Your garden beds are the very foundation of your successful garden. Having the proper location, design, materials, and soil will have a massive impact on whether your garden thrives or struggles.
Adding raised garden beds to your landscape will set you up for years of success in your vegetable garden, adding beauty to your landscape and value to your property. Growing in raised garden beds also offers many advantages over traditional ‘in-ground’ gardens including better accessibility, earlier harvests, improved drainage, control over soil conditions, and protection from many garden pests.
'...It's so fun to go "shopping" in your backyard and to try and keep up with the bounty! :) We look forward to working with PEG again next year.'
Born and raised in Portland, Ian worked on and managed organic farms in Vermont, Argentina, Hawaii, and California before coming home to roost. He received an Advanced Certificate in Ecological Horticulture at UC Santa Cruz in 2010 before managing 18 acres of organic vegetables at 47th Avenue Farm, one of Portland’s oldest CSA farms, growing food for over 200 Portland area families. He started Portland Edible Gardens in 2013, and has never looked back.
Originally from New York, Amelia moved to Oregon in 2016 and has been farming ever since. She has worked on and managed farms from 16 acre mixed veggies to an intensive half acre of cut flowers. Her love of plants also manifested at school educational gardens, a genomics lab at a botanical garden, a seed saving nonprofit in Bangalore, India, and flower shops across the country. When she’s not puttering in the garden, find Amelia working on a sewing project or exploring a new park with her daughter.
Raised hiking & biking among the California redwoods, Jordanna has a passion for the natural world. When they moved to the PNW in 2015, they discovered great joy in studying plant medicine & contributing to native forest defense movements. Inspired by mutual aid efforts near and far, Jordanna prioritizes work that tangibly improves people's access to basic necessities. When they aren't building gardens, Jordanna can be found teaching community health, nurturing herbs for The Plantain Project, tending campfires along nearby rivers, & celebrating Shabbat with loved ones.
With a B.S. in Outdoor Recreation Management and Exercise Science, Tawni loves all things nature related. She has a strong passion for improving folks' accessibility to outdoor spaces and facilitating conversations about the ever changing environment around us. The past 10 years Tawni has spent her time working in various regions of the Rocky Mountains as an environmental educator and outdoor sports guide; skiing, backpacking, canyoneering and bikepacking are a few of her favorites. She’s excited to be working on her passion by bringing nature closer to home with raised garden beds.
Originally from California, Taylor earned a B.S. in Environmental Science and Soil Science at UC Davis. They moved to Portland in 2021 working on and managing organic vegetable farms for the last 5 years. They specialize in annual vegetables, but their interests include medicinal herbs, native plants, flowers, and ornamentals. Taylor loves discussing soil health and is excited to share their knowledge with fellow growers! In their free time, they can be found visiting the beautiful Oregon coast, cooking, reading, drawing, knitting, and taking their dog to the park.
A lifelong Oregonian, Sam's food journey has involved formal education at U of O, an MS in Nutrition at NUNM, a certificate in Organic Farming at Clackamas Community College and work on many small farms in and around Portland. In 2023, he started Vicolo Farm, a quarter acre urban farm in NE Portland growing food for the community through a CSA program as well as local restaurants. In his free time, Sam enjoys cycling, cooking, learning Italian, playing soccer, and exploring the beautiful wilderness of the Pacific Northwest.
