Oregon Food Bank - Just say "no" to peanuts!

Our first adventure with the Oregon Food Bank was Thursday, March 26.

First impressions:

• Really impressive facility! They have a very nice lobby with classrooms where they teach cooking and food budgeting and then more rooms we didn't even see, in addition to their warehouse and sorting rooms.
• Utter chaos! We were told before we came that these re-packing nights can accommodate as many as 80 people. I don't think there were that many there with us on Thursday, but there were many, many and they were everywhere!
• Food recalls are no good. Normally on these nights we would be taking food from very large totes and repackaging it into manageable sized parcels for regional food banks and food pantries. Thursday we were instead sorting through food gathered from food drives and scanning it for peanut products marked "Danger" due to the recall this year. We were also on the look-out for broken food containers, food out of its packaging or not marked for commercial sale, and soap products that could leak and contaminate the other food.
• Fun people! There were high school kids who were racing each other to finish pallets, fun strangers who would whisk boxes out of your way before you even knew you needed them to be gone, box cutters, tape rippers and pallet movers keeping the whole thing going. The chaos really came into play here, but you just had to go with it.
  
• Aerobic workout! No matter what your job, the pace of these evenings seems to be very, very fast. I think of it as a charitable alternative for going to the gym.

We have more events planned coming up with the Oregon Food Bank this spring. Stay tuned!

Peace Garden: Ready for gardeners!

A few of us who had worked on the Peace Garden went back on Saturday, March 21 to finish up a few tasks. Lots more rain, but the work was good. The expert Raised Bed Construction Team put together their second bed in record time. It's amazing what a drill with a little more umph can do! And the rest of us caulked the new shed, spread more wood chips and filled both beds with dirt - ready for planting. The Peace Garden will have had its grand opening yesterday - we wish all the gardeners who will have plots there the best of luck - grow a few carrots for us!

There's something about working in the rain....

Saturday we had a great time working again in the garden located at the Human Solutions Daybreak Shelter. There was rain and there was cold, but we were in really good spirits. Several other volunteers from two different groups worked along with us which made the work go much faster. We built one of two raised beds that will be wheelchair accessible, spread woodchips on the paths and spread composted elephant manure on the beds. Yes! Real elephant droppings from the honest-to-goodness elephants at the Portland Zoo!

We found out this garden will be called the "Peace Garden", which we thought was a lovely choice for a name. All the City of Portland community gardens have lengthy waiting lists so the Peace Garden will be the only one with open plots - for a limited time! The garden will have its grand opening Saturday, March 28, so feel free to attend: 10am-noon, SE 127th and Market.

As you can see, the picnic table we built last month is still standing and looking very much like a fully functioning picnic table. And still no injuries reported!

Teaming up with Human Solutions and the City of Portland Community Garden Program has been such a good experience - we hope it continues! Happy growing to all those vegetables yet to come!