April 30, 2012

On Saturday, Nick joined neighbors in Northeast Portland to celebrate Portland’s 41st Community Garden in Frazer Park.

This garden has been a long time coming! Nick first met with the Rose City Park Neighborhood Association almost three years ago, when they shared a vision of a place where the community could come together, grow food and learn about sustainability. At that time, Council was about to adopt the Portland-Multnomah Climate Action Plan – calling out the importance of eating locally, adding greenspace, and promoing urban agriculture.

As the Commissioner who oversees the City’s Community Gardens Program, Nick took on the responsibilty of making sure that we reach our Climate Action Goal by launching the 1,000 Gardens Initiative.

Saturday’s celebration wouldn’t have been complete without Tamara DeRidder and the RoseCity Park Neighbors who remained dedicated to the project, despite challenging set-backs. The opening also gave us a chance to thank Lora Price and the Friends of Portland Community Gardens for their work in securing grant funding with the East Multnomah Soil & Water District. Our friends at DePave were also there, celebrating another succussful transition from pavement to community greenspace.

Frazer Park Community Garden adds 50 new garden plots to our network of gardens - bringing us even closer to our 1,000 gardens goal!