News Magazine

Every year for the past two decades, the neighbors near Sherrett Street in southwest Portland repaint their colorful street intersection. Resident Mighk Simpson gives us a tour on painting day. On the sidewalk corners are spacious cob benches (with roofs), a children’s playhouse woven from tree branches and found materials, a beehive-shaped dispensary for the monthly neighborhood newsletter The Bee, a 24/7 Tea Station, and the first-ever “Little Free Library”, an innovation which has now gone viral around the world.

303 Vertical Gardening for Small Spaces

Plant breeder Carol Deppe is passionate about making seeds available for all growers, rather than being in the control of a handful of corporations. “If we want to control the kind of food available and the kind of agricultural system that we want, we have to do our own breeding,” she explains. “What Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) does is create a pool, a protected commons, of germ plasm which will always be available for breeding. The OSSI pledge goes along with these seed varieties, but also if you breed new varieties.

What might ecovillages show us about living sustainably? Political science professor Karen Litfin visited fourteen ecovillages in both developing and developed countries. The author of Ecovillages: Lessons for Sustainable Community looked for commonalities among such communities, whose intention is to live sustainably. Looking through the lenses of ecology, economics, community and consciousness, she found they share a common worldview: The web of life is sacred, and we’re part of that web.

"We're here to help form things. We have a food forest mimicking what the natural forest does." Ann and Gord Baird's edible gardens make use of less-than-ideal growing spaces on their rocky knoll. Nook and cranny gardens optimize micro-climates -- water catchment for perennial plants, rocks that retain warmth to extend the growing period, and trees providing fuel, food and shade. They are transitioning away from the annual food plants. As more perennials get established, they're becoming foragers rather than cultivators.

"Chickens are naturally forest birds." A tour of Gord and Ann Baird's edible landscape starts at the off-grid chicken house and yard, containing fruit trees that provide a protective canopy against flying predators. Roof rainwater becomes drinking water for the chickens, whose “rototilling” has prepared land now being planted in grains — for themselves and people. Don't miss Hannah Hen catching a berry in mid-air! Then visit a Hobbit-ish above-ground root cellar built of cob, where cheeses, vegetables, and beer stay cool and dry.

Let’s cultivate fermented food not only because it’s healthy, but for the wonderfully rich diversity of flavors! That’s what Kirsten K. Shockey and Christopher Shockey encourage. These food entrepreneurs show us how easy it is to make sauerkraut: slice and salt cabbage, scrunch it to get brine, press into a jar, weight it down, let it sit for a few days.

The Southern Williamette Bean and Grain Project is exploring bean, grain, and edible seed varieties which can be added to those already grown in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Oregon Tilth co-founder and farmer Harry MacCormack shares wisdom and stories about farms transitioning from chemical to organic farming. His book The Transition Document: Toward a Biologically Resilient Agriculture is a compendium of organic practices, like using compost tea to feed soil micro-organisms.

The Craftsman-style bungalow looks normal on the outside, but the surprise is on the inside: straw bales inside the framing provide super insulation. Natural builder Lydia Doleman designed this 800-square-foot small-footprint house to last centuries, with its metal roof and strong foundation. She used reclaimed lumber and recycled materials extensively. Hot water pipes warm the earthen floors and replace energy-intensive concrete. Day-to-day usage is low impact: composting toilet, vegetative roof and rainwater catchment, LED lighting, and solar hot water.

Wanting to demonstrate that “cities can be less impactful on the planet,” natural builder Lydia Doleman bought and remodeled a Portland house to demonstrate her values. Composting toilets reduce water usage while feeding the soil. Growing food shortens dependencies. Building materials were recycled and/or less toxic. She revised the floor plan to create spaces which encourage shared living rather than separate spaces. She also built Portland’s first permitted straw bale residence a cob studio and. Take a tour with Lydia in part 2.