Farm My Yard

11/20/2025

Hey Friends,
I wanted to let you know about some upcoming events and updates:

There's one last food forest class at PCC this year on Saturday, 11/22! This is a great place to start for folks who want to convert their yard or community space into a thriving, abundant ecosystem.

Medlars are RIPE and DELICIOUS right now, and we're going to go harvest some after our next work party on Sunday (not on 12/7). If you'd like to join, please fill out the volunteer form on the website and you'll get info about work parties coming up. If you just signed up to volunteer, this Sunday's work party is at 10am-12pm, and I'll send out the address in a separate email.

We held another hugely successful Activate Portland on Saturday, bringing together over 175 community members and 27 organizations to foster collaborations and develop relationships to make Portland a more resilient and verdant place. We're going to host our next event in February of 2026, and I hope to see you there!

If you're looking for food security via chestnut, hazelnut, or oak seedlings, we have hundreds of gorgeous, high-quality seedlings available for free for people who live in Portland and for sale ($5 each) for folks with acreage. Sales go to support our work in Portland. Please respond to this email if you'd like to get some for your land.

Thank you all for your support and enthusiasm, and I hope to see you soon.
-Dan [email protected]

Campus contactsLearn the cultural context and benefits of urban food forestry and the practical steps needed to take in order to convert a lawn or garden into an abundant perennial...

11/14/2025

Still sharing the harvest (of food and knowledge) at Blueberry Learning Farm in Cully....

What’s a hardy kiwi?  Recently renamed “kiwi berry” in some marketing, it’s related to the larger fuzzy kiwis.  They’re about the size of a grape, with smooth skin, no peeling needed.  As the weather turns cold and wet, hardy kiwis are just starting.  They peak in November, and can h...

10/24/2025

This great workshop is a collaboration between Handmade Gardens and MERP!

Tomorrow’s rain harvesting workshop should be…overflowing with good information.    We set up a new system for the Steele Magnolia House, office site for MERP.  Just a reminder….the workshop is there, 9217 SE Steele St.  (Not at Blueberry Learning Farm, the site of most of our classes.). H...

09/29/2025

Learn to grow garlic and harvest fresh food year round.....

Welcome the rain, and cooler, cleaner air. And, days are getting shorter. Time to protect your plants (and soil) so your winter crops will be delicious and nutritious til spring. Plus we can plant more salad greens and other overwintering crops- if we get right on it.

09/27/2025

Pretty cool.

Why do Bangladeshis use water hyacinths for floating islands?Did you know that people in Bangladesh can turn water hyacinths into “floating islands” for grow...

09/08/2025

Learn seed saving from our friends at Handmade Gardens.

Or, maybe you want to keep it simple.  Fortunately, many vegetables are much simpler than squashes.  Beans, tomatoes, lettuce….there are still a few things to know, but it’s not rocket science.  

09/08/2025

Dan Sloan wrote:
Hey Friends,
I hope your summer has been abundant and full of connection to people, land, and plants! We're hosting a few events that I want to share with you and give you some updates on or work this year:

If you're curious about or want to deepen your knowledge of food forestry, I'll be teaching a class on urban food forestry at Kailash Ecovillage on September 23rd from 7-8:30pm. Tickets are sliding scale and more info can be found here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/urban-food-forestry-workshop-tickets-1661409974959?aff=oddtdtcreator

For a more comprehensive look into concepts in urban agroforestry and food forests, I'll be teaching two classes at PCC on November 1st and 22nd from 10-12:30. You can sign up here:
https://www.pcc.edu/schedule/fall/flo/9yg601i/

I'm also leading one last tour this year of two of our sites in NE Portland on Saturday September 27th from 10-1130am. This tour is free if you show up, or $10 if you sign up and don't come.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ne-portland-food-forest-tour-with-portland-food-forest-initiative-sept-27th-tickets-1671012456239?aff=oddtdtcreator

A huge thanks to the folks who have been showing up and working hard at the Hughes Community Food Forest site! It's looking great. We have more work parties on the calendar if you'd like to join. We'll be spreading mulch and planting fall crops this coming Thursday.
Thursday September 11, 6-8p
Thursday September 25, 6-8p
Thursday October 9, 5:30-7p
Thursday October 23, 5:30-7p

We're also going to be holding another Activate Portland on November 15th at Leaven Community so keep an eye out for an invite closer to the date.

Thanks again for all your support and energy. I look forward to seeing you at an event, a class, or out in the food forests.
Take care,
Dan

Come join us for a tour of our food forest demonstration sites and learn all about concepts in urban agroforestry!

09/03/2025

How many climate-smart gardening practices can you mark off? Play along with Garden Future Bingo and share your score, one point for each box.

Oregon’s seasons are shifting—hotter summers, wetter winters, and plants responding in new ways. Garden Future is a statewide project of the Oregon State University Extension Master Gardener Program that connects gardeners to share what’s working, learn from each other, and grow resilience together.
Your garden story matters. We’re asking gardeners across Oregon three simple questions:
• What changes have you noticed in your garden?
• What changes have you made?
• What do you want help learning?
Join the conversation by taking our 3-question survey and become part of Oregon’s gardening future: beav.es/gardenfuture

09/02/2025

Grow seeds that grow the food that we want.

Or, maybe you want to keep it simple.  Fortunately, many vegetables are much simpler than squashes.  Beans, tomatoes, lettuce….there are still a few things to know, but it’s not rocket science.  

08/30/2025

https://archive.is/CS1js

Please share this post!

08/28/2025

08/18/2025

Yes, we can conserve water and grow food.

These heirloom tomatoes are sweet and juicy with no irrigation, at all, since we got the starts.  Wait, I thought tomatoes needed lots of water?  Nope.  They are native to high, dry deserts in the Andes.   Heavily watered fruits will be softer, which some people prefer and some people….don’t...