Meet Your Neighbor!

This is Justin Simms, who has lived in the South Tabor neighborhood since 2003.  He is the owner of In Town Ag, a garden-sharing business.  The idea is that he plants a garden on properties in the Portland area (mostly in SE and St Johns) with the homeowner splitting the cost; the homeowner gets to harvest half of the produce and In Town Ag gets the other half plus any surplus to sell.  He uses only certified organic fertilizer and compost, heirloom and open-pollinated seed, drip irrigation, organic cover crops, biointensive agriculture techniques, and no herbicides or pesticides.  This is the third year that he has doing this.  Justin got started when he was between jobs, and decided to keep himself busy by gardening and so posted an ad to Craigslist.  He got 6 responses in 2 hours and realized there was a real need.  In Town Ag has also recently started a volunteer program, which builds a network of garden caretakers while sharing garden knowledge and skills, and the harvest.   You can see more information about In Town Ag at https://www.facebook.com/pages/InTownAg/634380413256795.