A note from Amy Kessler
It's planting season at Oregon CBD, and not just for hemp. For the last few years we’ve dedicated part of our property to a community garden. It began as just a place to grow food for the crew, but last year we expanded production and we were able to donate over 600 pounds of produce to a local food bank. This year, we plan to double that.
Our two-acre garden received the same preparation and care as our hemp trials: multiple rounds of tilling, disking, and fertilizing helped to break up the heavy, brick-colored clay of the Willamette Valley into a fine, workable soil. The mix of native grasses and wildflowers, as well as self-seeded grains and oats from neighboring farms, were tilled back in. Mixed with locally sourced chicken manure, essential nitrogen and micronutrients are built up within the soil. In these ways, we stay true to our organic message.
Seed sowing began indoors in early February with just a few flats of onions and brassicas: sweet Walla Walla, red and white storage varieties, and flats of broccoli, colorful cauliflowers, and hardy cabbages made the wait for spring even more tantalizing. They were the first to go into the field. Since then, seed sowing has increased exponentially to include whatever we felt we could possibly grow in the Willamette Valley. We’ve dedicated an entire greenhouse to this project, which is currently filled with flats of greens, herbs, annual flowers, peas, eggplants, peppers, tomatillos, tomatoes, cukes, melons, okra, summer and winter squashes, and one mango tree. Several raised beds house radishes, carrots, beets, potatoes, and strawberries, and an extra basketball court-sized plot has been tilled for corn and asparagus, as well as one for giant pumpkins.
On top of what we can grow from seed, the property from which Oregon CBD has sprouted is scattered with various fruit trees, including apples, pears, figs, and recently planted apricots and peaches. These too will add to what we plan to donate to local food banks.
Long story short, we want to grow as much as we can for those who need it most.
During these uncertain times, Oregon CBD feels it is more crucial than ever to give back to the communities that support us and beyond. Providing as much food as we can through the company garden is just one of the many ways we hope to do so, and as we continue to practice social distancing, we hope to come together, stronger, as a company and a community.
