6-30-10

GREEN ANGEL GARDENS FARM STORE

THE WAR AGAINST SUPERMARKETS

OUR FRONT YARD

SEE THE TALONS?

ALARM CLOCK

The farm we are currently at utilizes the bio-intensive method. The bio-intensive method was developed by John Jeavons, who lives in Willits, California. Larkin lived and worked on Jeavons' farm for a number of years, and Larkin has carried over practices from there to here. Many farms we've wwoofed at have had the bio-intensive bible, How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine, in their library. Coincidentally, we purchased this book used at Powell's Books in Portland the other day. The main principle of this farming method is to plant crops extremely closely together. This method requires less land, water, and fertilizer than all other farming practices. Weeds are suppressed on the bio-intesive farm not because of herbicides or other chemicals but because there is no room for them to grow and no sunlight for them to absorb. Jeavons proposes that if followed properly, one 1,000 square foot circle can produce enough food to feed one person a vegetarian diet for an entire year. This yield is more than 10 times greater than the productivity of an average commercial farm.

Because Larkin is growing more food than he intends to consume, there are also two greenhouses, a geometric dome, and many outdoor row crops. But the heart and soul of Green Angel Gardens is the circle. He refers to it as the "Demonstration Circle." He believes the circle has spiritual and healing powers. In the circle, potatoes and fava beans are the main crops. In addition there are pole beans, garlic, salad greens, peas, and ornamental flowers growing. The beauty of the circle is that certain crops, like fava beans, serve two crucial purposes. The first, is that they are a protein rich food. (So you don't need to be a cannibal.) The second is that the fava bean plants add tremendous quantities of nitrogen and nutrients back into the soil and keep microbial organisms happily alive. The circle grows food both for our bellies and for the compost pile. This dual function is vital.

We spent most of our day weeding inside and outside the circle. And damn it looks good.

**Andy, we found the public transportation to be very user friendly. According to the transportation, the city is broken into zones. There is a square around the downtown area that is completely free and outer zones, or further destinations cost depending on how far you travel. We purchased tickets to zone 2 but nobody ever checked to see if we had a ticket...seems like it might be more on the honor system than anything else. There are trollies, buses, and many bicycle riders throughout the regions of the city. Overall, Portland is very mass transit friendly.**