BLOOM: a spring celebration - Saturday May 12, 3-11 pm
Join us for BLOOM . . . As we build community with each other and the earth
Bloom is an afternoon and evening of live music, workshops, good food, crafts, interactive games, and a chance to meet and connect with folks from all the various communities that converge at Tryon Life Community Farm.
LIVE MUSIC (in order of appearence):
3:30-Brown Bear, Brown Bear - Americana Folk
5:15 - Stone Crow - Celtic Folk Bluegrass
7:15 -Poor Boy's Soul - Raucous Roots Music
9:15 - Mic Crenshaw - Political Hip Hop
WORKSHOPS: 3:30 - Social Permaculture Games with Jenny Leis; 4:30 - Backyard Herbal Medicine with Erico Schliecher of the Elderberry School, , Stone Tools, and rebuilding the Sweat Lodge, followed by a sweat ceremony tended by Robert Van Pelt (from 4, into the evening)!
We'll also be hosting a solidarity video shoot against Nestle privatizing water in the Columbia Gorge!
KIDS ACTIVITIES including Natural Crafts, face painting, a big slip and slide (bring your swimsuit!) and visiting the baby goats!
GOOD FOOD AND DRINK
$10-20 sliding scale donation (food not included)
worktrade available - contact brenna(at)tryonfarm.org for details
NO onsite parking - TLC Farm will run a continuous shuttle from Riverdale High School, 9727 Southwest Terwilliger Boulevard Portland, OR 97219
All proceeds benefit TLC Farm, a community sustainability education center in SW Portland.
Saturday Work Parties - 10-4pm Weekly
Saturday Work Parties are a weekly ritual here at the Farm, and will extend through the spring, summer, and fall seasons. These volunteer opportunities are a wonderful opportunity to learn new skills, meet new people, spend a fun day with friends, enjoy the beauty of this 7-acre nook surrounded by the Tryon Creek State Forest, and learn about what's going on here.
If you can't come for the whole time (10-4pm), don't worry! Just let us know your plan at volunteer@tryonfarm.org.
See pictures from work parties on our Facebook Page.
Schedule:
10am - Introduction to the day's work and to one another, and begin!
12:30 - 1:30pm - Lunch Break: bring your own, or RSVP and be served a hot meal for $5. Drink some tea together and enjoy a short tour of the land.
4pm - Close the work day, and learn about the coming opportunities
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Here is rough break-down of our projected Saturday themes for a few of the coming months:
February - Tending Our Sacred Fires -
Feb. 11th, Cleaning up the area around our cob, wood-fired sauna (we host full-moon saunas for the community once a month), do small repairs, and re-install our large, galvanized metal cold-water plunge tub behind the sauna.
Feb. 18th, Finish cleaning, organizing around sauna, and build a platform and discreet changing area.
Feb. 25th, Tend the sweat lodge that serves as a place of ceremony for First Nations families that have a relationship with this land. Transform the old chicken shed into a beautiful changing house.
March - Holy Sh*t Month -
Building public composting toilets! Come learn from the best.
April - Free the Trees! -
Liberate certain trees on the land that have generously offered their branches as shelter for collected materials over the years. We'll build a new materials shed off the barn, store useful items there, and let the rest go.
....more to come.
We look forward seeing you on Saturday!
Work-Trade
APPLY NOW! Download the form below
Become a work-trader! Live on the land and work with other volunteers using both mind and body. Become a temporary participant in the life of the land and the communities that live, work, and play here. If you can commit to being here at least one month and devote much of your time to working and learning on the land, please consider applying. Often, work projects are self-directed as we are all volunteers here!
Being a work-trader at TLC farm means contributing 25 hours of work a week. The hours consists mainly of garden work, but also may include fundraising, advertising, event set-up, event clean-up, and many other odd jobs that go into running a non-profit. Work-traders live on the land usually in a tent or a tarp structure. Work-traders also can either provide their own food or contribute $5 a day for full use of community food, which includes a full community dinner every night!
To apply please download the form below. Inside the form is a bit more explanation about what you can expect from us and what we will expect from you. Once you have read and filled out the form please send it back to us at worktrade [at] tryonfarm.org. Feel free to include any extra questions and comments about yourself when sending in the application. From there we will schedule a phone conversation and figure out if it will work for you and the community.
2012 Work-trade season : May 1st – October 1st
Download the form below and send your application to worktrade [at] tryonfarm.org
Fresh, raw goat milk for sale - $5/quart
The goats at Tryon Life Community Farm in SW Portland have milk to share with you! We are selling it at $5/quart, and currently have 2 quarts available each day (we will have more soon, after we wean the babies!). State law requires that we only sell milk directly from our farm, so if you are interested in purchasing the milk we'll put you on our schedule to pick up once a week on a day that works well for you to come by (and perhaps visit the goats, take a walk in Tryon Creek State Park, etc).
This raw goat milk is an incredibly healthy, and very local, food, and we're excited to share it with you. Please contact Brenna, at brenna@tryonfarm.org, for more information.
"Round House" Community Visioning!
It’s finally time to build a year-round, insulated, beautiful sanctuary space at TLC Farm—an inspiring and functional dwelling for meetings, workshops, yoga/dance, retreats, and events of all kinds!
We want you—as a beautiful space creator, event host, builder, artist, and/or TLC Farm workshop participant and friend—to help design this new building! There will be ongoing opportunities to get involved, and lend your hands and heart. We have created a preliminary design that will serve as a jumping-off point for the conversation, and we want to make sure that all of the various groups that use (or want to use) the Farm has a chance to literally shape this building.
For more information, email jenny[at]tryonfarm[dot]org .
Top Reasons to Give to TLC Farm
Below are the top twelve reasons to give to TLC Farm this year. Please be generous, our all-volunteer organization can stretch the power of your dollars incredibly far. And remember...
The world gives people despair, TLC gives them hope, you give us money.
TOP TWELVE REASONS TO GIVE TO TRYON LIFE COMMUNITY FARM THIS SEASON
1) The model! TLC's story provides an example of how small groups can successfully do the impossible
2) The animals! Charismatic goats! Sheepish sheep! Curious chickens! Feral children!
3) The sustainability lab! A space for experimentation, to try on new ways of creating a better world
4) The access! A place that anyone can visit to experience how a living, sustainability-oriented community feels
5) Re:Code! Community organizing to change laws to make sustainability legal
6) The cure! TLC Farm provides an antidote to Nature Deficit Disorder
7) The hope! When despair for the world grows too deep, TLC Farm provides tangible experiences of hope
8) The reality! TLC is actually interested in susatainability -- unlike the manufacturers of the world's premium solar powered lawn mower
9) The festivals! Bringing community together with song, sharing and celebration
10) The success! Every year we're here, we're succeeding in preventing McMansions from opening on this land
11) Mother Earth School! Cultivating relationships between children and the joys of nature
12) Cascadia Center! Helping people tend to their human relations in their work on behalf of a better world
Cascadia Center
For information and updates on TLC Farm's Cascadia Center - Human Resources for the Revolution please visit us at cascadiacenter.tumblr.com
Thanks!
Five Year Achievements...
As we celebrate the 5th Anniversary of saving TLC Farm from being bulldozed and developed, here are some of the highlights of our programs over the last 5 years~enjoy!
Education: Thousands of students of all ages have visited TLC Farm for an hour, a day, a week – and been transformed through engaging with the earth and their community in a new way. Many have created lasting changes in their lives, homes and schools from their participation in our educational programs.
Hands-on Sustainability Education Program: Six years of the Hands-on Sustainability Program has brought between 50-100 groups of students per year, preschool through adults, to participate in farm tours and a variety of interactive sustainable-living programs. In five years we have hosted approximately 400 class visits, totaling 6,000 student visitors.
Summer Camps: 2006 & 2007: two weeks of summer camp, including Farm Camp and Drum Camp. 2008 - 2010: Mother Earth School summer camps & Rite of Passage camps all summer, immersing hundreds of children in farm, forest and spirit.
Community Workshops: Between 15-30 workshops held each year. Key focus areas: Natural Building, Herbal Medicine, Food Preservation, Natural Crafts, Plants & Mushrooms, Applied Permaculture, and Community Process. We now host weekend-long skillshares every month, encouraging folks to bring and share their earth-based skills with each other.
Permaculture Design Certification Courses: Hosted three two-week residential courses, in 2007, 2009 & 2010. 44 people received Permaculture Design Certificates. Interns & work-trade: Forty-five interns/work-traders have immersed themselves in TLC Farm since 2006, staying for one week to one year. Interns have participated in a wide variety of projects, including curriculum development and teaching, gardening and animal husbandry, community outreach, and building projects.
Community Service Projects: TLC Farm has hosted thousands of participants in volunteer service projects, ranging from groups of hundreds of Nike and Whole Foods employees to small Americorps service teams to school groups. Service project participants have assisted with the removal of invasive species, habitat restoration and work in the organic garden.
Mother Earth School: In Fall 2007, began hosting the Mother Earth Kindergarten – the country's first bio-immersion kindergarten – in collaboration with Shining Star Waldorf School. In 2008, expanded to include the Faery Garden pre-school. In January, 2009, the program separated from Shining Star and became a program of TLC Farm called Mother Earth School. About 50 children have received a unique immersion into the elements and rhythms of nature.
Land Projects: We have significantly expanded the gardens, built community infrastructure, and improved the native habitat of TLC Farm. All land projects are accomplished through workshops or work parties.
Organic Garden & Food Forest: Converted 2.5 acres of lawn and field to organic garden, and erected a 1200-foot greenhouse for year-round growing and indoor classroom. Planted two Food Forests (multi-level perennial food production systems that mimic the production of a natural ecosystem).
Watershed Restoration: To better direct, manage and store storm water we dug and shaped bioswales and planted native plants, fruit trees and herbs, in three different areas of TLC Farm. Planted our wetland with willows, removed acres of blackberry and English Ivy.
Beautiful, functional and sustainable buildings: Village Green: Earthen Sauna; Butterfly stage; Naturally-built outhouse for two composting toilets; Outdoor Kitchen with two cob ovens, rocket-stove heated cob bench, gorgeous round pole-framed roof Barn: Hayloft and side barn for our goat herd; New barn loft for an office/classroom space; Light clay/straw insulation of lower barn for year-round classroom; Replaced barn support beams and siding On the land: solar shower, moveable chicken house, kids' play structure, stairs and pathways on the land
Animal Husbandry: TLC Farm is one of the only educational urban farms in the Portland area to have a dairy goat herd. Our goats provide city dwellers a rare opportunity to visit with and learn about traditional farm animal; the goats also remove invasive species by browsing blackberries. Our rotating chicken flock and sheep herd keep the blackberries from returning, and provide eggs & wool.
Hosting: We share this land and our experience with others to cross-pollinate between people and groups, build the sustainability movement, and offer an accessible and inspiring place for groups to use for their own gatherings.
This land is your land! We have made this unique place available to a broad diversity of people to use for their meetings, parties and events. A sample of groups include: The Native American Youth Association using the sweatlodge; Lewis & Clark College Departments holding planning meetings; Wisdom of the Elders running its Peace Warriors groups; Cascadia Wild hosting its summer camp; meditation groups coming here for retreat; Birthdays and Anniversaries being celebrated in the Village Green; and much more.
Events: TLC Farm has hosted at least three large interactive celebrations every year, including Bloom, the Harvest Festival and our Holiday Open House. These large and lively gatherings weave together music, art, education, food and family fun for hundreds of participants.
Social Ecology: Focusing on how we get things done together – we have demonstrated and trained people and organizations in the arts of community decision-making, positive conflict-resolution and creative, grassroots management of community organizations.
ReCode Portland: TLC Farm launched ReCode in 2007 to identify and remove barriers to sustainable building and land use. Since then ReCode led the way to legalizing graywater use for irrigation statewide, helped shape Portland's green building code, and is currently working to create better state code for composting toilets.
Medicinal Plant Guide to TLC Farm
The following medicinal plants all grow in the Pacific Northwest, and can be found (somewhere) on the TLC farm.
We’ve taken on the joyous task of compiling all-sorts of useful information about the more-than one hundred plant species in our kitchen and medicinal garden.
Below, find explanations of how to use each plant. Find plant photos and cautionary remarks. We also note which plants are native to the Pacific Northwestern region and which are not.
This resources has been complied by Kristy S. Viaches, with help from Bonsai Matt, The Internet and a number of farm volunteers, based on numerous sources.
Native / Non-Native makes general reference to the Pacific Northwest area. We’ve also noted plants that are native to eastern and central North America.
Spp. in scientific names means there are several species within the genus.
Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria) Non-Native
Akebia (Akebia quinata) Non-Native
Alder (red) (Alnus rubra) Non-Native
Alkanet (Anchusa officinalis) Non-Native
Angelica (Angelica spp.) Non-Native
Apple (Malus pumila) Non-Native
Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) Non-Native
Balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflora) Non-Native
Bamboo (Phyllostachys spp.) Non-Native
Bee balm (Monarda didyma) Native
Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) - Eastern N. American Native
Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) - Native & Non-Native
Blueberry (Vaccinum spp.) Native to Eastern N. America
Borage (Borago officinalis) Non-Native
Bugleweed (Lycopus virginicus ) Native
Burdock (Arctium lappa) Non-Native
Calendula (Calendula officinalis) Non-Native
California poppy (Eschscholzia californica) Native
Catnip (Nepeta cataria) and Catmint (Nepeta faassenii) Non-Native
Celandine (Chelidonium majus) Non-Native
Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) Non-Native
Cherry: (Prunus spp.) Native and Non-Native
Chicory (Cichorium intybus) Non-Native
Chrysanthemum, Shungiku (Leucanthemum coronarium) Non-Native
Clary sage (Salvia sclarea) Non-Native
Cleavers () Non-Native
Clover, red (Trifolium pratense) Non-Native
Clover, white (Trifolium repens) Non-Native
Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) Non-Native
Comfrey (Symphytum officinale) Non-Native
Cramp bark (Viburnum opulus) Native to Easter N. America
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) Native
Dogwood (Cornus spp.) some varieties Native
Echinacea (Echinacea spp.) Central American Native
Elderberry (Sambucus spp.) Native & Non-Native
Elecampane (Inula helenium) Non-Native
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.) Non-Native
Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) Native
Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) Non-Native
Fig (Ficus spp.) Non-Native
Garlic (Allium sativum) Non-Native
Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) Non-Native
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) Native
Hawthorne (Crataegus oxyacantha & C. monogyna) Non-Native
Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.) Non-Native
Hops (Humulus lupulus) Non-Native
Huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.) Native
Indigo (Indigofera tinctoria) Non-Native
Japanese banana (Musa basjoo) Non-Native
Kinnikinnick (Uva Ursi) (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) Native
Lavender (Lavandula spp.) Non-Native
Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) Non-Native
Lovage (Levisticum officinale) Non-Native
Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) Non-Native
Motherwort (Leonarus cardiaca) Non-Native
Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) Non-Native
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus) Non-Native
Oak, Garry (White) (Quercus garryana) Native
Olive (Olea europaea) Non-Native
Oregano (Origanum vulgare) Non-Native
Oregon Grape (Mahonia aquifolium) Native
Parsley (Petroselinium crispum) Non-Native
Pear, Asian (Pyrus spp.) Non-Native
Pennyroyal (Mentha pulegium) Non-Native
Plantain, common (Plantago major) and Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata) Non-Native
Plum (Prunus domestica) Native
Poppy (Papaver rhoeas) Non-Native
Raspberry (Rubus idaeus) Native and Non-Native Varieties
Red currant (Ribes rubrum) some varieties are native
Rose, Japanese (Rosa rugosa) Non-Native
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Non-Native
Rue (Ruta graveolens) Non-Native
Sage, Garden (Salvia officinalis) and Purple (Salvia off. var. purpurascens) Non-Native
Sage, White (Salvia apiana) Native
Salal (Gaultheria shallon) Native
Scouring rush (Equisetum hyemale) Native
Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) Native
Skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) Native
Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum multiflorum) Native
Sphagnum moss (Sphagnum recurvum) Native
St. John’s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) Native
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) Non-Native
Strawberry (Fragaria spp.) Native & Non-Native
Sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata) Native
Thyme (Red) (Thymus spp.) Non-Native
Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Native to Eastern N. America
Turkey rhubarb (Rheum palmatum) Non-Native
Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) Native & Non-Native
Vetch, American (Vicia americana) Native
Wax myrtle (Pacific) (Myrica spp.) Native
Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) Native
Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) Native
Wild ginger (Asarum canadense) Native
Willow (Salix spp.) some varieties Native
Winecap stropharia (Stropharia rugosar-annulata) Non-Native
Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) Native
Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) Native to Eastern N. America
Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella) Native
Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) Native to Eastern N. America
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) Non-Native
Yellow Dock (Rumex crispus) Non-Native
Yucca (Yucca filamentosa) Native
The TLC Farm Story
The TLC Farm Story
By Emily Aronowitz
July 2007
Tryon Life Community Farm
Feedback and participation welcome! Please send bug reports to web@tryonfarm.org
