East Multnomah County Community Gardens and Farms
Whether you are a budding gardener, a master gardener, or a would-be urban farmer, East Multnomah County has the plot for you.
Sure, there are traditional community garden plots for renters with no yards, or homeowners whose yards are not suitable for gardening.
But there are also handicapped accessible beds, a farm where everything grown goes to a local food pantry, and even a drop-in garden where for a few hours of work, you can leave with free fresh produce.
Locally, community gardens are offered through the following organizations and cities:
Gresham
Outgrowing Hunger oversees five community gardens in Gresham, including four on property owned by the City of Gresham and one on land owned by Multnomah County.
• Central City Garden, 840 N.E. Eighth St. at the Multnomah County East building, is located on land owned by the county.
The garden is an innovative partnership between Outgrowing Hunger, Multnomah County and community-based stakeholders such as Imago Dei Community and Loaves & Fishes. It includes eight raised beds that are handicapped accessible, as well as a 1,200-square-foot plot dedicated to growing food for the Loaves and Fishes Center within the Multnomah County East building.
Click here to register, agree to the garden rules and sign the liability waiver.
• Gresham City Hall Gardens, 1333 N.W. Eastman Parkway, boasts: four 5’x12’ raised beds; 16 20’x20’ plots and 10 10’x20’ plots.
• Yamhill Gardens, 19309 S.E. Yamhill St., includes 19 raised beds: 13 are 4’x16’ , five 4’x12’ and one 4’x11.’
• Thom Park Gardens, 1135 S.E. Ninth St., includes 22 plots most of which are 14’x16’ or 14’x24’.
• Nadaka Nature Park and Community Garden, 17500 N.E. Glisan St., boasts nearly 60 plots, including six raised beds that are handicapped accessible. Most plots are the standard 10’x20’ size, but some are 20’x20’.
Plots at all four city community gardens cost $25 a year, and gardeners must live or work in Gresham. For more information on the gardens, or to be added to the wait list, visit the city’s website at http://greshamoregon.gov/gardens/ or contact Community Garden Manager Adam Kohl at 971-231-4191 or adam@outgrowinghunger.org.
• East County Community Garden at the East County Church of Christ, Southeast 242nd Avenue and Stark St., has 49 plots. A single plot is 15’x15’ and costs $65 a year or $45 for those with limited incomes. A double plot is 15’x 30’, costs $90 a year or $65 for those with limited incomes. For more information, contact Jean Zondervan with Grow Portland at jzondervan@growportland.org or at 971-645-6600.
• Hogan Road Community Garden at Grace Community Church, 800 N.E. Hogan, charges members $10 year to commit to working one to two hours a week during open garden hours. Work can be anything from preparing soil to planting, weeding or other garden maintenance. To register for a plot, go to gracecc.net/garden. Need more details? Call Cindy at 503-663-2289.
• St. Henry Catholic Church, 346 N.W. First St., Gresham, has two 10’x20’ plots left out of the garden’s 13 plots. Parishioners get first dibs, but after April 15, the remaining plots are opened up to the public. Each one costs $25, but an enthusiastic gardener could combine them into one 20’x20’ plot for $50 a year. Pesticides are not allowed and the soil is “quite rich with great drainage as there is a bed of river rock beneath this garden area deposited by Johnson Creek millennia ago I would suppose,” said Garden Master Jim Buck. Tools are in the shed and a water source is right in the middle of the garden. Intrigued? Email Buck at jimbuck22@comcast.net.
• SnowCap Community Garden, 17805 S.E. Stark St., has 45 plots, most of which are handicapped accessible. The plots are free to clients and low-income resident who live east of 82nd Avenue. Plots range from 4’x4’ to 5’x11’. For more information, contact Garden Coordinator Diane Liefeld at 503-674-8785.
Outer East Portland
Outgrowing Hunger has two East Portland Neighborhood Gardens designed to provide “personal gardening and fresh produce work-trade opportunities to anyone who can help out at regularly scheduled sessions in return for a share of whatever is ripe that day, often several meals worth of fresh produce for each family,” according to the organization’s website.
• The community garden at Alder Elementary School, 17200 S.E. Alder St., is open to the community, not just students. It began as the Alder Youth Garden, but expanded to become a true community garden. The garden is managed by Outgrowing Hunger as one of its two East Portland Neighborhood Gardens. For more details or to register for a plot, contact the organization’s executive director at adam@outgrowinghunger.org or 971-231-4191.
• Neighborhoods Community Garden at Lynwood Friends Church, 835 S.E. 162nd Ave. It covers about 2.5 acres and boasts 114 plots of approximately 600-square-feet. Developed in 2012 by Outgrowing Hunger, the community garden has become very popular among local refugee families. For more details about the park, contact Rosewood Neighborhood Garden , adam@outgrowinghunger.org or 971-231-4191.
• The Community Farm at Lynwood Friends Church, 835 S.E. 162nd Ave., spans about an acre behind the church. It started in 2014 as a drop-in model, which means people can ‘drop in’, farm for two hours and leave with a bag of farm-fresh produce for free. It also is operated in partnership with Grow Portland and Outgrowing Hunger, as it is next to the community garden that Outgrowing Hunger oversees.
The farm is open from May through October. Hours are Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays from 2 to 5 p.m. Tools are available on-site. For community farming information contact Christopher LaRose at clarose@growportland.org or at 845-242-3182
• Centennial Park Community Garden at Centennial Park School, 17630 S.E. Main St. To request a plot, call the City of Portland Parks & Recreation Department at 503-823-1612 or go to this link: wait list or request a plot.
Fairview
• The Fairview Community Garden is located at Park Cleone, 2063 N.E. 213th Ave. There are nine 15’x15’ plots, which cost $25 a year. Water will be turned on by May 15 and shut off by October 31. Use of herbicides, weed killers and non-organic pesticides is prohibited. To register, call Fairview City Hall at 503-665-9320 or click this link: Fairview garden registration
Troutdale
• Troutdale has 19 raised beds in its community garden, located in Sunrise Park at 460 S.W. 21st. Reynolds High School students built the 6’x 3.5’ beds. They cost $25 a year and are open to anybody, but first priority goes to Troutdale residents. The beds also are handicapped accessible. To register for a plot, go to Troutdale City Hall at 219 E. Historic Columbia River Highway, Troutdale, call 503-665-5175 or click on this link: Troutdale registration
• CROPS, or Community Reaps Our Produce and Shares, is a volunteer effort to farm 2 acres of surplus property owned by Multnomah County located in Troutdale just north of Southwest Halsey Street and east of Northeast 244th Avenue, or roughly north of McMenamins Edgefield at 2126 S.W. Halsey St. Jerry Hunter, program manager and urban agriculturalist, said 2015 is the farm’s seventh season and last year, the farm produced 15,000 pounds of produce for SnowCap Community Charities. He is always looking for volunteers, who range from church groups to scout troops. For details on how to help, contact Hunter at 503-867-6043 or jerry.w.hunter@multco.us.
Wood Village
• The Wood Village Community Garden is located at 2055 N.E. 238th Dr. Registration begins in early January. If you have any questions regarding the community garden, please contact Greg Dirks at GregD@ci.Wood-Village.or.us, call 503-489-6854 or click on this link: Wood Village Community Garden
• East Multnomah County also has 15 schools — including Centennial Park School — that are part of the Oregon Department of Education’s Farm to School and Oregon School Garden Program. Click here for a map of the schools/gardens.