Welcome to Growing Food in Western Oregon
This site is dedicated to methods and varieties that work particularly well for food growers in the Willamette Valley or Western Oregon/Washington areas.
I am located in Clackamas County, western Oregon, zone 8, 600 feet. My property is a 2.5 acre mostly forested parcel - some of which is wetland. As such, my land is shadier than most food gardens and is severely slug-infested. Our climate experiences heavy rainfall from October through May, followed by a severe drought with temperatures that have recently (2021) gotten up to 116 degrees.
I grow a tremendous quantity of fruit trees, vines & shrubs, a few species of mushrooms, and a lot of vegetables. I am also trying my best to maintain habitat in the areas of this property that aren’t used for human food production: removing invasive plants and encouraging native ones to flourish.
I forage for chanterelles, lobsters, and hedgehogs in the fall in the woods behind my house. Occasionally I will make the drive to special locations in the coast range or Mt. Hood, but prefer not to drive terribly far unless the conditions are just right.
I am not a conventional gardener, nor am I a strictly organic one. I do try to use as little outside input as is reasonable. I guess you’d call my style “practical” gardening.
I am not here to sell you anything.
Most blogs and garden websites are there to try and earn dollars from you, by earning a commission on products recommended. I feel this is a conflict of interest, and won’t try to sell you products. I hope the information here can be especially helpful to those who have little financial means to build their food gardens.
In the future, I’ll have a donation button if you’d like to financially support my work.
Dedication
This site is especially dedicated to my children.
My dears: at the end of my life, I don’t know how much generational wealth we will be able to leave to you. I hope you’ll experience as much love and joy throughout your life as I can give you and help you cultivate for yourself - but those are non-material goods.
Priceless as that may be, I hope you will also inherit the property — including the dozens of fruit trees and asparagus patches and shiitake logs and vegetable beds. If for some reason that does not come to pass, know that at least these words are written here for you, and for your children, so that you could recreate what worked out well for your mother and avoid the time wasted and many mistakes I made along the way.
I know that right now, the “how” of growing the raspberries or asian pears or sugar snaps peas isn’t really of interest - you prefer to just shovel them in. That’s ok. Some day, you may be.
So… here is everything I could think of to write down as to what works for me.
As for the rest of the humans on this planet - I hope you find this site helps you at least build a little more food security, a little more peace, and a little more beauty in your life.
Who am I?
A wife, momma, doggy-lover. In all things, I try to be practical. I have been tinkering in a food garden for 20+ years. I live in a small house and rarely buy clothing that is new. I spent the first part of my life in the diverse inner city of SE Portland, Oregon, followed by living in a fairly secluded small chunk of forest in Clackamas County. My professional life was helping people buy and sell homes - but I’ve since hit the pause button on that endeavor to help my kiddos navigate adolescence and virtual schooling at home.
I worry about the current political climate in our country - the divisiveness and hatred are leading us to a dark place. I believe that the root of it at least partially stems from many of our basic needs not being met. Sharing information here is my way of trying to help fulfill some of those needs, and hopefully help people find a more peaceful co-existence.
I’m here to learn what works for you, too. My methods of doing things evolve, and I am always looking to deepen my understanding by learning cleaner, more productive, simpler, faster approaches. By working together and sharing knowledge, I think we’ll all become more successful.
With love,
Amy
