Seed Swap Brunch!

Saturday, March 2
9:30 am Brunch, 10:30-1 pm Seed Swap
Alice Busch’s House – 2224 N Willamette. Portland OR 97217
Free! Register in the form below.

Get ready for spring and summer by joining our seed swap.  It is intended to help our up and coming gardener gather enough seeds from those of us saving – that they can SAVE money by sharing in our bounty!  Whether you have seeds to share – or are coming to collect seeds to plant for our coming gardening seasons – you are encouraged to join us and our crew of  aspiring and experienced gardeners. If you have seeds to share – bring them, if not, bring containers/envelopes to take home seeds you plan to nurture into bountiful crops of beauty and food 🙂

If folks will be joining us for brunch they should arrive by 9:30am and bring an a brunch item to share: French press ground coffee, cheese(what kind), a veggie (what kind), a syrup (kind), eggs, or fruit (what kind), non dairy milk/cream substitute (what kind),

Alice will provide: compostable plates, utensils, washable napkins, teas, half & half, bacon, potatoes, and pancakes (please let us know if you would like a gluten-free pancake option.)

2019 Workshop Series!

Happy new year everyone!

We’re gearing up for a great year with Sustainable Overlook. This year we are focusing on offering a series of monthly workshops on practical ways to relocalize our food system and help our pollinators. The series starts with seed saving, fruit tree pruning and native wildflower gardening. 

February

Fruit Tree Pruning and Care with April Jamison
Sunday, February 17, from 12-3 pm 
Beach School Garden, 1710 N Humboldt St. 
Sliding scale $10-25 Details and registration here.

Demystify winter fruit tree pruning with this hands-on workshop with orchard expert April Jamison of Garden EcologyWe’ll start by getting familiar with the basics, and then we’ll have a demonstration and practice time, giving the school garden’s two apple trees some thoughtful and loving care.

In this class you will learn:

• Tools of the trade
• When & why to prune
• Types of cuts & how to make them
• Step-by-step process
• Tips on training, restoration, and more!

Bring gloves and your favorite pruning tools such as hand pruners, folding saw or loppers if you have them. Dress for the weather.

March

Seed Swap Brunch

Saturday, March 2
9:30 am Brunch, 10:30-1 pm Seed Swap
Alice Busch’s House – 2224 N Willamette. Portland OR 97217
Free! Details and registration HERE.
Get ready for spring and summer by joining our seed swap.  It is intended to help our up and coming gardener gather enough seeds from those of us saving – that they can SAVE money by sharing in our bounty!  Whether you have seeds to share – or are coming to collect seeds to plant for our coming gardening seasons – you are encouraged to join us and our crew of  aspiring and experienced gardeners. If you have seeds to share – bring them, if not, bring containers/envelopes to take home seeds you plan to nurture into bountiful crops of beauty and food 🙂

If folks will be joining us for brunch they should arrive by 9:30am and bring an a brunch item to share: French press ground coffee, cheese(what kind), a veggie (what kind), a syrup (kind), eggs, or fruit (what kind), non dairy milk/cream substitute (what kind),

Alice will provide: compostable plates, utensils, washable napkins, teas, half & half, bacon, potatoes, and pancakes (please let us know if you would like a gluten-free pancake option.)

Wildflower and Pollinator Workshop

Saturday, March 30, 12-3 pm 
Beach School Garden, 1710 N Humboldt St.
Sliding scale $10-25 Details and registration here.

Bees need habitat, and habitat needs tending. Engage the human impulse to tend the land in this hands-on workshop at the new 1,000 sq. ft. meadow garden at Beach Elementary. Explore the Willamette Valley native meadow plantings and see early season pollinators in action. You will learn:

  • Weed and native plant identification
  • Tending practices and a little about the background of this important ecosystem in our region – and how you can start your own low-maintenance/low-water use meadow patch to help bees.
  • Take home native wildflower seed!

Bring gloves and your favorite weeding/digging tool. Dress for the weather. Ages 10 and up. 
Childcare provided at no cost for kids 5-10. Please register online.

Questions? mulysa@resiliencedesign.com

Instructor Mulysa Melco is an ecological landscape designer, horticulturist, and artist with a lifelong passion for plants and exploring our connection with the land. She teaches botany and ecology classes for the Portland Underground Graduate School. 

Upcoming workshops might be on worm composting, gardening with kids and more.

Have a suggestion for a topic you want to learn about in community? Email mulysa@resiliencedesign.com

Permaculture Learning and Work Party – Kid-Friendly!

Saturday, March 18, 11am-2pm

N. Concord Ave and N. Overlook Blvd.

Portland’s first traffic calming Placemaking Project is at the foot of North Concord Ave at Overlook Blvd, next to the big painted intersection. Come re-plant and refresh the groundbreaking planter project with sedums and other ecoroof plants that are low care, low water, high heat, low profile AND pollinator friendly plants. Kids welcome! Make wattle fencing, try honey tasting and have a bee hive visit! Tour the established, 6-year old food producing permaculture site next to the planters, and have fun getting dirty: sheet mulching, installing barriers for cane berries, hugelkultur terrace construction and more digging and planting.

Opportunities to dig and take home some plants (until they run out): Shasta daisies, blue Japanese iris, white iris, black currants, red currants, blackberries (shuksan), raspberries, rhubarb. Bring a shovel and carry home container to dig your own.

Bring the kids! Dress for weather (raingear, or sunscreen and hat if the sun comes out!), and bring your gloves and hand tools if you have them (some available), and a water bottle. Snacks provided.

Sponsored by The City Repair Project and Sustainable Overlook

Questions? Email sustainable @ overlook neighborhood. org

GPS: 3908 N Concord Ave 97227

Overlook Preparedness Summit, 2017

Overlook Preparedness Summit, 2017

Come join us this year to talk through how we will all respond when the unexpected strikes.  While last year’s summit was focused on how to prepare as a household before disaster strikes, this year will focus more on the likely challenges and resources that we will see following an event such as an earthquake, extreme weather event, or other large scale incident. By mapping out a framework of neighborhood response, we will all benefit by knowing a bit of what we can expect along with the kinds of resources that will be available following a disaster.

Organized through a collaboration of Overlook’s Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET), Beach School’s Parent Teacher Association (PTA), and Sustainable Overlook.

Learn more and RSVP for the Event at http://www.sustainableoverlook.org/summit-2017

Carbon Footprint Workshop

My Basic Carbon Footprint: A Free Workshop

Saturday, June 18, 2016  10am-noon  1905 N. Alberta St.
How much carbon are you personally dumping into the air? Figure out what your carbon footprint is (individual or household) at this free workshop. Instructor Mike O’Brien was for 10 years the city of Portland’s expert on green building, and built a showplace low-energy house right here in Overlook.  

Everyone welcome. Max 20 participants, please register below.

Gather and bring five pieces of information to the workshop. All of the electricity, natural gas and heating oil consumption figures can be gotten from your utility.
1. 12 months total of electricity used

PGE Customer Service: 800-542-8818

Pacific Power Customer Service: 888-221-707
2. 12 months total of natural gas consumed (if gas heat) or 12 months total of heating oil consumed (if oil heat)

Northwest Natural Customer Service: 800-422-401
3. 12 months total auto miles traveled (each car)
4. automobile gas mileage (each car)
5. 12 months total air miles travelled

Air travel distances: http://www.worldatlas.com/travelaids/flight_distance.htm

Register here

Questions? Email sustainable@overlookneighborhood.org

Presented by Sustainable Overlook

Resilience Summit a Success

Last Saturday, more than 100 neighbors and other Portland residents gathered for Sustainable Overlook’s second annual Resilience Summit, co-sponsored with the Overlook Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) on the theme of preparedness. The morning began with a terrific keynote presentation “Surviving a 9.0: Lessons from Chile and Japan,” by geotechnical engineer Allison Pyrch.

That excellent – and sobering – presentation was followed by four speakers: Captain Corey Wilson from Station 24 spoke about Portland Fire & Rescue’s response strategy after a big seismic event; Ernie Jones from the Portland Bureau of Emergency Preparedness spoke about PBEM’s NET and BEACON programs; Mitch Bixby (Overlook NET team lead) reviewed our team’s efforts; and Leslee Lewis Overlook NET lead and Sustainable Overlook spoke about the map your neighborhood block preparedness program and preparing your own home.

After a terrific lunch catered by New American Restaurant, there was more information and conversation at tables for NET, Phlush (the 4-bucket Emergency Waste System) and Thrive (freeze-dried foods); and an area with some ideas for your emergency food and supply stash. The day wound up with four more presentations: Emergency Radio Communications by John Beaston, Staging Areas and How They Work by Mitch Bixby, Food Prep Using Freeze-Dried Foods by Angie Smith, and Knowing Your Neighbors and Mapping Your Block by Josh Cabot.

There was plenty of food for thought, and neighbors went home with some concrete ideas on how to increase their preparedness. Luck favors the prepared.

See more photos from the event.

Save the Date! Resilience Summit 2016

Overlook Resilience Summit

Preparation:  Where Resilience Begins

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Following up on last year’s sustainability summit held at Beach School, Sustainable Overlook is partnering with Overlook’s Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET) and Multnomah County’s Schools Uniting Neighborhoods program to present a second summit that will focus on resilience.  This is an open invitation for neighbors to come together and discuss how we can prepare our homes for the unexpected, connect more closely as neighbors to serve as mutual safety nets, and adapt to changing conditions using specific plans that are being collectively-developed by NET (Neighborhood Emergency Teams). Mark your calendars now and click here for details!

Home Seismic Retrofit Workshop

Interested in Earthquake preparedness and learning how to attach your house to its foundation?

Join Sustainable Overlook, Overlook NET (Neighborhood Emergency Team) and Earthquake Tech to get the scoop. The workshop filled quickly so a second session is being offered the same day:

Saturday, December 5th 

Session 1 10 am – 11:30 am FULL

Session 2 12:30- 2 pm

$10 suggested donation (no one turned away)

Sustainable Overlook the Home

Earthquake Retrofit Workshop with Steve Gemmel

from Earthquake Tech (who taught our workshop

3 years ago) will teach us how to bolt our

houses to their foundations, and go over other

ways of making our houses more seismically

stable. A PERFECT winter DIY project!

Will be held at a residence in the neighborhood

with a live demo.

Email sustainable@overlookneighborhood.org to register and for more information.