garden winding down for the winter?

Wish you could enjoy the flavor, vibrance and nutrition of just-picked vegetables year-round?  You can!
Come get some tips in an abundant winter garden.

Class includes:

- soil building
- winter vegetables: harvest tips, recipes, tasting
- season extension
- planning tools
- and more.

Each participant will leave with a sample planting calendar and log sheet.  To get the most out of the workshop, bring a list of what you want to grow this year and a short statement of your garden goals.

We will mostly be walking around the garden looking at things, so
dress comfortably for outdoors.

When: 1-2:30 pm Saturday, December 10
(Please arrive a few minutes early, as we will begin promptly.)

Location: 4446 NE Going St. Portland.  Frequent service on Trimet #75, easily accessible by bike.  Off-street bike parking available.

Instructors: Rachel Freifelder and Sarah Canterberry
Cost: Free
This class introduces Living City’s 9 month program in the Year Round Harvest.

We look forward to meeting you!