Gardening for anybody

When you’re trying to start your own garden, it’s easy to be intimidated by the abundant orchards, vegetable beds and flower gardens that dot the fertile Willamette Valley.


But don’t despair. The valley’s temperate weather and fertile soil promise the first-time gardener a shot at relatively easy success, whatever the weather.


In the colder seasons, some low-maintenance plants can still grow indoors or in a protected greenhouse. In late-summer and fall, outdoor gardens flourish in Eugene’s muggy climate and sunshine. Your garden can be anything from a dorm-bound potted plant to a small vegetable garden in the backyard of a rental home, or even a plentiful multi-species produce patch in a community garden plot — cultivating your own garden in Eugene can be a promising and stress-free venture.


Junior Alayna Rasile-Digrindakis, a volunteer at multiple community gardens and local farming enthusiast, recalls the first garden she and her roommates put together a year ago in the yard of their home. “We made a vegetable box out of recycled dresser drawers, drilled holes in the bottom for drainage, and planted veggie starts,” or young vegetable plants, she said. “I never realized how cheap and easy starting a garden could be.”


In the colder months, plants can still easily find a home on windowsills with regular watering.


“Indoor plants add to the atmosphere of any home,” junior Molly Simas said. “Just make sure that they are getting enough light, water, and soil to keep them alive, or else you’ll feel guilty.” Local gardening stores can provide advice on which plants would live comfortably in your home, and what kind of care each needs.


While potted plants may add to the indoor appeal of a house year-round, it’s hard to compare to hands-on gardening outdoors. If you live in an apartment, or any home without a yard (or considerate landlord), you can still have your own outdoor garden in Eugene.

The city’s six community gardens offer space to grow your own garden or assist more experienced gardeners for free produce and knowledge.


“Most community gardeners love volunteers who are interested in learning about local produce and simply helping out,” Rasile-Digrindakis said. “It’s a great way to get off campus by yourself or with a group of friends. Plus, you’ll usually return with a bunch of
fresh produce.”


Alice Aikens, volunteer manager of the Amazon Community Gardens, values the community and education in the garden. “There’s a sense of accomplishment that comes from cultivating the seed-to-food process,” she said.


Other community farming areas focus on harvesting food for social programs for the underprivileged. Among them is Food for Lane County, a local non-profit food bank with three volunteer-supported gardens.


“I first started working there as a way to legitimize spending my whole summer in a garden,” FFLC volunteer Rasile-Digrindakis admitted. “But it’s turned out to be a great source of gardening education, both for me and for the younger volunteers who I help teach.”


Public schools with gardens, local farm merchants and on-campus farming groups also encourage help from interested college students. For students who find it hard to make time outside of school, Landscape Architecture’s Urban Farm class (LA 390) provides a hands-on gardening experience for any University student.


Junior Sara Quinn is a strong advocate for local farming. A member of the UO Food Project, she founded Project Tomato, a group run out of the Office of Sustainability with a mission to educate students on local and organic sustainable agriculture.


“It’s so important for students to become more involved and more active with what is going on with their food,” Quinn said. “From volunteering at local farms to cultivating your own produce, it’s becoming so much easier to grow local.”