The Portland Multnomah Food Policy Council asked Portland City Council to create a garden at City Hall to inspire Portland residents to plant their own gardens and an extra row for the hungry. The Commissioners passed the Better Together Garden resolution on Earth Day, April 22, 2009.

Elm Court Loaves and Fishes, five blocks from garden, will receive the harvested produce and fruit. The senior meal site serves 150 on-site and delivers an additional 250 meals every day.

The Better Together Garden includes 700 square feet of vegetables and is surrounded by columnar apples, a fig tree, blueberries, lingonberries, currants, and strawberries. The garden was installed over four days by community volunteers and all labor and materials were donated. The project was made possible by the generosity of the following businesses:

First Harvest 5/29/2009

Design: Mary Bedard, Mary Bedard Landscape Architecture

Installation/Stonework: Dave Barmon and Mark Parisien, Fiddlehead Landscape Design & Installation

Stonework: John DiBona, John DiBona Stonework

Drop boxes, composting, gravel and rock: Wood Waste Management

Organic vegetable starts: Brentwood Park Nursery

Fruit trees, plants, and shrubs: Jim Gilbert, One Green World

Flagstone and boulders: Smith Rock and Heritage Rock

Vegetable starts, tools, peat moss: Peggy Acott & Alani Kelly, Portland Nursery

Soil Amendments: Naomi Montacre, Concentrates, Inc.

Rototilling: Dan Bravin, POP Farming

Soil and compost: City of Portland Bureau of Transportation

Wood chips, guidance and goodwill: Portland Parks and Recreation

Ongoing maintenance will be provided by OSU Extension Service Master Gardeners with help from community volunteers.