Yesterday’s market was very exciting! We had our first batch of oyster mushrooms ready to sell. We didn’t have room for them on the front table but as soon as people noticed them they demanded that they be put in a more prominent place and quickly sold out. We displayed them on a glass hand blow plate that I made last season in Eugene. Unfortunately we forgot to take a picture, they were beautiful!
However, the biggest event of the day was a visit by Gaia’s Garden author Toby Hemenway! He was at the market before the PDC he is teaching started at PSU. We were so excited to see him. He was pivotal in our decision to rent the land we are one and farm this season. We were very concerned about soil contamination on the property as it was farmed conventionally last season and Toby was kind enough to listen to all of my concerns and go through what possible contaminants could still be in the soil. His conclusion was that the soil should be safe to farm and as a former chemist and permaculturist extraordinaire we trusted in his opinion. We wouldn’t be able to do what we are doing without having learned all we did from him last season.
Our market sign says “Permaculture Farm” so we get to talk to tons of permaculture people. It was thrilling to be able to tell them that Toby had stopped by earlier in the day. One woman even looked at the sign and told us that the only thing she knew about permaculture was what she had learned in an old copy of Gaia’s Garden! The PSU permaculture guild stopped by, we met the husband of the woman who runs the B street permaculture project in Forest Grove and we talked for awhile with another former permaculture student of Toby's.
Just when the rain starts to get to you and you begin to question if you can stand another winter in the Pacific Northwest you get a reminder of how cool Portland is and you are reassured that you have made the right choice.
However, the biggest event of the day was a visit by Gaia’s Garden author Toby Hemenway! He was at the market before the PDC he is teaching started at PSU. We were so excited to see him. He was pivotal in our decision to rent the land we are one and farm this season. We were very concerned about soil contamination on the property as it was farmed conventionally last season and Toby was kind enough to listen to all of my concerns and go through what possible contaminants could still be in the soil. His conclusion was that the soil should be safe to farm and as a former chemist and permaculturist extraordinaire we trusted in his opinion. We wouldn’t be able to do what we are doing without having learned all we did from him last season.
Our market sign says “Permaculture Farm” so we get to talk to tons of permaculture people. It was thrilling to be able to tell them that Toby had stopped by earlier in the day. One woman even looked at the sign and told us that the only thing she knew about permaculture was what she had learned in an old copy of Gaia’s Garden! The PSU permaculture guild stopped by, we met the husband of the woman who runs the B street permaculture project in Forest Grove and we talked for awhile with another former permaculture student of Toby's.
Just when the rain starts to get to you and you begin to question if you can stand another winter in the Pacific Northwest you get a reminder of how cool Portland is and you are reassured that you have made the right choice.
Aby at the PSU Farmers Market
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