CUlly Food FOrest #1

BUILDING COMMUNITY & FOOD SECURITY

These demonstration sites are volunteer-planted and stewarded, connecting landless community members who are passionate about regenerative agriculture and permaculture with homeowners who don’t value monoculture lawn spaces. We secure these donated spaces for 5 year-minimum periods, allowing the maturation and development of thriving food-bearing ecosystems with the goal of donating large amounts of produce to nearby food banks.

In 2024, we will be planting 7 more food forests in Cully, Brentwood-Darlington, and Montavilla.

CULLY FOOD FOREST

This is the first of four food forest demonstration sites in Cully, NE Portland. After testing the soil for heavy metals (surprisingly low levels!) we started by laying down brown paper over the grass and dumping 8” of fresh woodchips on the front 2/3 of the yard (in October). In early April we started by planting the fruit trees and shrubs. As the weather warmed we added the herbaceous layer and perennial edible vegetables, veggie rows in the aisles between tree rows, pollinator flowers, squash, root crops, and eventually hot weather crops like tomatoes and peppers. We’ve continued to add more herbaceous and rooting layer plants including asparagus, comfrey, lupine, beans, and buckwheat. This design uses principles of syntropic agroforestry and in 2024 has become part of our nut tree nursery.