The Big Day at Blair Garden!

Great news! The Blair Garden is opening on Saturday March 26th at SE
33rd and Stark. The garden has 19 (200 sq. foot) plots and will have 2-3
raised beds. On March 26th we will have a work party and opening of the
garden. The work party starts at 9am and goes to 11am. The celebration
will be from 11-12. You are encouraged to participate in both the work
party and the celebration.

Registration materials will be available for people previously in the
garden and those from the current Parks and Recreation waiting list.

More gardeners in the neighborhood may sign up on the list at
www.portlandparks.org go to Nature and to Community Gardens.

Thanks go to many people for renovating this space and getting the
garden up and going!

Laurelhurst Village Care Center-property owner and cash
supporter
Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
Portland Parks and Recreation Community Gardens
Portland Fire and Rescue
Friends of Portland Community Gardens
Hands on Portland
Riverdale HS Honor Society
Grant High School Environmental Club

Blair Community Garden
SE 33rd and Stark
Work Party and Celebration
Saturday, March 26th 9am-12noon

See you there!

Leslie Pohl-Kosbau
Dan Franek
Portland Community Gardens
Portland Parks and Recreation
503 823-1612

Help SEUL create a Pocket Park!

SEUL is hoping you’ll vote for their project in the upcoming Umpqua Bank’s Build Your Block Challenge to win money to create a pocket park on SE Uplift’s grounds. So check it out!

Pocket Park and Garden on Main Street (between 35th and 36th)

Description: A lush 3,000 square foot pocket park/garden full of native, medicinal, and edible plants – where multi-generational community members and visitors relax or meet friends, take lunch breaks, garden, gather for educational workshops, read, or play a friendly game of chess/checkers. The benefits will be far reaching: re-generation of a run down area, business and residential community members working together cohesively toward a safer and more sociable community space, a haven for native pollinators that will increase the pollination of plants nearby, and access to educational workshops from local experts specializing in naturopathic and botanical medicine, creating pollinator habitat, gardening for food and medicine, aromatherapy, and essential oil distillation! Creating an inspiring natural area will strengthen our neighborhood’s vibrant identity and sense of place, while increasing the vitality of our urban ecosystem and providing a respite from the stresses of daily life.

Remember to visit the Hawthorne Umpqua Bank to vote by April 15th.

Please Vote; Help Sunnyside Environmental School Win $10,000

Sunnyside Environmental School is one of three finalists in the Umpqua Bank Build Your Block Grant Challenge, a program the bank runs to help improve neighborhoods where its branches are located.

SES has proposed the creation of a rainwater capture system in the fall and winter to help sustainably irrigate its gardens in the summer. The school hopes to create a demonstration project with educational components to water its vegetable garden area and teach neighbors how to do the same.

A 2500 gallon cistern will be located in the SES garden at 34th and Taylor. Rain barrels and other rainwater projects will be developed and installed by the community. Educational signage will be developed by the community and placed near the cistern.

To celebrate the unveiling of the completed project, SES will host a neighborhood gathering and invite people to build rain barrels for their own homes. Money from the challenge will offset the cost of these rain barrels so that more neighbors can afford to install them. Together, we will learn about the importance of storm water reduction and rainwater harvesting!

Starting March 21, anyone may go into Umpqua, 3557 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR 97214, and vote for this project. There will be postcards available listing all three projects, so stop by and learn about the good ideas. Voting closes April 15th, and the winner will be announced April 18th.

If you would like to be involved in installing this project or planning community outreach and education, please contact [email protected].

Lone Fir Cemetery Needs Your Help

Lone Fir Cemetery needs your help…

As spring approaches, bulbs are emerging from many of the muddy areas within Lone Fir. Metro needs the help from the community, leaves and branches have been sitting too long on the ground beneath the wonderful trees making it difficult for this season’s grass to emerge.  With your help, we can fix this! Our Site Stewardship Committee has gathered $150 for grass seed and supplies. That will be leveraged with a discount from Portland Nursery to increase the amount we can get. Metro will help to supply rakes and pick up the debris left alongside the road.  Once the weather improves, seeding can begin. Until then we can rake, rake and rake a little more. This should help keep the cemetery looking better than ever for Memorial Day, (when the cemetery is filled with visitors).  So come join us…let’s help Lone Fir put its best foot forward by coming to Friend’s first clean up of the year!

Ø     Time: March 27th from 12:00-4:00

Ø     Meeting Place: Lone Fir Cemetery 2115 S.E. Morrison St. Check in/Sign in will take place at the Soldiers Monument.

Ø     Activities: Remove as many leaves, branches and needles to allow the grass to grow and in some areas be reseeded.

Ø   Attire/Tools: This event will take place rain or shine. Dress accordingly. Layers are always good if the weather looks unpredictable. Close toed shoes or boots are best. Please bring your own rake and gloves. We will have some on site but the supplies are limited.

Ø     Other: Bring a lunch if you would like. Friends will have bottled water and a few light snacks.

 

 

General Meeting March 10th 7pm!

SNA General Meeting Agenda

March 10, 2011, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.

 

  1. Introductions (3 min)
  2. Approve agenda, circulate minutes (2 min)
  3. SES Rainwater Catchment project (Heidi McNamee 15 min)
  4. Friends of Trees and planter strip width limitations (Jeff Cole 5 min)
  5. Mt. Tabor Concert sponsorship, continue? (Reuben Deumling 2 min)
  6. Committee Reports (15 min)

Sustainability (RD)
Land Use and Transportation (PL)

Crime Prevention (CL)

Southeast Uplift (JP)

  1. Announcements (5 min)
  2. Approve minutes (2 min)
  3. Next meeting on April 14 / Newsletter articles (due March 15)
  4. Adjourn