(post, Kim Carlson)
A friend sent me this announcement yesterday, and I'm passing it along because maybe you want to be a city farmer? Or you know someone else who does? "Almost 1 level acre of secluded garden space with irrigation well in Garden Home, SW Portland. "Our neighbor is selling .93 acres of full-sun, flat, tillable land at the end of our dead end street in SW Garden Home- just a few blocks from Multnomah Village and Gabriel Park. The land used to be a horse farm and there is enough room for a full truck farm and free-range chickens. The house is impeccable and while there is full city water and sewer hookup the property has an irrigation well. The lot is completely secluded- privacy is total. We don’t want to see this nice old property split up into useless little tract homes. This much level land close-in to downtown (15 minute drive) with every square foot in full sun for growing things with its own irrigation water is a total rarity. The land is not in an environmental zone so there are no use restrictions- but it is near enough Ash Creek and Moonshadow Park that you can hear the spring peepers. The neighborhood is pleasant and incredibly safe- women can walk for exercise alone at night without fear. We have chickens and so do the current owners- we take turns chicken-sitting if the other is away. People pitch in and help- it's a great place to live and we love it. There is also a new Seasons nearby and you can walk to a great general grocery store and the library. "We have 1/2 acre in the same neighborhood- there is no crime at all, it is very quiet. The next block over from the property is a horse farm (all the manure you want) and other people even have goats. We really hope someone will buy this land and garden it like it should be gardened. This could also be a co-housing opportunity, or two families sharing the land- the zoning would permit that. The seller is asking $500,000 according to Parker Realty- the agency listing it."