It has now been about a year since I uprooted my life in Portland and moved a couple hours down south to Eugene for my grad program. Part of me wants to design public urban green spaces. Another part of me wants to just focus on residential projects. And another part of me wants to build my own version of Zenger Farm – a place that is part working urban farm and part education center.
While I wait for my future path to become clear, I have been experimenting with places I can fit in today in Eugene. One of the places I have invested perhaps the most physical and mental time in is the university’s Urban Farm. It’s been about a year since I started volunteering and this term I have been an employee working with a team of students, helping them learn to farm.
I have days at the farm when a group of students helps me transform a patch of unused grass into rich, fluffy rows of raised garden beds. Those days are the best. We are out there working hard together and we can see this amazing end product when we are done. I can share that with them – the understanding that labor is something to respect and honor.
And then I have other days when it is painfully clear to me that my students will be graduating from school in a few short weeks. I field questions about the easiest way for them to complete an assignment, or debate answers to a test that would hopefully help them squeeze another 1% out of their grade. I hear groans when I say we need to weed beds and people complain they are bored when we are planting tomatoes.
When I have days like those I wonder why I’m doing this. Maybe there is someone who could take my place who wouldn’t mind those days. Maybe there is someone who would be an easier grader or wouldn’t mind leaning on shovels more than shoveling. Is this class about hanging out and taking it easy in the sun? Or is about learning something everyday and putting in a good day’s work?
I feel torn about my relationship with a place I adore and this feeling like I don’t actually belong there. I think of urban farming in terms of production, learning about the land, working hard, and structure. The work doesn’t always wait for you to feel like doing it and the weather doesn’t participate more times than not.
So where does that leave me? I go back and forth multiple times a day. Maybe I can’t give the students there what they want, and vice versa. There is a saying that we plant more in a garden then just seeds. And I have a feeling if I had just stuck to just the seeds it wouldn’t be such a hard decision for me to give up on it.
Renee,
Just let me say that I ‘m looking forward to you coming back to Portland. And, I would love it if you could get involved with the new Lents EcoDistrict and helping integrate more urban agriculture into our neighborhood infrastructure.
I have visions of turning our giant 7k and 10k lots into a network of SPIN farms, expanding the education program at Zenger to multiple sites in the neighborhood, and even turning a section of Lents Park back into a working orchard and apiary garden (inspired by your last project, and hopefully in partnership with the Portland Fruit Tree Project and Hardy Plant Society of Oregon).
There’s so much potential here, back at home. We would welcome you back with open arms and love to work with you toward achieving some of your goals.
Cora, I can’t imagine a better comment to this post. You cheered me up and reminded me that there is a world of really exciting possibilities waiting for me back in Portland. I can’t wait to move back and get involved! Is there a place I can find out more about the EcoDistrict plans?
Haha, actually I just realized my Fall design studio is in partnership with PoSI and the EcoDistrict. Exciting!
That is great! I’ve been working with Naomi and Rob, and Kevin at PDC to get the EcoDistrict process going. It’s really exciting to hear that you’ll be involved.
Are you going to be coming up for any meetings or design workshops?
Hey, I think you should stick to your guns. I’m someone random and am learning a ton from your website. People who have enrolled in a course, specifically to study that kind of thing, it’s their bad if they’re stuck wanting the easy way out. I’ve always had the impression that with farming it’s not about doing it easy, it’s about doing it right. If you adore being there, keep it up π