Garden Club

We are a community of students that gather together to tend to the three organic gardens on campus. We welcome any and all levels of farming experience, as we understand the gardens as a learning space. We prioritize community building, as we understand the gardens to be a place where students can come together to build the skills and knowledge necessary to raise vegetables from seed to consumption while building connections to each other and the larger Portland farming and gardening community.

We grow a variety of vegetables, fruits, and berries, meeting one to two days each week to work together on the gardens. We often harvest from the gardens and make meals together. We also take occasional field trips to Tryon Life Community Farm, Zenger Farm, University of Portland student farm, and others. We donate produce to food pantries in the Portland area, as well as share that produce with the Lewis & Clark student and faculty community.

For us, a day spent working the land and getting dirty is the perfect opportunity for students to think and talk to each other about the food system, health, and how we relate to each other, all building blocks of society that are inextricably tied to what we eat and how we get it. Using the gardens as a locus, we give students the opportunity to come together over a shared passion for taking part in the food system from which they benefit. The connections students form between each other as well as to the land lasts for years after graduation, as does the knowledge gained from tending to the land itself.